Will Hodgman - Australia's new High Commissioner to Singapore and a former Tasmanian Premier - has copped criticism from federal Labor over a social media video where he describes a visit to Universal Studios Singapore as immersing himself in "local culture".
But Mr Hodgman later clarified that the video was intended to be "very tongue in cheek".
In the video posted on his official High Commissioner Twitter profile on Sunday, Mr Hodgman described his outing at Universal Studios and featured clips of rides and attractions, before biting into a Dagwood dog.
"As Australia's new High Commissioner to Singapore, I think its really important on weekends to immerse myself in experiences and the local culture so I can truly understand what makes this place tick ... so we're at Universal Studios Singapore," he said.
The video initially sparked some negative feedback from Twitter users, prompting Mr Hodgman to respond: "I think we all can all do with a bit of lightening up these days".
Federal Labor then directed criticism at Mr Hodgman over the video.
Labor's foreign affairs spokesperson, senator Penny Wong - who has Malaysian background - said the video had the potential to offend Singaporeans.
"Singapore is rightly proud of its local food and culture. Mr Hodgman's job [is] to improve our standing there," she wrote on Twitter.
"Best case he'll be quietly mocked - worst case he'll offend. Neither is what Australia needs."
Since then, Mr Hodgman has posted a series of tweets in which he presents his credentials to Singapore president Halimah Yacob, with three tweets featuring the same photograph of the two together.
He has also featured images of his meeting with Indonesian ambassador Suryo Pratomo, Malaysian acting High Commissioner Muhammad Radzi Jamaludin and Japan's ambassador to Indonesia, Jun Yamazaki.
