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SINGAPORE (Heritage (Tourism
spurs economic growth, lucrative
generate…
SINGAPORE
Dark Side of Singapore
Labour Movement
- Championed by NTUC
- In conjunction w/ SNEF, MOM for labour-related issues
- Modernisation of labour movement in 60s: less traditional adversarial unionism, more discussion-based unionism
- Union leaders sit on major statutory boards and actively involved in policy making
- Settle labour disputes w/o strikes
Low Wage Foreign Workers & Maids
- Jobs that SGeans shun
- SGeans prefer to sweep under the rug:
- Alienation from local popu, living and workplace conditions, large fees to labour contractors, circumstances under which they are brought here
- Seen as economic digits, brought to do a job and kept out of trouble.
Transient Workers Count Too
- Non profit Org
- Promotes fair treatment for migrant workers
- Public education: Narration of migrant worker plights (e.g. OT hours)
- Strong lobby groups that influence govt policy
- Acknowledge that prob is multi-faceted; they have limited outreach (cnot address poverty in home cty)
Low Wage Workers
- Left behind in economic race
- Brought country where it is today
- SG high income per capita but >200 000 earn <1000$ a month
Fast-paced and Competitive
- World Economic Forum's Global competitiveness report of >140 economies: SG 2nd most competitive economy in world; one factor scored highly is in education
- World Economic Forum alleged SG has best higher ed. and training systems in the world
- Note: Competitiveness is a relative game; not so much where you are today but where you are compared with others who are also moving fwd
Stressful
- MOM's quarterly labour mkt report in 2014: SG has one of the longest avg working hours in the world; higher than Taiwan and Japan
- Labour legislation: one of the worst max. working hours in the world; 88h for 2 continuous weeks; govts in Korea, Japan, Taiwan are lowering and placing higher imp. on work-life balance
- 3rd most sleep-deprived of the 43 cities profiled in a Jawbone report (US company that make digitised wristband tracking sleep patterns)
- Linked to well-established culture of long working hours
- Kelly Global Workforce Index found that SGeans spend more than 10h for work outside normal hrs, due to uptake of mobile tech. to "stay connected" to work around the clock
- Majority of 4000 SGeans surveyed by OSC (Our SG Conversation) say they want more comfortable, slower pace of life
- Govt worries they don't understand longer-term conseq for the nation
Heritage
"Sanitised" preservation
- tourism is profitable; thus push aside "dark history" that can deter tourists
- in pursuit of a "cleaner" and more attractive narrative
- different racial enclaves: Kampong Glam, Lil India, Chinatown; designed to reduce racial tensions
- more scrupulous can argue: segregating based on race?
- However, SG sells it has preservation of different races' unique qualities
- Fulfils the narrative
Modernisation of heritage
- modernising heritage sight and cause loss of culture and skewed representation of the past
- balance between modernisation and preservation
- rows of shophouses in Chinatown: modern day diners are infused into them
- merges past and present
- rich culture retained but put to better use
Tourism
- spurs economic growth, lucrative
- generate revenue, create new jobs (taxi drivers, hotel management)
- multiracial society like SG attracts tourists from homogenous societies
Funding for Arts
- Universally ack. that a cty in possession of 1st World reputation must also have thriving arts scene
- In SG when it comes to paying for the arts, ppl are less quick to reach for the bill (cpd by dreary economic climate)
- The arts mainly funded by the state in SG, unlike in US where they are largely supported by priv donors and foundations
- 2015: 80% arts and heritage funding in SG provided by govt through state agencies like National Arts Council
- Various forms of support include grants, partnerships, industry facilitation and arts housing
- According to NAC survey, 2% of donors last yr (to various causes) donated to the arts, citing reasons like low awareness and no interest
- Greater private patronage and corporate sponsorship required; financially, or thru providing spaces
- Diff for those in art industries to turn a profit w/o funding; most practitioners struggle to cover costs as is
- Esp. impt in SG as the arts are not self-sustaining and may nvr be given the small mkt
- Despite MCCY announcement of additional $20m to promote Arts in SG, we can hardly be called a hub of artistic creativity
Why the public doesn't pay attn
- Not enough media attn on the arts
- Doesn't foster or sustain public interest
- Big report on arts once a year to publicise major events like Singapore Writers' Fest
- To keep comm. engagement alive, there must be consistent discussion on the arts, if not public will nvr see its value
Pragmatism
- "Bread-and-butter first" mentality, abt work, work, money
- When decide to break, first thing is to go vacation
- Arts does not come to mind, and not seen as smth that improves your QOL
- The potential of arts to entertain, enrich and transform is lost amid the pressing practicalities of daily life
Why we don't donate to Art
- Art has potential to become political minefield; SG govt has stepped in:
- 2005: Withheld licenses for play: Human Lefts by Benny Lim and Brian Gothong Tan until ref. to death penalty removed
- Private and corporate donors wouldn't want to be held accountable
Arts in Schools
- Trend: 1992: ~17000 students took Lit at Olvls, but 2013: ~3000
- 2015: Institute of Policy Studies launched round table discussions w SG Art Museum on cultural policy:
- Pro-Lit camp in SG argued the need to recog. lit's worth: imparts critical thinking skills, makes us more creative and teaches values
- Compared to didactic edn (transmit info and values top-down and fact-based manner), Lit equips students to negotiate the multiplicity of values and belief systems of diverse cultures
- Even tho numbers decreased, Lit still impt core Humanities subject as it helps us understand human nature and impulses for human behaviour
- MOE stated will still cont to sport Lit and encourage schs to offer Lit for a holistic and broad-based edn
Trends
- Edu. reform policies; more avenues for art for students; SOTA, "higher art and higher music" courses open to stud. in mainstream schs, annual National Arts Edu. Award, Yong Siew Toh Cons. of Music in NUS (2001), new diploma courses in arts mgment, theatre pdn design in polys
- Progs in the heartlands encouraging arts; NAC invests ~1mil every yr in collab. w/ comm. dvpt councils to bring arts to the heartlands
- This yr's Yayoi Kus. exhibition at National Gallery SG got lots of attn, optimistic trend?
- Educational lvl and public lvl; but ofc this can be rebutted
Counter
- Actly, more schs offering yet less students are taking up; little shift in mindset that pursuing career in the arts lack financial rewards and sustainability
Other examples
- SG War Memorial: glorifies contributors to WW2, regardless of R,L,R. Educates younger gens on horrors and heroics emerged during Jap Occ.
Religious
- 2014 analysis by Pew Research Center: SG is world's most religiously diverse nation
- More than 80% of population subscribes to a religion
- Census reports: SGeans with no religious affiliations: 1980-13%, 2010-17%, 2015-18.4%,
- Declining religiousity: The no. of non-religious people in SG risen gradually over the decades
Family
- Traditional nuclear family; 2-generation, parents and children
- Since 2014, less than 50% of households in SG
- Outnumbered by married couples w/ no children, married couples living apart from children and one-person households
- Falling birth rate
-
Digitalisation of Brick n Mortar shops
- Order online, go to the shop at allotted time to pick up
- Will not disappear, but must learn to adapt with changing times
The Singaporean Brand
- Display of love for SG identity is implicit
- Through love for SG pdts and symbols, which contribute to the SG brand
- Existence and prosperity of Naiise.(local retailer) suggests there is a sizeable dom mkt that appreciate these uniquely SG gds
- e.g. old hsg apartments, Rochor Centre, Dakota Crescent
- Voices speaking out for the retention of buildings with historical value
- Can be argued that the preference for dom gds is still shadowed by the pref. for foreign gds/cuture
Health
Obesity
- Rising youth obesity rate
- Sedentary lifestyle, high-calorie diets
- Avg SGean is 3kg heavier than 15 yrs ago, and more likely to overeat (2017 HPB study)
- Exercise slightly more, but offset but how much we are eating
- Increasingly sedentary lifestyle even in children
Smartphone Penetration :)
- SG tops Asia-Pacific region that boasts some of the highest smartphone penetration rates
- ~87% of SG's 5.5 mil population own smartphones
- Spend, on avg, 38 minutes per session on FB; almost twice as long as Americans (according to study by Experian)
Green Record
- SG's Building and Construction Authority (BCA) pushing to green 80% of SG buildings by 2030
- Greening of SG buildings is a key component of SG's Climate Action Plan, which seeks to reduce GHG emissions by 2030
- Listed as Asia's most sustainable city in 2016, and 2nd in the world in Arcadis's Sustainable Cities Index (2016)
- Major improvement from 2015 when we were ranked 10th globally
Kids are stressed
- OECD avg global time spent on HW: 5h. SG: 9.4h, 3rd longest
- Finland: 3h
- Samaritans of SG survey: more than 2 teens committed suicide every month (2015)
- 2016: P5 boy committed suicide after failing exams for the first time
Singlehood and Fertility
- More young people staying single; 70% of 25-29 age grp is single
- Hurts fertility bc biological clock is ticking
Causes
- Rising education: increase focus on career
- Sociology prof: Pressure to perform is strong bc the rewards for N are immediate; you get promotion, praise
- No one's going to praise you for looking for a life partner
- $$: parents used to work early and marry by 24; now men graduate at 25 and must pay loans
- Lack of "dating culture" in SG (socio prof's theory)
Solutions
- Bosses must stop encouraging OT; off aircon etc
- Unis can play a part (which they are)
Stats
- Life expectancy: 82 (80 men, 84 women)
- 8 years of ill health
- 1/9 people are diabetic; 2nd nation in DC
- Gateway disease for many problems
Characteristics
Kiasu-ism
- Kiasu-ism lives on with parents' help: when MOE stopped releasing list of PSLE top scorers (2012), parents went on aptly-named website, Kiasuparents and put together their own compilation
- When MOE updated early childhood curriculum (2014); parents asked if learning goals e.g. counting up to 10 were too easy
- 2016: SG kiasu culture got a drubbing (beating) from Nominated MP (Kuik Shiao Yin) who said it was a major block in the way of building a more innovative society; stifles originality in business
- Kiasu culture and fear of failure breeds a subculture of "grantrepreneurs", people who call themselves entrepreneurs but are just grant-chasers;
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/kiasu-culture-is-stifling-originality-in-business-nmp-kuik-shiao-yin
- Sense of being dwarfed by vast neighbours runs deep in national psyche; incite both fear and pride
- 2015 May Day Speech: PM Lee told citizens; to survive, you have to be exceptional. The alternative was "being pushed around, shoved about and trampled upon; that's the end of SG and the end of us"
- Plays into kiasu culture
Uncreative
- 2 most best known names in SG's tech start-up scene: Grab and Garena; founded by entrepreneurs brought up abroad (Msia, China)
- 2011: Apple cofounder Steve Wonziak criticised: Look at structured societies like SG where bad behaviour isn't tolerated; where are the creative ppl/great artists/musicians/writers? All the creative elements seem to disappear
- SkillsFuture initiative: advocates mastery of skills over just collecting qualifications
- Still ranks among Top 20 in the world on Global Innovation Index!
- Entrepreneurship going down; do not dare to take risks despite low corporate income tax!
Risk Averse
- Society's attitude towards failure
- Causes sense of self-worth to plummet; discourage entrepreneurship
- A maverick mindset is required for entrepreneurship; independent mind, unorthodox mind
Meritocratic
- Multiracial society necessitates nondiscriminatory approach, eventually became a principle of governance and national rhetoric
- SG tries to equalise opportunities; not outcomes, and allocate rewards based on individual merit and abilities
- However, once-revered idea of meritocracy has acquired negative overtones due to association with elitism; public servants who were former scholars are continually disparaged (regarded of lil worth) for being increasingly self-regarding elite that seems too int. in staying in power and citizens perceive as arrogant and unresponsive to needs
Rich vs Poor Divide
- Govt's educational motto, abiding by spirit of meritocracy, is that every sch is a good sch
- Not every SG parent subscribes to this belief; there is intense comp. to get into the most prestigious schools e.g. RI
- All schools charge fees; ~$25 which is modest. Independent schools set higher fees, restrict class sizes and design their own curricula; giving them an edge over public schools
Social Mobility
- i.e. movement of one's social status
- Diminishing in SG due to rising cost of education
- In the past: education was a way that poor people could rise
- Become less and less so; costs money to engage in tuition, engage in CCA
- Have to be at least middle-class to have resources to put into your child's education; deep pockets
Focus on Education
- Routinely ranked at or near top in global comparisons of mathematical ability
- Boasts one of the most admired education systems in the world
- 2016: UK announced that half of England's pri schs will adopt style of maths teaching used in SG
- Rely on education to groom our people: LKY stated for SG to prosper and survive "what is required is a rugged, resolute, highly trained, highly disciplined community
- England and US curricula; mile-wide and inch-deep. Teach things at a shallow level; we cover fewer topics but do so in greater depth; effectiveness
- However, SG education earns admiration abroad yet disparaged back home; parents confide fears that exam-oriented system places strain on their children
- Often tutored and at younger ages
- Finland education: emphasises social development ahead of academia in early years; focus on play
- Drawbacks: advanced economies increasingly require soft skills; imagination, daringness to take risks
- System was effective for an era where mass manufacturing provided employment; but now is an age where creativity and innovation bring the greatest career rewards
Aspiring to Holistic Education
- Revamping curricula w/ greater value placed on arts and outdoor education
- PSLE revamp; doing away w/ aggregate score in 2021
- However, takes time for us to move away from academics and preoccupation w/ marks (see kiasuparents)
- Revamp: to sharpen the focus of DSA admission to recognise talent in specific domains than general academic ability
Sleep Deprivation and School Hours
- 4 in 5 teens from top schools don't get enough sleep
- Averaging less than 6 hrs a day
- School schedule, focus on grades
- RGS start school later by 45 min since Mid-2016: according to study by students who wear trackers
- Self-reported sleeping time increased, teachers notice increase in energy in class
Tuition
- Feeding on insecurities of students
- Which feed back into the tuition centre
- Creates a vicious cycle
- SOT claims to be a social enterprise, but interview with CNA said that he did not believe they were doing a great job
- Still in the process of working with Ministry
- Why don't you just contribute to helping mainstream schools teach? Instead of charging individual students tuitionfees
Govt response
- Govt has recognised the prob. that econ. status poses on educatn system
- And hence has catered edn system appropriately w/ the lofty goal of making "every sch a good sch"
- Aiming to provide qly edn for all children regardless of econ. backgrnd, the schs they attend, and whether they are able to afford tuition
- In due time, w high qly edn proven in public institutions, parents may see a falling need for tuition
Possible to argue that
- The innate desire for tuition is deeply entrenched in society, we have developed a dependency without which we feel insecure.
- This mindset is diff to change
Image-Conscious
- SG Poly survey found that 82% of youth in SG are concerned by how they look online; >50% edit their photos
Rich
- About as rich as US on a per capita basis, but US wealth comes from within, SG wealth depends on others
- Half of SG X revenue comes from 4 sources: Msia, HK, Indo, China
and hence Efficient
- Place large emphasis on efficiency and economy
- No min. wage, our lbr resource is critical to our survival as we have nearly no other resource
- Must maximise efficiency, even at the expense of equity
Active Citizenship
- in recent years the new borne internet gen. have taken to new media to air their opinions and educate themselves on social issues
- e.g. REACH singapore; gathers and gauges ground sentiments and engages citizens. is SG's feedback unit
- public issues like late-night drinking; budget 2017 etc.
Active Citizenry
- Incumbent govt may be blind to needs
- Individuals can actively invoke refreshing change
- LGBT: archaic rule in Constitution: section 377A of penal code: criminalises sex betwn consenting adult males
- LHL: It is not the govt's role to lead when it comes to changing societal attitudes (interview w/ BBC abt section 377A)
- if referendum was held, the statute will still stay
- Individuals have filled in the gap for moral ldrship where the govt doesn't
- All facets of SG society; not just pink dot, sex workers, TWC2, etc.
Individ. and collective agitation for more rights
- Drawing more mainstream support
- Leading to a change in sentiments
- Rights for LGBT, single mothers, animals
Still far from enough!
- Under Statutes of Legitimacy Act: a child born out of wedlock is an illegitimate child; leading to ineligibility in receiving certain benefits (e.g. Baby Bonus Scheme that asks this under sign up)
- BUT an adopted child is treated as one with legally married parents
- Recent ST report of unwed woman who adopted her own child
- Archaic laws; profoundly unconvincing to suggest that any meaningful values can be promoted by making single mothers jump through legal hoops
- No deep and positive visions of family can be based on imposing disadvantage and stigma on others
Patriotism
- Tokenistic in approach
- Resurgence of int. only in significant events; accolades on the global stage: Joseph Schooling, National Day
- National pride comes tgt w great fanfare but is temporary
But of significant importance
- Love for the homeland implies love for the people
- Impt in situations where marginalised groups necessitate other groups of indiv to voice out for help for the common good
- Out of a love for the community
- e.g. Single mothers, LGBTs, FDWs
- These voices are underpinned by a slither of patriotism
- and desire to improve QOL of their fellow citizens, against the ruling party's rhetoric
Politics
Role of Media in upholding Democracy
- increasing discussion online for GE 11 and 15
- 2015: Online buzz largely tilted towards WP, wide circulation of thronging opp. party rallies
- Allowed pertinent pol. issues to be accessed freely by ppl who weren't interested in politics before
- Forms a less compliant, more educated and rejuvenated electorate
- Facilitates democracy
Security
- Touted as one of the safest
- Yet fall behind in using IT to security
- e.g. Lil India riots too little CCTVs watching, had to rely on citizen footage
- Planning to increase use of IT e.g. AI
Smart Nation
- Calls for the need for more talent in computer engineering, etc.
- Starting IT skills from primary school
Repressive Political Climate
- June this yr, activists held silent protest on MRT by wearing blindfolds and holding up the book: 1987: SG's Marxist Conspiracy 30 years on
- This demonstration was staged against detentions that had happened in 1987 under the Internal Security Act
- Abt 22 ppl who were arrested who were accused of involved in Marxist conspiracy to establish a communist state
- Only aim to shed light on issues, diversify nation's narrative and bring justice to those forgotten
- SGeans are fearful of what we don't know and what the govt wants unquestioned
National Service
- NSMen form the bulk of SAF, allows cty to respond to immediate threats (int. piracy, terrorism) and deter potential aggressors
- Goes beyond defence imperative; has evolved into a cultural institution and part of SG identity
- 2013 studies by Institute of Policy Studies showed more SGeans view NS as fulfilling a social mission, than as serving a defence mandate
- Participation in defence and membership of armed forces creates loyalty and national consciousness
- Same study showed overwhelming support for NS; 98% of over 1000 respondents
Technology in Censorship
- Govt and A* researching on Crystalace sarcasm monitors to monitor social media
- To "gather public opinion on govt"
- Possible use in censorship?
- Recognises grammar, social media speak and colloquialisms
Espousing Patriotism
- As a tool for garnering support of ruling party
- Patriotism is conflated with PAP's contributions to the cty
- Role of PAP closely tied to SG success
- NDPs often echoes the narrative that PAP has been a mainstay in SG thruout SG history, and our prosperity is tied to the efficient governance of the PAP