The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched its SG50 commemorative notes sets today with much fanfare as Singaporeans queued up at banks all over the island to get their hands on a set of limited edition SG50 notes. However, this launch has now been marred by an embarassing misspelling of the name of Singapore's first President Yusof Ishak in the packaging.
The error, which occurs twice, appears on the folder and in an enclosed booklet. In both places, the name of Singapore's President Yusof Ishak is spelt "Yusok Ishak".
The late Yusof Ishak's portrait is on both the $50 and $10 notes. The notes themselves do not have any errors.
Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS apologized to Singaporeans today and said that he took full responsibility for the spelling mistake.
"This should never have happened, is not acceptable, and I take full responsibility. I apologise on behalf of my colleagues who worked hard to prepare the notes and folders but are deeply disappointed that we made this most unfortunate mistake. We will put this right," he said.
A spokesman for MAS added it is now printing stickers to replace the misspelt part of the name. The stickers will be affixed to the folders from next Tuesday.
The commemorative notes can be exchanged at face value at nine major retail banks including DBS Bank/POSB, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, and United Overseas Bank.
Those who have already got the commemorative notes may also obtain the same stickers from the banks.
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