In a statement released on Facebook on Monday (14 Jun), the People’s Association (PA) has withdrawn their offer to meet the couple whose wedding photo was used as a Hari Raya decoration.
Since the incident, the organisation has taken down the standee, apologised privately to the owners of that photograph and have posted an apology on their public platforms. Yesterday (14 Jun), PA took to their page to detail their actions taken after the incident, though in a rather defensive manner.
Used Photo Without Permission
The whole incident began when 30-year-old communications specialist Sarah Bagharib posted a picture of the Hari Raya decorations in Radin Mas, addressing how inappropriate it was to use her wedding photos as a “caricature” of Malay-Muslim traditions.
The photographer had not asked her or her husband, Mr Razif Abdullah, for consent.
Their image was blown up and faces were cut out to make standees for the public to take pictures with as part of the festive decoration.
View this post on Instagram
According to The Straits Times, PA had engaged a vendor—Warabi Enterprise (Art Studio)—to design and put up decorations at Tiong Bahru Orchid estate.
After the vendor had come up with the designs and the standee, the Radin Mas Constituency Office (CO) displayed the decorations around the area.
However, Ms Sarah questioned what the mistake meant in the larger scheme of things.
“The PA is meant to be a statutory board that seeks to promote social cohesion and harmony in Singapore,” she noted.
She also hoped that the organisations involved would explicitly highlight what steps and processes they would take to avoid repeating the same mistake again.
PA Withdraws Offer To Meet Couple
In their Facebook statement, PA has retracted the offer to meet Ms Sarah and Mr Razif, which was initially meant for the organisation to apologise and clarify the steps they would take to prevent such incidents from recurring.
However, the PA now “see[s] no point in proceeding with the meeting.” This comes after Ms Sarah shared claims that the incident was “racist” and “perpetuated the racist culture”.
“These are accusations we reject. While the error was culturally insensitive, it was certainly not racist. It is not right to raise the allegation of racism, without basis, to stoke emotions and sentiments,” they refuted.
In addition, they noted that Ms Sarah made a public call for messages and suggestions to PA, which they felt was inappropriate.
“We do not see why our meeting should be appropriated as a platform for her to funnel the views and comments of persons unrelated to the incident.”
PA further clarified that her claim of them being “hasty in sharing the name of the vendor” in order to “distance and deflect blame” was untrue. They explained that the vendor had already come forward to Ms Sarah directly on 28 May and apologised.
She apparently had “persisted in conveying the impression that PA had deflected blame from itself” in her Instagram Live interview with Mr Walid J. Abdullah on 7 June.
Despite all this, PA emphasised that they remain steadfast in its mission to promote racial harmony in Singapore. It added that they regularly reach out to numerous community partners among all races and religions to ensure that their concerns are actively considered when designing the programmes.
With regards to the Radin Mas incident, the organisation admitted that their staff fell short.
“We are now looking at establishing a resource panel to guide and advise our staff on cultural matters. We will also step up training efforts to enhance staff and volunteers’ understanding and appreciation of our different cultures. Singaporeans becoming ‘one people’ is a work in progress – and so is the PA,” they wrote.
Thankfully, the Facebook comments aren’t a cesspool of ignorance this time (shocking, I know). Many netizens were quick to note that the PA’s statement was worded rather poorly and seemed more defensive than anything.
Many were also shocked to hear that the organisation, meant for promoting harmony and social cohesion, would reject the opportunity to listen to the people’s voices, especially from the minorities.
To add fuel to the fire, former Member of Parliament (MP) Amrin Amin even responded to one of the comments with “don’t take offence too easily snowflake”.
Yikes. I guess getting kicked out of Sengkang means that you’re given free rein.
Feature Image: Instagram (@sarahbagharib)