Uh oh, it seems like BBC is under fire for a silly mistake.
The British public broadcaster recently took to Facebook to share a video compilation of some of their favourite moments at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the video, BBC highlighted the moment when Singapore’s Joseph Schooling beat gold medalist Michael Phelps in the men’s 100m butterfly final. Other highlighted moments include Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt and Canada’s Andre De Grasse’s “bromance”, the selfie between the South Korean and North Korean gymnasts, and the green diving pool.
The descriptive text read:
“Joseph Schooling of Malaysia can’t believe he has beaten Michael Phelps in the Men’s butterfly final.”
And of course, netizens being netizens, pointed out the mistake in the comments. One Facebook user known as Murphy wrote, “Hmmmmm. I think you will find Schooling is from Singapore and not Malaysia. Disappointed BBC, this is huge news for them. First ever gold medal in the Olympics, rather important to them. Hope they don’t see that you said he was from Malaysia”.
Just in case you didn’t know, Schooling’s mother is from Perak, Malaysia.
Although the error was corrected within an hour, screenshots of the mistake have been making its round in social media.
Many Singaporean netizens found it offensive, leaving harsh comments such as “You’re BBC, don’t make such mistakes lah” and “BBC? Woah. Next thing we know, we become all potatoes” while some Malaysians, who found it funny that Schooling was referred to as a Malaysian, wrote, “Well at least we hypothetically won a gold”.
Other comments include:
Well, we’re glad that BBC sorted their mistakes in a jiffy. Though we understand why Singaporeans are pretty angry about it, at least most of us still got a pretty good laugh at it, right?
P/s: Joseph Schooling got a cool new tattoo. Check it out:
What do you think about BBC’s mistake? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Sources: Yahoo Singapore, BBC News’ Facebook page, NST / Featured image: CNA.
