Recently, a Deepavali banner in Mountbatten went viral, not for what’s printed on it, but for its alleged placement above an anti-littering poster.
A netizen shared the posters on Facebook, pointing out that it was insensitive towards the Indian community.
Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan has since clarified that those were two separate banners. He added that the National Environment Agency (NEA) has agreed to remove the anti-littering signage.
A netizen recently took to Facebook to share a Deepavali poster featuring MacPherson MP Lim Biow Chuan.
Her post contained an image of Mr Lim wishing Mountbatten residents a happy Deepavali, right above a poster by NEA asking residents to keep their celebrations for the occasion litter-free.
Source: Facebook
The OP asked if the same message was used during Chinese New Year or the Hungry Ghost Festival. She also pointed out that even though there was positive intent behind the message, “it’s being used at a very wrong time”.
She added that it felt even more insensitive as festivals were a time to unite with family and friends.
In response to MS News’ queries, Mr Lim clarified that the two banners were separate.
He explained that the Deepavali banner was a festive greeting from him, which the People’s Association had set up on his behalf.
“It does not contain any litter free messages”, he emphasised.
He went on to explain that the second banner was from the Resident’s Network and NEA reminding residents to keep the environment clean.
They came after park users gave feedback that an undisclosed park was “badly littered after the Deepavali celebrations”.
Mr Lim said that it was “unfortunate” that the two banners have caused misunderstandings.
He has since forwarded the negative feedback to NEA. The agency has also agreed to remove the anti-littering banner to avoid any misunderstandings about the festive greeting message.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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