People Accused Tampines Town Council of ‘Stealing’ Design for Their 2023 Calendar

Last Updated on 2022-12-26 , 1:25 pm

Some Tampines residents are accusing the Tampines Town Council of plagiarising from local artist Li Xinli’s ‘SGUnited’ paintings, and both the Town Council and Li Xinli have since responded.

Here’s what happened.

SGUnited VS Tampines Goes Farming

On the cover of the 2023 desk calendar by the Tampines Town Council, the illustration depicts an HDB corridor with neighbours interacting and holding plants.

Image: Shin Min Daily News

In Li Xinli’s 2020 drawing, an HDB corridor is painted at the same angle, with characters wearing masks greeting each other.

Image: Li Xinli

Do you think that these two illustrations look similar?

Many Tampines residents believed that the Town Council plagiarised Li’s work, and informed both the Town Council and Li about it.

Don’t Intend to Pursue Further Action

Li stated that he was informed by fans about the similarities, but said that he wouldn’t take further action.

“I don’t know the story behind [the calendar illustration], but I don’t intend to ask the relevant authorities about it. This kind of thing like plagiarism and not attributing artists for commercial use is common, and there have been several similar incidents in the past,” stated Li.

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Town Council Explains

The Tampines Town Council explained that they had the design theme “Farming Tampines”, and wanted to show the kampong spirit of neighbours planting together and sharing their harvests.

They revealed that Tampines would soon undergo a pilot project for corridor farming, which is why they chose to depict a corridor in the illustration. Definitely, no intentional plagiarism going on here. 

Additionally, the background of the illustration shows Tampines’ farming projects, like their rooftop and vertical high-tech farms.

Responding to criticisms about plagiarism, the Town Council stated that these accusations “means that the cover design of the calendar conveys the theme of unity, which Li’s art also demonstrates.”

Basically, they’re saying that it isn’t plagiarism, but that the two works convey similar vibes lah. 

After reading both sides of the story, do you think that this is a case of plagiarism?

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Featured Image: Shin Min Daily News