A picture of a banner put up by Tampines Town Council has been trending on social media, with some asserting that the banner compares cleaners to robots while others say the wording on the banner is simply misconstrued.
The banner is located somewhere in Tampines GRC – most likely in the Changkat community of Tampines since the banner is put up below a “Happy Deepavali” message by PAP MP Desmond Choo who oversees the Changkat area.
Featuring an image of a robot completing cleaning chores, the banner says “NO CLEANERS DAY. Every 1st Sunday of the month. EVEN ROBOTS NEED THEIR REST. Play your part in keeping Tampines clean while the true unsung heroes of our estate take a break.”
The image was apparently sent by a netizen named Eric to Facebook page All Singapore Stuff. The Facebook page wrote: “This is how the powers that be sees the non-elites. Cleaners they say are robots.”
Many online appeared to take a similar view and felt that the wording on the banner compares cleaners to robots. Over 100 people have reacted to the picture on social media while nearly 70 netizens have shared the image on their own Facebook pages.
Others, however, have urged netizens to refrain from “twisting” the authorities’ words and pointed out that the message means that since even robots need rest, then how much more do human cleaners need rest:
This is how the powers that be sees the non-elites. Cleaners they say are robots. KNN!<Reader contribution by Eric>
Posted by All Singapore Stuff on Friday, 23 November 2018