With the Hungry Ghost Festival looming just a little over the horizon, shops are preparing to boost sales of their joss papers and products through promotions and coupons distribution.
Goldpaper.sg, an online shop selling joss products, was distributing coupons with a promo code for their offerings packages.
Facebook user Zulkarnain Sadali shared onto his profile the coupons that they were distributing, calling it “racially offensive”.
The coupon was designed to look just like the Singapore $10 note, with the store’s logo on it, with a cheeky “Xingapore” stated at the bottom, instead of “Singapore”.
The controversial element of the fake note was Yusof Ishak’s portrait being edited to look like the Chinese deity, God of Fortune.
The owner of the shop has since culled distribution of the coupons amid a flurry of criticism and he argued that the coupons were merely for publicity, he had no ill intent.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore states that reproduction of currency images does not require the agency’s permission if it is done for illustrations on currency-receiving machines, or as an advertisement or publication for education, or in news or factual reports.
MAS also states that the reproduction of currency should not distort images of the president or any national symbol.
