PA sorry for using couple's photo

The People's Association (PA) has apologised for using a wedding photograph of a Malay/Muslim couple as a standee for Hari Raya decorations at an HDB estate in Tiong Bahru, without permission.

It has removed the standee.

The photo - of the couple wearing traditional Malay garb with elements of wedding symbols - was used to create a standee alongside a decorative platform and banner depicting Mr Melvin Yong, MP for Radin Mas, and his Hari Raya wishes for residents.

In a number of Instagram stories and a post on Friday, Ms Sarah Bagharib, 30, said two friends alerted her to the use of the photo. Neither the photographer - nor she and her husband - had been approached to give consent. The couple tied the knot in 2017.

Ms Sarah, who works in communications, told The Sunday Times that beyond the disregard for her privacy, what enraged her was how the image was "caricatured for entertainment and amusement". "They blew it up and cut out our faces, and used it... to celebrate Hari Raya, a cultural event which is not even related to the photo."

In a statement, PA said Radin Mas Constituency Office (CO) engaged a vendor, Warabi Enterprise (Art Studio), to design and put up Hari Raya decorations at the Tiong Bahru Orchid estate. The vendor used the photo from an online source.

The decorations, including the standee, were then put up by Radin Mas CO.

Ms Sarah said: "I felt it is really rude... Regardless of whether it was a third-party vendor (who downloaded and used the photo), it is a government agency involved. The PA is meant to be a statutory board that seeks to promote social cohesion and harmony in Singapore."

PA said the association, including Radin Mas CO, "takes responsibility for this error as we had oversight of the matter, and the decorations were allowed to be put up".

Ms Sarah e-mailed Mr Yong, Tanjong Pagar Town Council and PA's chief executive director Lim Hock Yu on Friday.

She said Mr Lim replied and apologised, and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong also apologised to her, via a private message. Mr Tong is also deputy chairman of the PA.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Yong apologised for the breach of copyright and acknowledged that the choice of a wedding photo to depict Hari Raya festivities was inappropriate.

"Our internal review processes will need to be significantly strengthened and we are reviewing how we can do things better so that such issues do not happen again," he wrote.

Ms Sarah said: "(They need) to highlight what they will do beyond 'taking it more seriously' - what processes there will be such that incidents like this will not be repeated."