Local Designer Called Out SIA For Allegedly Copying & Selling His Design Without Permission

‘Eh bro, can copy your homework anot?’ is a line that we have all come to known, and dread (it depends on which side of the statement you’re on, actually).

And imagine that out of your own blood, sweat, tears and utmost generosity, you lend that piece of homework to that one guy.

And it comes back looking exactly the same.

Or even worst still…

You’re supposed to be the one asking. 

Copycat or Not?

Take a look at this.

Bring home this exclusive collectible by Funko, featuring the Singapore Girl dressed in the airline’s signature sarong kebaya. This figure stands at 11.5cm tall. Packed in an illustrated window box.

Exclusive, they wrote.

However, that was not what local designer Keith Lee thought.

In fact, he took to Facebook to call out the Singapore Airlines (SIA) for allegedly selling an altered version of his design of the Singapore Girl figurine.

Here’s What Happened

On the 23 Feb 2019 (Saturday), Keith Lee posted a side-to-side comparison of his design of the Singapore Girl, juxtaposed to that which is being sold on the airline’s web shop, KrisShop, at 29 SGD.

What we got here looks like some old fashioned tracing work.

His claims were further expounded in the post’s comments.

Keith mentioned that he pitched the idea of a Singapore Girl figurine to SIA in 2015 as part of the SG50 celebrations. The pitch was done in collaboration with toy company Funko, which manufactures collectible figurine.

He also previously made designs that were commissioned by the SIA.

In the screenshot below, it was made known to the public that the SIA had rejected the idea pitch on the basis that ‘the profit margin is too low‘ and there was ‘potential cannibalising of sales of Precious Moments figurines‘.

He is also greatly dissatisfied with the fact that the figurine is still up for sale, without any acknowledgement of his work.

Enter DexterMama Goh

Matters got more complicated with the introduction of another Facebook user by the name of ‘DexterMama Goh’. And with absolutely no comments on the absurdity of the name, I shall continue to report this event with great objectivity.

She claims to be the original creator of the Singapore Girl design, which if true, renders Keith’s claims invalid.

And when Keith proposed to see the design, what was shared resembled almost exactly the current figurine sold in KrisShop.

She added that she had been the one to first pitch the idea of a Singapore Girl figurine in early 2015.

However, despite repetitive requests from Keith and other commentors, the user in question did not provide timestamps of when the drawing was first produced, to prove when her pitch had been submitted.

What SIA Said

According to Business Insider, SIA is already aware of the allegations and was “following up on the matter closely”

They added, We confirm that the item in question is based on an original design by a vendor we work closely with

Ever since then, both parties then stopped posting comments, citing instructions from lawyers.

As most stories go, we know that this is not the end of the saga. In fact, I’m sure that there is more news to be revealed.

And until then…