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NM4212 - Media and Representation
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Transcript of NM4212 - Media and Representation
N M 4 2 1 2 : M e d i a a n d R e p r e s e n t a t i o n
UNIQUELY SINGAPORE:
Misrepresentations of the Singapore Identity
Prepared by:
CHANTHIRASEKAR S/O KALIMUTHU U040135LCHUA TIONG KENG U040432WGANESAN S/O SELVARATHNAM U040114HLEE JIAN HUI U041540LLEE WEN WEI KENNETH U040153ESIM ZHI WEI U040140Y
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INTRODUCTION
Tourism has often been a foremost foundation of a country’s attraction to the external
world. It is one of the main motivators driving the identity edifice of a country. The episteme of
tourism carries with it a strong set of political and economic imperatives that get represented in
various forms. Such representations are, more often than not, deeply entwined with representation
conjectures and power discourses. In the process, such representations will be subjected to
contestations and thus may be perceived as misrepresentations. This is because all representations
do not have an absolute truth. Usually, the dominant readings of representations are met with
resistance because they are void of dynamics which may be essential to others who are also
implicated via the same representations. The void may be deliberate, or accidental, depending on
the agenda that the representations are supposed to be achieved. This paper ventures into the
Singapore Precedent, projecting a systemic analysis and breakdown of the Singapore Tourism
Board’s representations in Uniquely Singapore tourism campaign.
AIM
This paper seeks to highlight the misrepresentation in the representations of the Singapore
identity1 as depicted by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in its Uniquely Singapore tourism
campaign as it strives to project a singular unique image of Singapore to attract tourists from the
world over. In doing so, their textual reproduction of what is considered to be Singaporean,
through the various marketing mediums, seem to have ignored the true forms of representing that
very idea.
1 In this paper, the terms ‘Singapore identity’ and ‘Singaporean identity’ will be used inter-changeably – they are essentially utilised to refer to the identity that Singaporeans identify with.
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BRIEF METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
This section will lay out the framework within which this paper will address the stated aim.
In setting the parameters for this paper, some essential tools are adopted to critique the
representations of the Singapore identity in STB’s Uniquely Singapore campaign.
Stuart Hall argues that distinct reading positions emerge when interpreting any form of text.
As such, there are several levels of meanings constructed within the various representations. The
reading positions that Hall suggests are namely the “dominant,” “oppositional” and “negotiated”
reading positions (Hall, 1997). Dominant reading refers to how representations within Uniquely
Singapore are intended to have one particular preferred reading of it. Oppositional reading refers to
alternate representations that may be unconsciously, or otherwise, left out; but they carry their own
set of signifieds that validates a good critique of the preferred reading. It is the alternate opinions
and dynamics that will form the crux of the analysis of the misrepresentations in the portrayals of
Uniquely Singapore’s version of Singapore identity.
In addition to this, Roland Barthes propounds that every representation, in whatever form,
will have a denotative and connotative meaning. This meaning now taking the form as a signifier,
will then lead to another set of signifieds, which results in the generation of myths (Hall, 1997).
Uniquely Singapore, being a tourist campaign, inevitably conjures myths – tells stories. This form
of story telling only tells what is supposed to be revealed as determined by various factors
influencing the narration. Such myths in Uniquely Singapore, include presenting Singapore, as they
are in the various marketing forms, as a city that is most attractive to tourists and accurate to
Singaporeans.
Another tool to understand representations of texts will be Michel Foucault’s concept of
discourse. Foucault argues that discourse “constructs the topic” and determines how a topic can be
“meaningfully talked about” (Hall, 1997). Furthermore, tourism is a spatial phenomenon and hence
it has to be discerned only within larger readings of countries and boundary markers (Pearce, 1995;
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Shaw and Williams 2004). Discourses then help to frame this spatial phenomenon and the
ideologies that govern the representations in tourism campaigns of countries. Discourses, in the
context of tourism campaigns in Singapore, play a very crucial role in interpreting the various
political, social and economical ideologies sustaining the chosen portrayals of Singapore and what
it means to be Singaporean. These discourses are not only local, there are international discourses
which have to be analysed and then subsequently used to situate Uniquely Singapore in. It is only
by doing this that our group attempts to go beyond picking out the mere misrepresentations but to
understand the discourses that motivate these (mis)representations.
It is of significance to note that the analytical tools listed here are not exhaustive. The
above-mentioned tools merely set the parameters within which majority of the analyses in this
paper is situated. Necessary tools to facilitate more in-depth analyses will be employed as the paper
delves further into the topic that is being contested. These tools and conceptual ideas will be
borrowed from scholars who have written extensively on tourism in Singapore especially.
THE EVOLUTION OF TOURISM CAMPAIGNS OF SINGAPORE
The STB, previously known as the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (STPB), is in
charge of all tourism related matters in Singapore. Since the 1960s, it has catered to the different
concerns and hence, the different objectives of that period. It was also responsible for the
formulation of the Tourism 21 master-plan and other plans that charted the future directions for the
Singapore tourism sector.
STB’s Uniquely Singapore tourism campaign was launched on 9 March 2004. According to
Mr. Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of STB, Uniquely Singapore is a “new,
impactful and compelling brand that reflects the new changes and essence of Singapore's unique
strengths and offerings” (AsiaTravelTips, 2004). The official launch of this campaign follows the
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recent accolade that Singapore witnessed a record of 6.1 million visitors into Singapore. This
campaign is the fourth in line after a series of different preceding ones since the 1960s.
The three campaigns that preceded Uniquely Singapore are namely, Instant Asia (from
1960-1970), Surprising Singapore (1980s), New Asia – Singapore (1990s) [Appendix C]. Each of
these campaigns was founded upon different needs of Singapore’s tourism market at those
particular points in time. Different time frames required different forms of marketing and thus
different representations of Singapore. Specifically, each of this campaign was motivated by
economic and social goals (Chang & Yeoh, 1999). Butler (1980) argues that any tourist area will
eventually lead to stagnation. In order to delay, or even avoid it, the STB’s campaigns collectively
evolve according to times. Hence, the campaigns have to be understood within this larger
framework so as to understand how they actually fall on a continuum rather than exist as
independent entities. In so doing, we can also understand how planners had leveraged on their own
“geographical imaginations” to decide what the most ideal representation for Singapore is (Butler,
R 1980). The economic goal that underlines Instant Asia is to lure Western tourists and
investments. The quote below posits Singapore as a “One-stop Asia”:
“A visit to Singapore offers an insight into the land and people of Asia…
n ideal holiday for tourists from the West with neither time nor the
money for extended travel… goes home with the feeling that he has met
the people and experienced the cultures of Asia.”
- STPB (1966)
From here, we can see that Singapore already had ambitious plans in those days to attract tourist
dollars especially to help a frugal economy after independence in 1965.
There was also a social goal inherent in this campaign. The stability of the newly-
independent Singapore was a huge question mark. Especially after the Maria Hertogh racial riots in
1963, there was an impending need to unite all the races together. Such politics of survival was
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achieved through the CMIO (Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others) model through which the Chinese
majority was downplayed. By representing Singapore as multi-racial to tourists, the locals were
also naturalised into accepting that all races are equal. In that sense, this campaign served as a self-
fulfilling prophecy which did come true for Singapore. (Chang, 1997)
Instant Asia is a representation that projects Singapore as a multi-cultural ideal to the world
where an array of Asian cultures, peoples, festivals and cuisine conveniently exhibited in a single
destination (Chang, 1997). This was done seemingly to seek some form of global recognition; once
achieved, the ideal would become one that locals strive for. Likewise, there were also economic
and socio-political motivations in the subsequent campaigns.
In Surprising Singapore, Singapore was positioned through the placement of contrasting
images of modernity and Asian exoticism together, stressing on the co-existence of the East and
West, and of the old and new (Chang, 1997; Leong, 1997). However, the economic goal still
remained the bedrock of STB’s tourism campaigns. Tourism had already been recognised as an
important revenue generator for the Singapore economy especially since it was still in the early
days of an export-oriented economy. However, the socio-political goal of achieving multi-racialism
was developed into a socio-cultural goal – Singapore was mooted as a land of opportunities.
The New Asia – Singapore campaign was the third in line. It should be noted that there was
a slight shift in focus in the transition from Surprising Singapore to New Asia – Singapore. While
the former guaranteed unanticipated differentiated and distinctive cultures in a modern city, the
latter proffered ethnic cultures merged into modern development. Figuratively speaking, Surprising
Singapore depicted a “salad mix” of a variety of ethnic cultures in a modern environment; New
Asia – Singapore portrayed Singapore as a “melting pot” of both Eastern and Western cultures
(Ooi, 2004a). By this time, Singapore had already achieved remarkable economic growth. Its
prosperity had been enormous – achieved in record time – since getting independence. The
economic goal then was for Singapore to become a tourism capital in Asia. Also, the social vision
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then was to project Singaporeans as forward-thinking Asians. By the time of this campaign, there
were several representations that existed. Undeniably, there were several representations that also
existed earlier, embodied in the form of contestations to a particular form of representation. They
were not as manifested as in the present-day context which can be seen by the number of literature
review. The major factor was an impending need to ensure political and economical stability in a
newly independent country. Having reached rapid development and a better educated population,
misrepresentations seem to be proliferated in more recent times. As a result, we see more
pronounced alternate forms of representations emerging. These struggles continued into the
Uniquely Singapore campaign as well and will be elaborated in the subsequent sections of this
paper. It is these struggles that our group is also most familiar with as we had grown up during this
campaign times.
Singapore’s tourism was most crucial in boosting its economy. However, there were a lot of
external factors, regional and otherwise, acting on the development of tourism in Singapore. Such
international and regional discourses were pivotal in determining the future directions for
Singapore’ tourism. As such, the discursive forces have to be acknowledged for a critical
understanding of the evolution of Singapore’s tourism campaigns, and especially to identify the
reasons behind the misrepresentations in Uniquely Singapore as will be explored later.
Around the period of 1960s, there was an increasing emphasis on international tourism that
Singapore cannot afford to ignore - international tourism emerged as the largest single item in
world trade (Peters, 1969). If not for the plummeting of oil prices in the 1970s, tourism would have
still remained numero uno. International tourism also saw rapid increase in terms of tourist
numbers into Southeast Asia – the growth was 13.5% between 1974 and 1975. Around the same
period of time, Singapore’s tourist arrivals went up from 90,000 to 1.3 million. Also, tourist
spending in Asia and Australasia “between 1965 and 1975 increased from $484 million to $4.5
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billion” (Wood, 1980). Such international and regional trends also had spin-off effects for
Singapore.
Tourism in Southeast Asia predominantly differentiates itself from other regions of the
world through an over-emphasis on its local cultures. Hence, the major form of tourism in
Southeast Asia is mostly cultural, often branded in the name of heritage, in which nations
continually ‘export’ its unique cultures to tourists. Export, in this context, refers to how it sells
experience to the tourists in the country.
Such export of cultures is an example of Stuart Halls’ Other. Southeast Asia was a region
seen by the West to be underdeveloped and hence, often cited as the Orient. In tourism context, this
stereotype emerged as a competitive advantage to Southeast Asia. By marketing its cultures as
unique in the world, Southeast Asian countries took pride in being the Other to the West. Such
‘Other’ has become naturalised to this region and is played up to highlight the exoticness of the
Asian region.
A tourist has a general trend to cover the Orient more than any single country in depth. In
the process of doing so, the tendency is to cover internationally recognised tourist spots. This
psychology works well for Southeast Asia collectively. A tourist who comes to Southeast Asia will
try to visit every country in the region despite the attractions being unchanged for a long time
(Wood, 1980). Southeast Asia was battling domestic issues in the 1960s and could not afford to
revamp the tourist sites; however, this psyche of the tourist to this region helped the industry to
grow. It was a win-win situation for Southeast Asia.
While tracing the evolution of tourism campaigns in Singapore, it is important to note the
underlying post-colonial discourse throughout. There is always a modelling of best practices in the
West. From projecting a multi-cultural representation in the 1960s to projecting Singaporeans as
forward-thinking in the 1990s, there is a constant need to emulate the West in any way possible. In
the larger Southeast Asian context, the ‘West is best’ mentality is most evident in that there exists
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an assumption that accommodations must meet Western standards as an indicator of a spread of
tourism (Wood, 1980). Such post-colonial discourses and the emphasis placed on the export of
cultural tourism shifts the hierarchy of power and the role of the state especially. In turn, the nexus
between tourism and world, regional and national economy is also changing.
PROBLEMS WITH UNIQUELY SINGAPORE
The slogan ‘Uniquely Singapore’ was coined with the intention to project the nation as a
“dynamic city in contrast and colour where you find a blend of culture, cuisine, arts and
architecture” (STB, 1998). In making the transition from New Asia – Singapore to Uniquely
Singapore, STB recognised that there was a need to “be compelling, differentiating and bold to
allow Singapore to differentiate itself from other destinations” (STB, 2004). In accordance to this
recognition, STB again switched its focus slightly, choosing to now emphasise on the best of Asian
exoticism and global modernity (Ooi, 2006). This resulted in Uniquely Singapore needing to be
“credible based on the tangible intrinsic features of Singapore; inspiring for the STB, industry
partners and Singaporeans; and overarching to align the Board’s and the tourism industry’s core
messages into one voice” (STB, 2004)..
However, STB plans to do more with Uniquely Singapore than just promoting Singapore to
the rest of the world. They also hope to make Singaporeans cognisant of the many “simple, yet
distinctive elements of their daily lives that can constitute enriching and interesting experiences for
visitors” (STB, 2004). Through this, STB hopes that “Singaporeans can then become natural
tourism ambassadors for their visiting friends and relatives” (STB, 2004).
From the objectives that STB aims to achieve with Uniquely Singapore, it can be inferred
that STB is essentially adopting a two-pronged approach – to be attractive to tourists and accurate
to Singaporeans through persistent representations of the campaign as a leading global city. Here,
one can notice an inherent contradiction surfacing in that STB is trying to realise two apparently
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differing goals. By adopting such an approach, STB is inevitably faced with an either-or situation
as it can only attain one of the two goals. In choosing to present itself as a leading global city, it has
somehow alienated a segment of the very people that they are targeting – Singapore citizens –
causing them to be unable to identify with the campaign. As a result, STB is unable to accomplish
its stated targets. Such an inability is characteristic of how effectively STB has misrepresented
Singapore in its various media platforms. The misrepresentations are also a result of how tourism
campaigns seem to be primarily tailoring itself to international tourism markets and local
economical growth instead of genuinely allowing Singaporeans to identify with it. To elaborate,
Tourism 21’s master-plans are heavily dominated by international market potential and how it can
aid our economy. Our group would not be too wrong then to posit that STB is moneytizing
Singaporeans by wanting them to become ambassadors for tourists - Singaporeans are then mere
marketing tools for STB. Coupled with the constant emphasis on trying to get Singaporeans to
identify with Uniquely Singapore, we feel STB has deliberately not yet found a best way to do it.
This is so that STB can continually get Singaporeans to play their part by trying to engage with the
campaigns and thus serve as tools that the former can employ to market Uniquely Singapore.
This view of Uniquely Singapore alienating Singapore citizens is proven in a thesis by
Leong (Leong, 2006). As part of his research, he conducted a survey among both tourists and
Singapore citizens to gather a “ground response” toward Uniquely Singapore (Leong, 2006).
Through the survey, it was found that more than half of the Singaporean citizens surveyed
disagreed that Uniquely Singapore is an accurate description of Singapore as a tourist destination
(Leong, 2006). Similarly a majority of the tourists surveyed shared the same adverse opinions
(Leong, 2006). In his work, Leong has shown that the positioning of Uniquely Singapore has not
been well-received amongst both tourists and Singapore citizens alike. He attributes this “mainly to
the campaign’s failure to be credible, deliverable and relevant enough for both tourists and locals”
(Leong, 2006).
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Delving deeper into the interpretations that people have of Uniquely Singapore, Leong
found that most Singapore citizens interpreted “uniqueness” as “Singapore is unique because the
Singaporean culture and lifestyle is one of a kind” (Leong, 2006). From the perspective of tourists,
it was found that most interpreted ‘uniqueness’ as “Singapore is unique because of its multi-
cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious makeup” (Leong, 2006).
From these findings, it can be seen that both tourists and Singapore citizens interpret the
‘uniqueness’ of Singapore to be attributes of the nation that are very much Singaporean through
and through. As such, there is a need for STB to depict truly Singaporean traits for its Uniquely
Singapore campaign to be in line with its objectives and even the campaign’s slogan for that matter.
This necessitates a Singapore identity to be defined and understood.
WHAT IS THE SINGAPORE(AN) IDENTITY?
Before proceeding to analyse and critique Uniquely Singapore with respect to it
misrepresenting the uniqueness of Singapore, there is first a need to grasp an understanding of the
factors that constitute the Singapore(an) identity. Identity is not something that is rigid. It is very
fluid. Yet, there are always constant attempts to identify ourselves. Such identity is also part of a
larger socio-political process. This is premised upon Hall’s argument that “difference matters
because it is essential to meaning; without it, meaning could not exist” (Hall, 1997). In Singapore’s
context, according to different time periods, there is always changing notions of what the
Singapore identity is supposed to be.
Since the separation of Singapore from the Malaysian Federation in 1965, there has been a
perennial need to define a Singapore identity. This was recognised by the leaders of Singapore then
and was at the forefront on their immediate agenda. In fact, the intricate construction of a singular
Singapore identity since its “rude thrust into independence” has been paramount ever since (Hill &
Lian, 2005). This very fixation of constructing the Singapore identity was underscored in a
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commentary in The Straits Times which stated that “it is difficult to find any other nation-state
more committed to the project of nation-building and building national identity”(Latif, 1997). The
demands of creating a nation of “one people” belonging to “one place”, and the necessary
bureaucratic plans to establish political legitimacy, build ideological consensus, regulate its
industrial workforce and shape the consciousness of its new citizens have all been essential in the
development of key state policies that presides over the various facets of social and political life in
Singapore (Yeow & Wilis, 1997).
In addition to these problems of constructing the Singapore identity, as the nation gears
toward becoming a global city, it has to negotiate new challenges in the construction process.
These new challenges stem from the need now to project Singapore as a global city that still
possesses, in the words of then-Prime Minister Goh Cheok Tong, the “heartware of Singapore”.
These very qualities refer to “our love for the country, our rootedness and our sense of community
and nationhood” (Fernandez, 1997). But why is it that the identity of Singapore must be one that is
state-oriented? However, since it is state oriented, one important thing has to be noted here. There
is never a single identity that our government tries to define as they claim that Singaporeans have
to learn to change to different times. The same Lee Kuan Yew who fought for a common identity
as Prime Minister of Singapore has this to say when he is Minister Mentor: "We have not forced or
pressure-cooked a national identity. We aimed for integration, not assimilation" (Richardson, 2001).
If it is integration and not assimilation, how then does STB aim to cater any representations to
Singaporeans since they are only sums of parts put together and not a complete whole? The
assumption underlying STB’s representation is that the idea of Singaporean is homogeneous but
there are clear-cut signs that we are not, and may never be, homogeneous Singaporeans. This then
leaves our group to judge what it means to be Singaporean from the close to three decades of lived
experience in Singapore.
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With respect to these qualities, it can be seen that the Singapore identity should be anchored
on attributes that have historical linkages in the formation of Singapore as a nation. This view is in
opposition to the current representations of Singapore as a global city, as seen in existing Uniquely
Singapore marketing mediums. The current representations has less historical background and are
more of a projection into the future of what Singapore is hoping to become (Appendix D). Often,
we look back to the past and its experiences to have a sense of collective identity rather than to be
futuristic.
Accordingly, the Singapore identity must therefore encompass the various elements of the
heritage of the nation which is symbolic of the times that we have battled and emerged at where we
are today. Some examples include what, once again as defined by the leaders of Singapore, then-
PM Goh had include the tenets of “heartlands” and “heartlanders”(Appendix E & F). Though broad
in nature, such a definition of the Singapore identity is able to resonate with people as shown by
Leong’s study where tourists and Singapore citizens interpret the ‘uniqueness’ of Singapore to be
traits very much associated with the heritage of the nation (Leong, 2006).
This definition of the Singapore identity, albeit broad, will form the basis of the analyses
and critiques of Uniquely Singapore in the following section.
DISCUSSION OF THE MISREPRESENTATIONS OF THE SINGAPORE IDENTITY IN
UNIQUELY SINGAPORE REPRESENTATIONS
Before proceeding further, it has to be emphasised that any form of representation does not
have an absolute meaning. There are different theories of representations that exist which explain
how meanings may be generated. There are three such theories; namely, the reflective, the
intentional and the constructionist theories of representations. However, whatever the theory may
be, there will inevitably be different meanings generated for the same representation. This can also
be said to be a result of different subject positions available to any forms of representation.
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Translating this cursory knowledge into Uniquely Singapore, one is able to recognise that
misrepresentations tend to occur because of an overbearing of one type of representation over the
other. Specifically, there has been an over reliance on the intentional approach, which is sometimes
mixed with the reflective approach. This results in the constructionist approach being neglected. As
a result, the unique aspects of Singapore that STB seeks to embody are misrepresented.
Misrepresentation can occur through two avenues – the inaccurate portrayal of a text by
inclusion or exclusion of some signifieds. We shall now proceed with some examples to illustrate
how such misrepresentations have occurred.
The ethnic quarters, as developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of
Singapore, is used by STB to promote the multi-cultural and multi-racial aspects of Singapore that
marks our heritage tourism. These ethnic quarters have a rather stereotypical way of being
presented (Appendix A). Their preferred reading over all the years always seem to be the same
though the styles may have differed. Noting that both STB and URA are statutory boards, their
choice of presenting the ethnic quarters in these particular ways are subjected to misrepresentations.
It is important to observe the reactions of people after the URA had developed its
interpretation of a landscape. It is vital to explore the ground – the physical location of the
landscape – as this is where “interpretation and participation meet” (Chang & Huang, 2005). The
fact of the matter is that there exists a wide divide between planners (URA and STB) and the users
(the people) of particular localities. Without knowledge of the ground, these planning agencies fail
to understand the sense of belonging to a place felt by the people. This is indeed very true. For
example, the complexity of the Chinese community was (over)simplified by the STB’s conception
of “Chinese-ness”. Historically, Chinatown was actually divided spatially and culturally according
to the different dialect groups within the Chinese community then; these groups were mainly the
Hokkiens, the Teochews and the Cantonese (Chang & Huang, 2005). As there is much emphasis
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on Mandarin in the STB’s definition of “Chinese-ness”, the other dialect groups’ special
association is overlooked.
In addition, in 1991, the URA mentioned that since lifestyles cannot be preserved, buildings
should be preserved instead. This brings up the issue of hardware and ‘heartware’. Hardware refers
to “a place that is for example Chinese in terms of its built environment and organized festivals and
activities”. ‘Heartware’, in turn, refers to “a local community with daily lived experiences in the
area”. Accordingly, the URA conserved the shop-houses in Chinatown as it was considered to be
the quintessential architectural form of the locality. However, increasingly, traditional family-run
businesses are being replaced by numerous Western-style offices, pubs and lounges. These are in
fact very much prevalent within the landscape presently. This was actually a concern raised by the
long-term residents in the area as they felt a great sense of “personal loss and dislocation of
community life” (Chang & Huang, 2005). In view of this, does conservation of buildings alone
preserve culture? Due to the inability of the traditional hawkers to manage the high rental costs,
they have been taken over by international food and beverage operators such as Spinelli Coffee
Company, Canadian Muffin Company and Kentucky Fried Chicken (Henderson, 1999). Thus,
Chinatown is seen to be designed to satisfy the needs of the tourism industry rather than the local
community as it is depicted as an “Orientalist caricature” based on “simplistic and exoticised
cultural conceptions” (Henderson, 1999).As a result, ethnic landscapes are seen to have undergone
a process of commodification. Commodification is a process where local societies are changed for
tourists under a consciously crafted scheme initiated by profit minded entrepreneurs and
government (Chang, 2000).
Contestations that have occurred in Chinatown are also happening in other ethnic districts
as well. A contested landscape is a site or landscape with people contesting over who have the
rightful ownership & control (Relph, 1976). Little India, for example, is a landscape for Indians.
However, there exist contestations within, especially between the many Chinese and Indian
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vendors in the area. Edward Relph’s concept of insideness-outsideness is being depicted here
which is basically on how people feel towards a place. Insideness refers to an individual belonging
and identifying to a place while outsideness refers to an individual who is seen as a traveller and
not belonging to a particular place (Chang, 2000). While Indian vendors say that they have a right
in Little India, Chinese vendors say that they have to a right to do business here. This is an example
of ethnic criteria versus economic criteria.
Furthermore, the URA only selects a part of Little India to undergo conservation and
renovation. This is known as the core area as it contains the greatest density of Indian trades.
Besides that, this is where the distinctive characteristics of Little India are defined. Eventually, this
core area was occupied by Chinese vendors and Western shops. In actual fact, this was supposed to
be dominated by Indian vendors. An Indian Singaporean mentioned that Little India looks so
Westernized and that the Indian flavour is missing (Chang, 2000). Western shops like The Body
Shop opened up in Little India and this caused tourists to be surprised. According to these tourists,
they suggested that these Western and Chinese shops could have opened up anywhere else in
Singapore (Chang, 2000). Thus, tourists had a signified concept of Little India. A tourist mentioned
that Little India should be connected to Indians and its culture; hence it can be seen that the URA’s
intentional approach for Little India is flawed. The URA wanted to have a creative mix of Western
and Indian styled shops in Little India. In this case, it is especially important to note that there is
more than just misrepresentation emerging from an oppositional reading; the preferred reading has
actually failed to meet its direct intention (Hall,1997)..
This is also true with Geylang Serai where there are more Chinese vendors in an area that is
supposedly set aside for the Malay community in Singapore. In addition, the general manager of
the Malay village in Geylang Serai is a Chinese, Mr. Jeffrey Chan. Mr. Chan intends to submit a
proposal to renovate the area and make it into a Malay hub. However, he is not getting any
feedback from the Malay community with regards to what constitutes a Malay hub. This has raised
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some concerns among the Malay community (Nazeer, 2008). Therefore, it can be seen that such
ethnic landscapes which are supposed to be an area for the respective ethnic groups have been
dominated by the majority race - the Chinese.
Thus far, we have identified that there are several contestations to the landscapes of the
ethnic quarters, which is indicative of how the locals engage with the representation of the
landscape and produce meanings that are ignored by the planners. The planners’ perspectives have
been met with much resistance, yet, STB continues to promote Uniquely Singapore as being
indicative of the Singapore identity. Such ignorance of the actual contestations in the landscape,
that is most definitive of it, being ignored is an example of how indigenous people are often
powerless as they lack a sense of control of how their landscape is being defined by marketers.
(Hinch, 2004)
Such misrepresentations can also be seen in the CMIO model. The preferred reading of the
ethnic landscapes, which is also the dominant reading, is not a new phenomenon. Its roots can be
traced to Instant Asia in which the CMIO model was used to play down the Chinese majority and
promote equality of the other races. However, this CMIO model assumes that the Chinese, the
Malays and the Indians are a homogeneous lot and hence by allocating one language and culture,
they will become equal. By employing Hall’s process of Othering, we can understand that the
government has stereotyped the races since 1960s such that the heterogeneity is ignored. The
CMIO model has been naturalised into the social fabric of Singapore. It is such political ideologies
which provide the fundamentals for the government and its authorities to continue with the existing
(mis)representations of the ethnic quarters.
In the earlier section which traced the evolution of the tourism campaigns in Singapore, it
was evidently highlighted that economic motives for tourism promotion in Singapore was very
strong. Doubtlessly, this motive also continues into Uniquely Singapore. For one, the ethnic
quarters that were more aggressively promoted during New Asia - Singapore were more a result of
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a need to boost the economy rather than to promote a multi-cultural Singapore. It was
acknowledged in 1986 that Singapore has lost its oriental mystique and charm due to
modernization. Singapore was identified as a city without a soul - “the lack of colour in the
increasingly antiseptic city-state” warranted some attention (Chang & Yeoh, 1999). It was modern,
efficient and hygienic but lacked in grace and refinement (Lee, 2004). Thus, under URA’s master-
plan in 1986, conservation of the ethnic districts was a requirement as this might contribute to
Singapore’s oriental mystique and preserve its cultural heritage. These ethnic neighbourhoods were
supposed to give a sense of place and identity to the country and its citizens. They were considered
repositories of Singapore’s fast-diminishing heritage (Chang, 2000).
Though seemingly altruistic to engineer a multi-racial fabric for Singapore, there were other
economic factors that were responsible for URA’s master-plan. Firstly, “economic diversification
strategies were needed to sustain a slowdown in manufacturing sector” (Chang & Yeoh, 1999).
Furthermore, the 1985 recession saw a ministerial committee recommending “the expansion of
tourist projects” in Singapore. This economic restructuring also took place in the “wake of a sharp
3.5% fall in tourist arrivals in 1983”.
The economic motives also continue beyond the impetus to just develop ethnic enclaves.
Having understood that the ethnic quarters owes its roots to the CMIO model, it is important to
analyse how the ‘O’ category is represented. The ‘Others’ is a category that was facilitated to
maintain the homogeneity of the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians by using a binary
measurement - non-(chinese)(malay)(indians) were classified into the ‘Others’ category. However
within this category, there is much emphasis on the Peranakan experience (Appendix B). One
important point to note is that, the URA will decide what is and what is not to be conserved in an
ethnic district. The URA is trying to interpret these landscapes in a way that they feel is suitable for
a variety of discursive elements that are deemed appropriate. The Peranakans of Singapore has
been drawing tourists from across the globe, with an interest in studying and experiencing this
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centuries old culture and its art architecture and music . Furthermore, the peranakans have a rich
legacy of material culture (website). Thus, the peranakan experience will yield financial gains.
Hence, the economic discourse that has underscored the tourism campaigns since 1960s is also at
the forefront here. In doing so, such representation “involves a conscious series of choices about
which history-derived products are to be produced and which are not” (Chang & Huang, 2005).
Such selective forms of representation more often than not are misrepresentation because of the
collective memory that we share that Others is a heterogeneous category. Even if the “others”
category were to be represented, it was always Eurasians. However, we see this being twisted in
STB’s interpretation of ‘Others’.
Through the various ideologies that have been highlighted as being responsible to sustain
the misrepresentations in Uniquely Singapore campaign, it is clear that STB and URA are but
voices of the government to a large extent. They are motivated by the economic discourse that
revolves around the government’s initiatives since the time of independence. This can be explained
by Foucault’s microphysics of power whereby power does not flow in a linear fashion. Power
circulates. There are clear indications that URA and STB are ideological state apparatuses for those
in power The extent of the power is also very significant in that any misrepresentation once put
into effect into the real world, carries with it real effects and becomes true in that sense. It is in this
light that the misrepresentations highlighted in this paper has also come to be naturalized and
accepted over all these years.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, our group feels that there are a lot of misrepresentations of the Singapore
identity in the Uniquely Singapore campaign. Of the various ideologies and motivations that
sustain these misrepresentations, the economic discourse has been recognised as the single most
responsible factor. This has been the case for the Singapore tourism industry since 1960s. A sound
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understanding of this influence alongside with the various ideological drives by the government
will entail a more critical understanding as to why certain dominant readings of landscapes are
specifically intended to as such. Another important element in STB misrepresenting identity of
Singapore is that there is no fixed definition of Singaporean. This notion is constantly in a flux.
Naturally, STB being just a wing of the government, will end up trying to represent this flux. It is
in doing so that they grossly misrepresent because there is no one single identity that they intend to
cater to.
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