A local influencer has called out a display at ION Orchard for featuring messages only in English and Chinese, urging people to “stop making Singapore look less Singapore”.
In an Instagram video posted on July 16, user @fauziazzhar pointed to a digital display on the facade of Ion Orchard, which read “I love Orchard”, but only in English and Chinese.
The clip titled, “What happened to inclusivity in Singapore?” has garnered over 134,000 and more than 300 comments.
‘Stop making Singapore look less Singapore’
In the video, the influencer — who goes by Fauzi — acknowledges that the choice of language could have been made with the aim of attracting Chinese tourists, but claims he did not understand the reasoning from a “business perspective”.
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“At what point does capitalism come at the expense of our identity?” he asks.
Fauzi says he has increasingly observed what he sees as greater visibility being given to “only one language and one culture”.
“Maybe that’s why a lot of tourists from overseas think that Singapore is from China,” he adds.
He also points to what he described as a growing number of Chinese-owned businesses with staff who are unable to communicate in English, as well as receipts printed in Chinese.
Fauzi goes on to question whether public spaces were becoming less inclusive of minorities if they continued to cater primarily to one group, adding that he believes one of Singapore’s iconic malls was now “reinforcing” that trend.
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