Racism strikes again, this time in a proclamation made by the Tampines 1 mall against Malay patrons.
In a viral Facebook post made by 36-year-old businesswoman Diana Hairul, her enquiry about setting up a pre-Hari Raya fair next month was casually shut down by the mall in Tampines. The sole reason? According to the mall’s management, their target audience are “mainly Chinese”. Ironically enough, the Tampines district is a well-known to be populated by a large Malay community.
Hey hey Malay Muslim community of Tampines.Do you patronise Tampines 1? Because apparently they rejected us as their target audience are MAINLY THE CHINESE. I feel DISCRIMINATED.
Posted by Diana Hairul on Thursday, 7 April 2016
Since it started circulating around social media, Tampines 1 made a public apology on their Facebook page for their discriminatory position — or maybe they were just sorry they got caught.
The management and staff of Tampines 1 would like to unreservedly apologize to Ms Diana Hairul and the Malay community…
Posted by Tampines 1 on Thursday, 7 April 2016
In response to the incident, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tampines GRC Masagos Zulkifli called the staff “insensitive and incompetent”, while expressing relief that the mall has since apologised.
“But when incidents like these happen we should always look for ways to repair faults and build on the goodwill that the majority has deposited with each other,” he wrote.
Good luck trying to build back the trust of the Malay community, Tampines 1.
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