Advertising is a funny thing, isn’t it? I’ve worked in publishing for nine years and in that time I’ve seen a lot of thought provoking, silly, and sometimes downright ridiculous advertising that should never have seen the light of day. My all-time, Number 1 Favourite, was from a Dutch agricultural company. They had paid top dollar to have a full colour, full page ad in a magazine yet, displaying the blinding stupidity and stinginess which characterises so many companies whose margins are growing faster than their business sense, they chose to translate the material from Dutch to English themselves, i.e., into Dinglish. The message they wanted to convey was that they took such good care of their customers, that no-one else could do a better job. What they actually printed was (and I’m not kidding, this is true)…. “We Couldn’t Care Less”.
Here in Singapore the government is also keen on producing it’s own particular brand of advertising, especially when it comes to getting across moral messages to the general populace. Something which strikes me after living here for a couple of months is that there is a very strong sense of communal belief and behaviour, a sort of herd mentality that drives people in the same direction and – I’m guessing – represses individual behaviour and encourages conforming to ‘the norm’. It’s kind of a strange contradiction to what I was talking about in my last post, the extreme tolerance and understanding for different cultures and religions. On the one hand you are free to express your own opinions as an individual, but on the other hand you must conform to the group norm. They strongly believe that it is only through a concerted group effort – a kind of mass consciousness that drives them in one common direction - that the country can progress, and hey, given the dramatic economic progress the country has made since declaring independence in 1965, who am I to argue? Compared to its surrounding neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia, this is a utopia of democracy and wealth. And yet…you know those mass co-ordinated displays of unity you see on t.v. from China with everyone wearing red pyjamas and doing Tai Chi together? I could imagine that happening here, although the people would have a polite smile on their faces.
Anyway, I digress. I was talking about advertising, and specifically the local government advertising. Anyone who has been to Singapore will remember the signs “$500 fine for littering”, $1000 fine for possessing chewing gum!” (seriously), “$500 fine for not flushing public toilet”, etc. OK these aren’t strictly ads but I’m talking about general signage as well.
Then there are the little gems which I suppose fall under the umbrella of community messages. Large billboards instruct you to “help the elderly” and offer them your seat on the MRT (the Singaporean equivalent of the Underground). And my two personal favourites so far: a billboard of a car running a red light with the message “YOU MIGHT BEAT THE LIGHTS…BUT YOU CAN’T BEAT FATE”. How cool is that? Although considering that probably over half of the population believe in pre-determination** that’s kind of asking for a rebuttal, don’t you think?
And my all time winner so far, although I am willing to revise this if I find a better one: A reckless motorbike driver is pictured swerving around a car in the face of oncoming traffic, with huge red-lettered text beneath: “YOU CAN BEAT THE TRAFFIC…BUT YOU CAN’T BEAT DEATH”.
I just wish they had included a cool little black silhouette of a Grim Reaper, that would have made it perfect. Obviously I haven’t been raised in the respectful and law abiding culture that the locals have been because these signs just crack me up. Not doubt some of you reading this will be thinking “what’s so funny, that’s a serious message” and for you all, I apologise. Humour is a funny thing, and when it comes to tickling my funny bone, you can’t beat death.
**In Eastern philosophy, the predetermined nature of life is sometimes referred to as the law of karma. Whatever happens is considered to be predetermined. There is no freedom. According to the predeterminists, the fact that you may feel free is irrelevant. How you feel has nothing to do with what actually is. Your feelings and actions, like anything else in nature, are predetermined.
1 comment:
Hi Joanne,
I chanced upon your blog while scanning through blogs of expats in Singapore - to do with thesis research on wet markets, it's a long story. I enjoyed your 'hairy fruits' post so much I browsed around more! I'm really glad you seem to appreciate Singapore a lot.
Just my two cents' - I agree with you on our signage and community messages, I think the traffic police's public education department need an injection of creativity! For others, on public transport for instance, perhaps the relevant authorities figure that a straightforward instruction works best. I've been pleasantly surprised that the campaign to get people to stand to one side on the escalator if they're not walking seems to have worked well. In general, in MRT stations at least.
Anyway the original response I was inspired towards was about the law of karma or predetermination. I don't think you've summed it up quite accurately. The law of karma isn't as autocratically deterministic as the notion of fate often implies; it may be better described as a realist philosophy that all things have causes and consequences. The oft-heard attribution of an event to 'good/bad karma' is in some ways a pat statement, almost one of resignation, similar to 'what goes round comes round'.
The law of karma doesn't imply that everyone's life is a tapestry already designed just spinning out over time (to allude to the Ancient Greek image of Fate), rather it is a very grounded way of thinking about life, one that encourages people to consider all their actions and be prepared to face their consequences. How these consequences play out is of course a multi-factorial open ending and may be influenced by any number of other actions, people and circumstances.
It all then seems a terribly obvious statement, but I suppose those who really always look before they leap remain rare amongst us. And that may not be a bad thing, for we would only need that many people of gravitas around. On the other hand, this attitude doesn't altogether eschew spontaneity in life... but I'm going off on a rather long tangent here.
Hope I haven't been too garrulous! Hope you keep enjoying Singapore!
Regards,
Tse Yin
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