Singaporeans see red as Chinese-origin businessman publishes flyers in Hindi instead of Tamil

A Chinese-origin businessman in Singapore has drawn flak for mistakenly publishing flyers in Hindi instead of Tamil which is one of the four official languages of the country.

The flyers, whose about 100 copies have been circulated, were meant to inform the public about the relocation of a common "Wet Market" where fresh food is sold.

The announcement was printed in English and translated into three other languages: Chinese, Malay and what was meant to be Tamil but ended up as Hindi instead.

Wayne Neo, a Chinese-origin market operator, prepared a letter of apology in Singapore's four official languages -- English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil -- and submitted it to the authorities to vet, The Straits Times reported.

The error was highlighted in a flyer which had translation in Hindi instead of Tamil.

A photo of one such flyer was posted on Facebook on March 22 by an Indian-origin woman Vijaya Kandasamy.

"I think you need more people who can read and write Tamil. What language is that?... Please remove the person from your team if they don't know our very own official languages!"
A spokesman for the market said: "It was a bad mistake on our part, there are really no excuses."