New Delhi: A signage here meant to guide people to the Singapore Embassy had a glaring spelling error that caught the eye of none other than Singapore’s High Commissioner to India Simon Wong. On Sunday, Wong promptly posted a picture of it on ‘X’ (previously Twitter) with a friendly reminder: a spell check is must before putting up a sign.
The signage, which was near the Embassy of Vietnam in Chanakyapuri, referred to Singapore as ‘Singapur’. Wong tagged the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and wrote, “It is always good to spell check first.”
Social media users reacted to his post by telling the diplomat that spelling errors of the kind were not an uncommon sight in Delhi.
One even called it a “national embarrassment”, while another joked that this was an attempt by the central government to give a “desi twist” to the name.
😂 NDMC has given the Singapore an India twist in the name – Singapur like Rampur. Hope they correct it soon to avoid any further embarrassment. https://t.co/zps8uBDAil
— Agrim Tyagi (@wild_viper104) October 8, 2023
National Embarrassment!
I know not the one who should talk about spelling mistake.… but mine are only on Twitter.
But my work is scrutinised by scientist B C D E F G H.. I would be out of a job if I draft regulations and policies with such silly mistakes. https://t.co/LyQEuVMg2h
— Bhaumik Gowande-Sathaye (@desiCityPlanner) October 8, 2023
The NDMC was quick to react and fixed the error, but the correction was not very neat for some who then pointed out that the ‘O’ in Singapore looked more like a zero.
Glad to know that its fixed (although the O is very big).
Probably they took @SGinIndia’s literally and just fixed the spelling. Nothing to do with asthetics😂@MCD_Delhi you could have done a better job!
Chalo koi nahin! Thanks for the quick fix. https://t.co/hzQTrcWBFR
— Ankit Raj Shrivastava 🇮🇳 (@AnkitRajBharat) October 8, 2023
According to a report by news agency PTI, when asked about the spelling error on the signage, an NDMC official said, “The painter was given the wrong spelling and he painted according to what he was given. We are trying to find out how it happened. However, as soon as the issue was brought to our notice through social media, we rectified it.”
The NDMC, which oversees the maintenance of signage in the national capital, replied to Wong’s post on X, saying, “Necessary corrections have been made”. Wong, in turn, thanked the civic body for the “quick fix”.
Thank you for the quick fix. 🙏🙏HC Wong@tweetndmc @MCD_Delhi pic.twitter.com/VziXyYPpV3
— Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) October 8, 2023
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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