The Power of Confidence: How TikTok’s Tube Girl is Taking Over Fashion Week

For many of us, the daily commute is nothing more than a chore. Something to get us from home to wherever we have to, whether that’s work, a friend’s place or a party. But the Malaysian born ‘Tube Girl’ Sabrina Bahsoon is turning the notion of a humdrum daily commute on its head, with her flashy TikTok videos.

The premise may sound simple: Sabrina picks up her phone and records herself dancing on the London tube. But it’s more about how she does it. Amidst the crowds on the train, Sabrina goes all out with her dance moves, energetically hyping herself up, in spite of the attention she garners from fellow commuters. She gets a lot of stares, but she doesn’t care. She’s not hurting anyone when she dances – she’s just out here living her best life.

This free-spirited, devil-may-care attitude of Sabrina’s has been infectious, to say the least. Since her first couple of TikToks, she has gathered a following of over 650,000, with more than 22 million likes on her account. More people around the globe are starting to recreate her lively dance moves and even her signature camera style, while on the trains in their own cities. In Singapore, the trend has definitely gained some momentum too, with TikTokers here also making their own versions on our MRTs, and getting their fair share of side-eyes from uncles and aunties.

So what is it about the Tube Girl that’s so captivating? In a world that rushes to criticise at the first opportunity, it’s only natural that we have all developed a fear of judgment, afraid to express ourselves freely. The beauty of the Tube Girl is that she doesn’t care if you stare, it doesn’t bother her in the least. And even if it does, she’s not letting you know it. She’s happy and confident and that’s what’s important. The self-conscious element, or lack thereof, in her TikToks is exactly what has led people around the world to admire her.