• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Indian national says ripped flag image a piece of “art” and gives his side of story to CNA

by Correspondent
27/01/2019
in Current Affairs
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

Indian National Avijit Das Patnaik who was fired from DBS five months ago for posting an online image of a Singapore flag being ripped to reveal an Indian flag, gave an interview to Channel NewsAsia recently. The article was published today to give his side of the story (‘A ripped flag image, Internet outrage and a family life destroyed: Avijit Das Patnaik’s story‘, 26 Jan).

In particular, CNA gave a headline to the story describing that his family life has been destroyed.

“I feel like I have committed the greatest crime of the century,” he told CNA. “If you Google my name, there are more hits and searches against my name than against leading terrorists and scamsters.”

CNA described that the consequences of him sharing the image on a Facebook post in August last year have been “devastating for the Singapore Permanent Resident”.

“He’s now jobless and he, along with his wife and two young children, will now likely have to leave the country that’s been their home for the last ten years,” CNA reported.

CNA also reported that he is trying to sell his HDB executive flat. Note that PRs are allowed to buy and own a HDB resale flat.

Avijit: Image was a piece of art and Singaporeans have misinterpreted his intentions

He regrets upsetting so many people but maintains that the image was a piece of art that was open to interpretation. He said that he took the image generated from a third party site and all he did was share it on Singapore Indians & Expats, a Facebook group with 12,000 members. He said the image was already circulating elsewhere on social media.

“It is an interpretation of art, and if we go like this, we are leaving no room for the interpretation of art. Anybody can get offended by anything today,” he lamented.

“On the day that I posted, I was sort of declaring that my body is Singaporean, only my heart remains Indian,” he explained.

Over the years, even his friends from India have felt that he has completely changed and “become loyal to Singapore”, he said.

“That’s the interpretation that my friends have, and that day, I was actually saying yes, my body is now Singaporean,” he added.

“I know when he posted that forwarded picture what his intentions were, and (what) his interpretations were,” his wife chimed in.

He then blamed certain “junk sites” for stoking the fury of the netizens after he shared the image online.

“It was only when certain ‘junk sites’ came out, and gave a very different twist to it (that the problem started). They said this guy has been arrested, and he has created this pic. From there, the problem started, and it was based on false reports,” he claimed.

Such reports stoked the emotions of an already angry online crowd as an arrest would have made the whole issue more serious and made him look more culpable, he explained.

Avijit all for Singapore

In any case, the former vice-president at DBS still said that he loves Singapore and its cultures, and that Singapore is the “best country in the world”.

“I can never imagine disrespecting any country or any religion. If you look in my house, you will see Chinese decorations. You will find many Muslim things. We visit mosques. We celebrate Chinese New Year every year, including doing ‘lo hei’ within the family. That’s how we’ve brought our kids up, that you must love every nationality, every race, every religion,” he said.

He highlighted to the CNA’s reporter about his commitment to Singapore and asked:

“Why would I adopt a son here?”

“Why would I not have a home or retirement funds anywhere else in the world?”

“Why would I try to give back by teaching financial literacy in schools and helping construction workers to write letters?”

“We so deeply love the country. We always wanted to be here. We never intended anything like that,” he said.

He and his wife only have a daughter and decided to adopt a son in 2012. This is home to their children but that may have to change in the near future, he said.

They have not decided on their next move, but returning to Mumbai, where they are from, is an option. He said they had wanted to live in Singapore “forever”.

Desperately looking for a job

At the moment, he is desperately looking for a job after DBS let him go last year. He estimated that his curriculum vitae would have reached about 2,500 potential employers.

“Every discussion ends the moment they ask ‘What is your reason for separating from your last job?’,” he told CNA.

Even looking for a job overseas has been difficult, with news of what happened reaching as far as South Africa, the United States and Dubai, he revealed. The moment a potential employer looks him up online, there are only negative things that turn up, which makes it harder to get a job in another country, he said.

“For an expat, his job is everything, his job is his lifeline.”

He has been looking for a position for someone of his experience, and told CNA he would not opt for a job that would leave his family living a “hand-to-mouth” existence. When asked if his wife could work instead, he said she had previously tried applying for jobs as a teacher but was unsuccessful as she does not have the required qualifications.

He was optimistic in getting a job at first but soon becomes depressed.

“I thought there is light, there is clearly light, but the fact is that over the next three or four months I realised that the decision (to be given a warning) doesn’t mean anything for me on the job front,” he told the reporter.

“Our lives have completely fallen apart.”

Because of police reports made against him, he was investigated and, thankfully, only given a warning by the police.

Perhaps some kind employers after reading the story he gave to CNA might want to give him a second chance. What do you think?

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study
AFP

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia
Court Cases

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe
AFP

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

27/01/2023
ASEAN

ASEAN governments must stop using ‘lawfare’ against critics, Southeast Asian MPs say

27/01/2023
Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”
Economics

Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

27/01/2023
Malaysian court sentences man to 1,050 years’ jail, 24 strokes of the cane, for raping stepdaughter 105 times
AFP

Thai court jails activist for 28 years jail for royal defamation

26/01/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

27/01/2023

ASEAN governments must stop using ‘lawfare’ against critics, Southeast Asian MPs say

27/01/2023
Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

Low Yen Ling says MTI and MAS don’t expect persistent inflation but they now say inflation projected to “stay elevated”

27/01/2023
Malaysian court sentences man to 1,050 years’ jail, 24 strokes of the cane, for raping stepdaughter 105 times

Thai court jails activist for 28 years jail for royal defamation

26/01/2023
Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

26/01/2023
KKH’s lack of continuous monitoring baby’s vital signs “was not ideal”, said State Coroner

KKH’s lack of continuous monitoring baby’s vital signs “was not ideal”, said State Coroner

26/01/2023

Trending posts

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
31

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
41

...

Indian national says ripped flag image a piece of “art” and gives his side of story to CNA

by Correspondent
27/01/2019
0

...

“党籍不会过期失效”  前进党称已就党籍终止知会卡拉

AGC asked to explain purposes of 68 private letters of inmates illegitimately forwarded to prosecutors

by The Online Citizen
21/01/2023
16

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
32

...

January 2019
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Dec   Feb »
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz