EVERYONE gave their two cents worth over what they thought was a fake $10 note.
It's darker, the letters look wrong, it feels rough.
Though the note turned out to be real, the very idea it could be fake caused a mini commotion at the temporary Tekka Market along Race Course Road last Friday.
It all started when hawker Yap Lian Huat was counting his earnings at home last week and came across a $10 bill that looked unusual.
Suspecting that it was a fake note, Mr Yap decided to show it to others to see their reaction.
The 60-year-old said: 'I didn't tell my son and neighbour that I thought it was fake, but I just showed them to see what they (would) say.'
The hawker has been selling nasi lemak and mee siam at a rented stall in Tekka Market for over a year and has been at the temporary site for a week.
His son, Mr Jackie Yap, who used to work as a police officer, was also fooled by the note.
The 32-year-old, who now works as a driver, said: 'The colour was different and the letter 'O' in the word Singapore on the back looked like a letter 'C'.
'The lion head on the front was also faded. Maybe it was just an old note.'
The polymer $10 note that had caused his father's distress had a darker red tint than all of his other polymer notes.
There was also a purple tint on the big number '10' next to the picture of former president Yusof Ishak, instead of a brown tint.
The picture looked slightly broader than the other notes and the imprint of the national coat of arms on the golden lion head was not very clear.
NERVOUS
Sensing that something was amiss, Mr Yap's son called the police and the media to inform them about the note.
When The New Paper team arrived at the temporary Tekka Market last Friday to look at the alleged fake note, vendors and customers there started getting edgy.
They checked their earnings in containers and money in their wallets to make sure they did not have notes which looked like the alleged fake note.
The group of about 10 people started commenting on Mr Yap's note and feeling it.
A middle-aged man, who did not want to be named, said: 'Yes, you can feel it is much rougher.'
Mr Yap is especially wary of fake notes.
'A few months ago,' he said, 'I got a $50 note. But I told the guy that it was a fake one and he went away'.
However, he could not verify if it was indeed fake.
Checks by The New Paper after the Tekka Market visit confirmed that Mr Yap's $10 note is real.
Mr Yap could not be contacted, but his son, on being told the news, said: 'It would help if the media can publish (some pointers to help tell) if a note was real or fake. That would help the older folks, especially.'
This article was first published in The New Paper on 19 June 2008.
