National Day T-shirts with missing star sold at FairPrice Xtra outlet; FairPrice apologises and removes the product

SINGAPORE: Spot the difference: A Singaporean, Joseph, was puzzled when he noticed a mistake in one design of the National Day T-shirts being sold at a major retailer in Singapore, the FairPrice Xtra outlet.

The T-shirt, part of the Surfers Paradise brand in the red-and-white National Day 2023 theme, appeared to be missing one star instead of five.

FairPrice has since apologised for the error and removed the product from the outlets.

Joseph shared his bizarre discovery with the local media outlet STOMP. On 22 July, He had come across the National Day 2023 merchandise items at the FairPrice Xtra outlet in the shopping mall Jem.

While browsing through the merchandise, Joseph and his friend noticed that the National Day 2023 theme T-shirts were missing one star.

The T-shirt was priced at S$12.90 and featured the print “1965 Together as one,” with the crescent moon and stars from the Singapore flag superimposed on the “19.”

In contrast, the print on the other white shorts product was correct.

Source: Stomp

The meaning of the five stars on Singapore’s national flag

According to Singapore’s National Heritage Board, Singapore National Flag’s red and white bears a unique symbolic meaning. Red stands for universal brotherhood and equality of man. White symbolises pervading and everlasting purity and virtue.

The crescent moon represents a young nation on the ascendant, and the five stars depict Singapore’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality.

When commenting on Stomp’s Facebook post, netizens shared their amusement and raised concerns about the T-shirt manufacturer’s involvement of ‘foreign talent’ or outsourcing the design and printing process overseas.

They vocally emphasized that such an error was highly disappointing and hard to overlook.

The designer addressed the missing star issue

In a subsequent report by STOMP, it was confirmed that the T-shirt with the missing star has been promptly removed from sale by Surfers Paradise, the brand responsible for producing the tees.

In response to the issue, the designer issued a statement on Monday (July 31), explaining that the initial design featured five stars, and unfortunately, the error went unnoticed until the launch.

“We immediately withdrew the collection a week ago when our staff told us about it. We deeply value the accuracy and detail of our design, and this oversight does not reflect our standards.”

The designer also suspected that the vendor’s rush to meet the deadline contributed to the omission of one star, alongside an oversight during the quality control process.

A spokesperson for FairPrice Group also addressed the matter, stating, “We are aware of the feedback regarding the misprinted National Day T-shirts. ”

The product has already been removed from their outlets, and they sincerely apologise for the error.

“We acknowledge that we can do better in preventing such errors. Customers who have purchased the T-shirt can return them at the same store of purchase with the receipt.”