British tabloid mistakes Singapore as part of China in F1 calendar

SINGAPORE - You would have thought the Brits would get it right about Singapore.

After all, the little red dot of an island in South-east Asia was part of the British Empire until the 1960s, and still is part of the Commonwealth.

A Singapore-like economy was even floated as a possibility when they were dealing with Brexit some years ago.

But, like some travellers that Singaporeans meet on their sojourns abroad, British tabloid The Sun appears to have mistaken the Republic - a sovereign nation - as a part of China, despite the fact that the two countries are almost 3,800km apart.

In its June 1 article titled Lewis Hamilton should only go to Ferrari if they almost double his salary in mammoth offer claims F1 expert, an accompanying graphic listing the races on the 2023 Formula One calendar displayed China's flag next to the Singapore Grand Prix, to be held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sept 17.

A similar graphic appeared in at least one other article by the publication on June 4 about the F1 season ahead of the June 18 Canadian Grand Prix.

The error was highlighted by an anonymous user on Facebook page Complaint Singapore on Friday (June 9).

In the comments on the post, user Willie Tan said: "I am not surprised... I have foreigners asking me if Singapore is part of China."

Flag blunders at sporting events are not new.

At the 2023 SEA Games, the flags of Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam were unintentionally displayed upside down during the opening ceremony, prompting an apology from the Cambodian organisers.

The Straits Times has contacted The Sun for comment.

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