‘I wish Tamil was included’: FairPrice’s Hang Ten, Surfers Paradise National Day T-shirts spark debate on inclusivity
National Day T-shirts by clothing brands Hang Ten and Surfers Paradise, sold at FairPrice outlets, have sparked debate over inclusivity.
Photos of the T-shirts, which feature English and Chinese text alongside a small one-line Malay phrase, have been circulating online.
In a Threads post on July 16, user @diyananasir02 said she came across the T-shirts at a FairPrice outlet, sharing a photo of two designs.
“I wish Tamil was included,” she wrote, adding that she believes Singapore can do more to embrace multilingualism, especially for products related to national identity.
A Reddit post uploaded on July 16 also shared a photo of two of the designs.
“Walking around seeing this as a minority race, this doesn’t feel like home anymore. There’s no sense of belonging,” the caption read. The post has since garnered over 270 comments.
National Day T-shirts featuring mainly English and Chinese
When Stomp visited a FairPrice outlet at Clementi, Surfers Paradise and Hang Ten National Day T-shirts were on display outside the store, retailing at $12.90 and $13 respectively.
One Hang Ten T-shirt featured a nine-image collage of Singapore’s iconic landmarks, with the word “Singapore” prominently written in Chinese at the centre. At the bottom was the phrase: “Together, as one united people. Majulah Singapura.”
A Surfers Paradise T-shirt featured a backdrop of Singapore’s skyline with fireworks and the national flag, with the words “Singapore. 1965, 9 August” prominently displayed in Chinese above the design. At the bottom was the phrase: “Together, we shape our future” in English.
Another Surfers Paradise T-shirt featured Marina Bay Sands, with the Malay phrase “Majulah Singapura” printed at the bottom of the design.
None of the T-shirts featured phrases in Tamil.
Stomp has reached out to Hang Ten and Surfers Paradise for comment.
‘They should have all 4 languages’: Netizens
Across the Threads and Reddit posts, many netizens weighed in on the issue, with the discussion centring on inclusivity and national identity.
One user said they hoped to see greater inclusivity, adding that people should recognise Singapore as a multicultural and multiracial country.
“They should have all four languages,” another wrote.
A few netizens pointed out that the “Majulah Singapura” print on the Hang Ten T-shirt is “very small”.
One commenter said that “even the date” was written in Chinese, while another said the T-shirts looked more like “tourist souvenirs” than apparel meant for locals.
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