Stefanie Yuen Thio was featured in RedAnts.sg, a Chinese-language online platform focusing on viral topics of current affairs. The story, by journalist Xu Yaoquan, centred on three lawyers who had been “invited for tea” by the People’s Action Party (PAP).

Stefanie is quoted from an interview with Lianhe Zaobao in 2023, saying that she had been invited to tea twice, but she only wanted to back out. She also shared that when she met the minister who invited her, she openly said was happy to take a step back. She was quoted saying that in all honesty, she hoped she would not be chosen as she thinks she would do a bad job. When asked what she wanted to do, she quipped that she was willing to do anything but wear white.

Yaoquan also highlighted that Lianhe Zaobao described Stefanie as a “legal celebrity with a strong image”, which is a description also applicable to the other two lawyers invited to tea. The difference is that they “acceded defeat” to former Deputy Prime Minister Professor Jayakumar and were eventually recruited by the PAP.