A few new wrinkles: Singapore celebs embrace aging in new FaceApp challenge

(From left) Bobby Tonelli , Inch Chua and Benjamin Kheng take on the FaceApp Challenge. (Photos: Instagram: @btonelli/@thisisinch/@benjaminkheng)
(From left) Bobby Tonelli , Inch Chua and Benjamin Kheng take on the FaceApp Challenge. (Photos: Instagram: @btonelli/@thisisinch/@benjaminkheng)

Having recently topped Japan as the country with the world’s longest life expectancy, maybe it’s only appropriate Singaporeans are going nuts for an app that shows how they’ll look as oldsters.

If you’ve been on social media anytime in the past 24 hours, you’ve likely run into the new filter (over and over again) for the popular selfie tool FaceApp, one that makes people look 40 to 50 years older.

The app, made possible by a team of Russian developers, uses artificial intelligence to change the look of our faces. More often than not, the results are pretty convincing. The new filter has seen people around the world — Singaporeans included — eagerly flooding social media feeds with photos showing wrinkly versions of themselves.

Local celebrities getting in on the act include actress Cynthia Koh, actor-singer Benjamin Kheng and TV host Allan Wu.

Koh seemed pleasantly surprised by how she might look in the future, as shown by the app.

“Wow, I don’t mind looking like this when I’m old,” she said, with hashtags #oldisgold and #ageisjustanumber.

Actor Andie Chen posted a photo with his wife and actress Kate Pang, and wrote in the caption: “Balling to my grave… Swipe to see Kate’s toy boy.”

 

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Balling to my grave. @katepang311 – Swipe to see Kate’s toy boy.

A post shared by Chen Bangjun (@andiechen) on

TV host Allan Wu decided to show off both his abs and wrinkled face in his photo, which looks “slightly off-putting,” according to model-actress Nadya Hutagalung in the comments.

Sorry, Allan, but we can’t help but agree with Nadya on this one.

TV host Bobby Tonelli, meanwhile, channeled his inner George Thorogood & The Destroyers as he rocked a black leather jacket, motorcycle helmet and silver hair for his FaceApp challenge.

“Still looking ‘Bad to the Bone’ at 85,” he wrote in the caption, referencing the blues-rock group’s most famous tune.

 

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Still looking “Bad to the Bone” at 85😂 . @triumphmotorcycles_sg #faceapp #fortheride

A post shared by Bobby Tonelli (@btonelli) on

Have you ever wondered what would happen to Instagram-obsessed millennials when they become senior citizens?  Kheng gave us a sneak peek.

For his FaceApp Challenge, the 28-year-old posted not one but six different photos of himself looking like an old man. He even showed off a beer belly in one of them.

“Daddy’s home,” he wrote in the caption.

 

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daddy’s home

A post shared by Benjamin Kheng (@benjaminkheng) on

Even famed blogger and satirist Mr. Brown jumped onto the “aging” bandwagon and posted photos of himself taken via the app.

The man wonders why his older face looked less Asian.

“When you turn 50, it’s downhill all the way, man. Darn it, I wish I could grow a beard,” he wrote in his post.

“I think I look quite nice with one. I should go for facial hair implants. Other thoughts: I look like my mom. More other thoughts: why do I look Caucasian when aged?”

For singer-songwriter Inch Chua, it looks like the FaceApp filter has made her feel more confident about growing old.

She wrote an affirmative “Okay can” in her post, which had photos of her looking like a blonde-haired and tanned grandma, who is all ready to take over the world with her peace hand sign.

 

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Okay can.

A post shared by INCH 寸草 (@thisisinch) on

For comedian Rishi Budhrani, it was discovering what he might look like after 30 years of chugging whisky.

“What would happen if I spent the next 30 years drinking Black Label at Khalsa Club 3rd floor,” he said, referring to the Singapore Khalsa Association, a venue that hosts weddings.

More news from the Little Red Dot at Coconuts.co/Singapore.



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