Media
Hitting it big
Why Singapore's S$100m global plan will be tough to achieve. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Jul 21, 2001

WHEN the government recently unfolded a five-year, S$100mil project to develop its media industry, it was without talk of matching Hong Kong, South Korea or some other achiever, as frequently done here.

The plan is to double the industry's contribution - in sales of films, TV and video games - towards GDP (from 1.56% to 3%), an ambitious target in view of the region's rising standards.

Observers noted there was no mention of taking on rivals like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan or South Korea, even in the long term. The foreign media's reaction to it was muted.

Obviously it did not regard the impact as significant for the region. Even the local press wasn't too gung-ho about it.

For one thing, there are major obstacles in the way of a flourishing Singapore media industry. It needs more than just money or creative talent.

This tightly regulated society that frowns on diversity is a far cry from the free environment of Japan, South Korea or Hong Kong that's required to set up a popular regional market.

An indication came quickly, which shows how difficult local producers labour under.

The Singapore Buddhist Federation fired a letter to MediaCorp's Channel 8 to complain that its Mandarin drama series Holland V was disrespectful to monks and Buddhism.

One episode showed monks arriving at a funeral wake in a Mercedes-Benz, a sign of wealth, a pursuit they are supposed to abandon to serve Buddha.
By portraying monks as using funerals to make money, MediaCorp had put Buddhism in a poor light, added the federation.

It's not the first time local TV had run foul of over-sensitive people who feel insulted or discriminated against by a show or simply outraged by its perceived harm to society.

Several years ago, another MediaCorp series was criticised for doing injustice to the police force; "Singapore policemen don't behave like this!" was the cry against a fictitious character.

How can Singapore have a creative, thriving media industry able to sell its ware to competitive Asia?

Many years ago, a foreign film company had to submit a fake plot before the authorities agreed to allow it to be shot here. They got angry when they found out that it was about prostitution in Singapore.

Can you imagine the furore if local producers were to make a film about a drug syndicate in Singapore being protected by a make-belief corrupt government and bent policemen? Or have a screaming car chase across Orchard Road?

Today, things are changing. The immovable object - an over-sensitive government - is finally moving a few steps at a time (censorship laws will soon be further relaxed), but lagging behind is the older society at large.

Compelling economic reasons require a creative Singapore that includes a strong media industry, maybe not a la American, but comparable to other Asians.

In fact, many people I met have said that, economic needs notwithstanding, the freedom for producing good films should not be at the expense of fundamental social values.

"This has to take into account public concern for social and racial stability," said a TV producer.

"We shouldn't degenerate into a licentious people just to be able to produce good films."

Apart from this, he added that a flourishing, creative media would require a minimum level of free expression and less sensitivity than people show.

For a start, watchdogs should separate fact from fiction when defending themselves.

When Singaporeans see a crooked monk, a corrupt policeman or a blundering political leader in a film, they're mature enough not to suddenly hold bad thoughts about Buddhism, the police force or the Cabinet.

As the chief monk in Singapore knows, there are good and bad monks. The same applies to other religions.

I just can't understand why the Buddhist Federation had picked on Singapore TV producers for featuring a "bad" monk. It has never complained about similar themes in foreign films.

To succeed, Singapore-produced films, television and video games would have to be good enough for the global market where tastes and competition are rising.

Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts Lee Boon Yang had announced modest targets, probably because he knew the realities in Singapore society with its tight cultural boundaries.

He opts for a gradual change, rather than a quantum leap that would certainly anger conservative groups and religions, as the "monks" issue demonstrates.
The Hong Kong film industry is at least 10 years ahead of Singapore.

Increasingly, Japanese and Korean films, television and pop singers are cutting a path of popularity among Asia's youths. They have child stars and teenage idols.

In these countries, pop culture flourishes among teenagers; in some Japanese bohemia communities, life is 24 hours. You can go to a singles bar or a hair-dye at any time.

In regulations-bound Singapore, pop culture is banned or discouraged. Our largely obedient, conforming teens pass through the same education system with similar objectives.

In Japan or Korea, increasingly creative film nations, there are enough youths who have chosen a non-academic, even unorthodox, life that throws up numerous artistic people.

They range from rock singers to film stars, from ice sculptors to designers of crazy colourful sneakers that sell for US$350 a pair.

The large boulder that stands in Singapore's way is, of course, its small size, but that has not stopped Hong Kong from making a splash even in Hollywood.

A small rich society like Singapore with little living memory of hardship is not an ideal place to produce stirring movies.

There are not many themes local producers can exploit without running into a wall of protests.

Sex, homosexuality, drug-taking and gore are also out; so is religious strife and racial disharmony.

Cigarette smoking is discouraged, Singlish is dropped and behaviour that sets a bad example to juveniles is frowned upon. In Japan or Korea, traditional Asian values do not stand in the way of these subjects in fiction.

Things are not all that gloomy, though.

In the past 20 years, with Hong Kong's contribution, Singapore TV has raised a fair crop of talent that has spilled into a few films - although none has made it really big in the world.

That would take many more years and a whole new environment.
(This article was first published in The Star, Malaysia, on July 20, 2003.)