A Singaporean designer has taken issue with a government brief posted on procurement portal GeBiz that insists that the supplier must be prepared to make unlimited changes that are completed within two days.

Kelley Cheng, a designer with publishing and design consultancy The Press Room, posted on her Facebook page this afternoon: “Multiple Demands for Unlimited Changes for Design Services on Gebiz. As a designer, I Protest, Do you? Please share this post if you are against Unlimited Changes – Be the Change you want to see in the world.”

The top image she posted from GeBiz is as follows:

Commenters on Facebook also pointed out the tenderer’s insistence on looking for a design company “with creative ideas, not a printer”.

The word ‘unlimited’ was used a number of times by the client to demand an unending number of changes to the graphic presentation “if so requested”.

A third screengrab of the tender posted by Cheng again shows the word ‘unlimited’ used liberally to insist on complete flexibility.

Cheng’s post has been widely shared just one hour after it was made. Local blog Mothership.sg picked up the story, using as the slug the words: “We cannot eradicate slavery if this sort of thing continues.”

The response in social media turned to the plight of designers in Singapore to earn a decent living. One Facebooker noted: “These are retrograde procurement procedures emanating from a mindset based on street market practices inconsistent with an economy heading towards value creation.”

Another wrote: “I thought Singapore Design Council is looking into educating gov agencies in best tender practices for the design industry. Maybe they should advise whoever wrote this.”

The issuer of the tender was Whitley Secondary School, online news site The Online Citizen has reported after a search on GeBiz. The project the school had sought design help for was for its 2016 school magazine, handbook for school rules and newsletters.