‘Die-In Area’ Banner at Lower Delta Road for Essential Workers was Digitally Altered

It’s alright to crack jokes and make light of a gloomy situation, but there’s a fine line between being funny and being insensitive.

And unfortunately, this creator has crossed the line.

‘Die-In Area’ Banner at Lower Delta Road for Essential Workers was Digitally Altered

A banner was put up at 48A Lower Delta Road’s pavilion, indicating that it was an area meant for taxi drivers and delivery riders to have a place to rest and eat their food.

This comes after the new COVID-19 regulations, which barred residents from dining in at all eateries. Since the announcement, Community Centres (CCs) and other places have been adopted as a space for workers on the move to chow down their meals.

The Straits Times reports that shopping malls and other private establishments have also segmented areas for essential workers such as cabbies, private-hire drivers and safe distancing ambassadors to dine-in and rest.

At Beo Crescent, the residents’ network had worked with the Jalan Besar Town Council to set up the dine-in area. This was where the banner—which read “Dine-In Area for Taxi Drivers and Delivery Riders”—was hung up.

However, altered images of the banner began spreading around on social media, now reading “Die-In Area” instead.

On Facebook, the Beo Crescent Residents’ Network wrote that they were “very disappointed that there are netizens who chose to ignore our good intentions and spread such falsehood during this period.”

They hoped that users would ignore the tampered picture and continue to support the local hawkers, taxi drivers and delivery riders during this period.

Read their full Facebook post, here.

In addition, Ms Josephine Teo, Member of Parliament for the area, was alerted by the grassroots leaders at Beo Crescent Residents’ Network about the doctored image. She took to Facebook to slam the creator, saying that the “distorted wording is done in poor taste.”

Also considering the crappy quality of the edit, she’s not wrong.

“What does the ‘author’ hope to achieve?” she questioned.

She then praised Beo Crescent’s market and hawker centre, highlighting that the dine-in area was a collective effort to support both hawkers and essential workers on the move.

Doubling down on her stance, she added, “So this ‘author’ thinks it is creative? Far from it. Please put your energies to better use. Even if you don’t have the capacity to help others like the RN doing good, don’t spend your time and effort subtracting from it. They deserve better.”

Indeed, they deserve better. Maybe she’ll keep this in mind when no one dares to demand an apology from her next time.

Who knows, maybe she’ll demand an apology from the ‘author’ too.

Featured Image: Facebook (Beo Crescent Residents’ Network)