SG sport team put National Flag over private part, Majulah Singapura!

[mentor_LEE]

http://www.todayonline.com/Sports/EDC101125-0000132/Spore-water-polo-team-sorry-for-design-of-trunks

S'pore water polo team 'sorry for design of trunks'
by Philip Goh Haw Hann
05:55 AM Nov 25, 2010
SINGAPORE - The Republic's water polo team head into their final match at 3.55pm today, aiming to finish their Asian Games campaign on a high.

Win or lose the battle for fifth place with Kuwait, it will be the last time they will wear their current swimming trunks.

The unfortunate placement of the crescent moon and five stars of the Singapore flag on the front of their trunks caused an unnamed Singapore official in Guangzhou to tell The New Paper that it looked "obscene".

According to Carol Tan, the resilience and marketing division director at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, the team did not seek the Ministry's advice on the use of the crescent moon and stars when they designed the trunks.

Said Tan yesterday: "We would have told them that their design is inappropriate as we want elements of the Flag to be treated with dignity.

"This is because many Singaporeans recognise these elements as representing the Singapore Flag.

"We have spoken with the SSC (Singapore Sports Council) and was informed that the team is apologetic and had meant no disrespect.

"We understand that, under competition rules, they may have difficulty switching to another set of trunks for their match (today).

"We wish them well and hope that they will do Singapore proud."

When contacted by MediaCorp, team manager Samuel Wong said: "There was no question of being disrespectful to Singapore or to the national flag. We sincerely apologise if it has offended anyone."

Singaporeans came out in support of the team.

Said Anita Gupta, 28, a marketing manager: "It's another depiction of the Singapore flag, a more sportsman's way of being patriotic. I don't think it's disrespecting the flag, the athletes should be allowed some leeway."

Research company director Katrina Goh added: "The boys did it out of patriotism and pride rather than a joke. It would be offensive if someone wears it to streak down Orchard Road. In the context of representing the nation, I don't see what's wrong."

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S'pore water polo team. PHOTO COURTESY OF SINGAPORE SPORTS COUNCIL
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S'pore water polo team. PHOTO COURTESY OF SINGAPORE SPORTS COUNCIL
Copyright © MediaCorp Press Ltd

 

[†††††]

they should create a bra version for ladies

 

[TemaseX]

they should create a bra version for ladies

CB is better still :p

 

[flkyflky]

This should be done on PAP flag.

 

[po2wq]

they should create a bra version for ladies

a g-string is oso goot! ... :o

 

[KuanTi01]

It's called rising to the occasion! Hormat senjata. All come back will be duly rewarded for their patriotism.

 

[wahlaneh]

wahlaneh...
malulah singapura!:o

 

[PAP_bleach]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE6AO02I20101125

Games-Skimpy trunks' design causes Singapore blushes

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An athlete from Singapore's men's water polo team wears a swimming trunk with the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon detail on the front, at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 25, 2010. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: SPORT WATER POLO SOCIETY)

An athlete from Singapore's men's water polo team wears a swimming trunk with the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon detail on the front, at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 25, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: SPORT WATER POLO SOCIETY)

By Ian Ransom

GUANGZHOU, China | Thu Nov 25, 2010 4:45am EST

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - The skimpy trunks sported by Singapore's men's water polo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces back home in the conservative city-state, with many embarrassed by their design.

The trunks display the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon on the front of the red briefs in what has been described as an inappropriate fashion.

The design -- lambasted by readers of Singapore's Straits Times newspaper as "disgusting", "nauseating" and "disgraceful" among other terms -- had not been approved by the country's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (Mica), which governs the use of the flag.

"We would have told them that their design is inappropriate, as we want elements of the flag to be treated with dignity," Singapore media quoted a Mica marketing official as saying.

Few Internet users had given the trunks the thumbs up, many seeing them an insult to the Southeast Asian nation's dignity.

"There are 1000s of ways to show patroitism (sic) but sadly regrettably the chap who designed these trunks choose to do it in this disgusting and disrespecting way," one post read on the Straits Times website (www.straitstimes.com).

The trunks had also left the water polo team red-faced but ultimately powerless to do anything about it.

"The competition rules state that the trunks must be presented at that start of competition and they must be used throughout the tournament," Jose Raymond, the Singapore delegation's head of public relations told Reuters.

"The team can't use other trunks."

Singapore will play a Kuwait team competing under the banner of the International Olympic Committee in a battle for fifth place on Thursday at Guangzhou's Tianhe Natatorium.

Raymond said the team were "apologetic if they've offended anyone in any way... they meant the flag no disrespect."

Raymond also confirmed the trunks' design would be tweaked upon the team's return home, after local media quoted a Singapore swimming official saying the crescent moon was supposed to be placed "more towards the side."

"Mica has given the team permission to use the trunks and then have them redesigned when they get back," he said.

China will battle Kazakhstan for the men's gold later on Thursday.

 

[virtualchick]

Oh my god. It is such bad design. It is not even symbolic, it is literally the singapore flag on trunks. This reminds me of a beauty pageant where the winning gown was an orchid flower. Why do the designs have to represent something so literally? Is it not good enough to have the national colour, maybe red, with maybe a small symbol, like a star or an orchid somewhere, instead of something so symbolic and in your face that you can see from miles away? What happened to understated elegance? Any layman can see that it doesn't look nice, without understanding the meaning behind it. I think as long as I can see Singaporeans represented, I would be proud if they were to stand there in plain trunks.