Raffles Girls' School (RGS) said on Friday, Oct. 25 that a condescending comment attributed to its spokesman as reported by The New Paper (TNP), was indeed made by a staff member -- but that individual was not a school spokesperson who should be quoted.

TNP's Oct. 22 report, "Raffles Girls' School moves to new home", included the comment at the end of the article.

The quote said: "Moving away from the luxurious condominiums in Orchard Road will allow our girls to reach out more to the ordinary Singaporean."

The story was about RGS moving from Anderson Road in Orchard to 2 Braddell Rise in Bishan.

The comment was called out online for being tone-deaf and socially divisive.

RGS responds to hullabaloo

In response to media queries from CNA and Today, the school’s director of communications and partnership, Lee Su Yin, said on Friday: “We would like to clarify that The New Paper’s report had referenced an informal conversation with a staff member who was not the school’s spokesperson.”

The staff member had also never “identified himself as such to the reporter”, she added.

Lee also clarified what the comment was supposed to mean.

She said: “In his off-the-record comments to the reporter, he had intended to convey that the move would allow students to engage more deeply with the local community, given the school’s proximity to the Braddell area.”

The New Paper disputes RGS' version of events

In response to CNA and Today queries, TNP gave a completely different account of what occurred that does not cohere with the school's version of events.

The TNP's editor Lim Han Ming said: "Our reporter spoke to the RGS staff, who confirmed the quote and asked for it to be attributed to an RGS spokesman."

The quote in TNP's report was almost immediately panned the moment it was published as it reeked of elitism.

Background

RGS moved from its Anderson Road campus to 2 Braddell Rise on Monday, Oct. 21.

RGS is now connected to Raffles Institution via an overhead bridge linking the bus stops on both sides of Braddell Road.

The new S$90 million campus was co-funded by the school and the Ministry of Education.