Robinsons' 'broken' Chinese on CNY decorations has people scratching their heads

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Robinsons’ Chinese New Year decor isn’t the only thing that’s red.

The department store chain was also left red-faced after netizens took to Facebook on Wednesday (Jan 15) to call it out for the nonsensical Chinese phrases it had on display as part of its festive decorations.

Photos shared on the Facebook page SinChineseSg showed two banners that appeared to be displayed at the entrance of a Robinsons store at Raffles City.

The banners read ‘Cai Bao Dao Fa’ and ‘Huan Le Dao Xiao’ which loosely translate to ‘Wealth treasure arrives prosper’ and ‘Happiness joy arrives smile’.

Confused? You’re not the only one.

The awkwardly phrased greetings which made little sense left many Mandarin-speaking netizens scratching their heads.

The problem? The wording is grammatically incorrect, “very localised” and may be difficult for foreigners to understand, a Chinese Studies lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic told Shin Min Daily News. 

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