Monday, 22 July 2024

Hi Reader!

I spent last week in Singapore, where my sister lives. And, next to a lovely family visit, I attended the Singapore Independent Media Fair, organized by the Network of Independent Media for Better Understanding and Support (NIMBUS), independent digital media Jom and transnational literary organization based in New York City, Singapore Unbound.

The city isn’t known for its freedom of expression and independent press but the fair aims to highlight the initiatives and people working on change. The event started with a survey about the political sentiment of the Singaporean electorate, conducted by the weekly digital magazine Jom and presented by its Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Vadaketh. Jom covers arts, culture, politics, business, and technology and asked 1000 citizens of Singapore their opinions about several different topics (the final survey will be presented in August). The idea is to conduct such research regularly as is common in open societies. For Singapore though, media are reluctant to poll because the government prohibits publishing survey results during political campaigns. Besides that, a growing group of Singaporeans think their vote isn’t secret so a survey could give a deviating result.

The Folly of the Youth

The most interesting slide in the presentation to me was the one where the different interests between the younger and older generations became clear (photo). The cost of living is by far the most pressing topic for voters, followed by housing. After that, the division between age groups becomes more clear. Where older people (45-54 yo) feel healthcare and immigration are important topics, the younger people (21-24 yo) vote for inequality, working conditions and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Singapore’s colonial history

The slide also shows that the global awareness around woke topics like LGBTQI rights, race issues and engagement with geopolitical issues as in the Palestinian case, is growing amongst youth in Singapore too. And to understand the context it is important to know a bit more about the history of Singapore.
The State of Singapore was established in 1958 with full self-governance granted a year later. Before that, it had become a so-called Crown Colony of the United Kingdom after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945. The British had established a colony already since 1824, encompassing modern-day Singapore with Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands and Labuan. Stamford Raffles founded a British trading post in 1819 which was controversial and opposed by the Dutch who negotiated for three years to get to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, giving full recognition and legitimacy for the British to stay.
In the early years of self-governance, Singapore merged in 1963 with what is now called Malaysia, ending British rule in the area. But the differences were too big and Singapore became a sovereign country in 1965. It goes too far to delve deeper into the colonial history but the fact that Singapore was a colony is important for understanding today's youth sentiment.

Decolonization and decoloniality

If you’re a longtime reader of this newsletter you know the difference between decolonization as a process in which nation-states are formed independently from their colonial rulers yet continuing with a powerful elite, imperialist policies and a colonial mindset. Decoloniality, on the other hand, is the ongoing process of becoming aware of colonial power in all forms and taking action by delinking from it by creating alternative ways of doing. The latter probably sounds more vague and ambiguous because there isn’t a clear outcome for the process of decoloniality. It can mean different things in different contexts, with a common approach of equality and living in tune with nature (and not unnecessarily extracting from it). A core question asked in decolonial theory is:

Disclaimer: I studied decolonial theory with Rolando Vazquez Melken and Walter Mignolo in the Maria Lugones Summerschool. Within academia, there are several different approaches to decoloniality, anti-colonialism, post-colonialism and decolonization.

Apathy and depolitication in Singapore

The survey presented at the Singapore Independent Media Fair showed a certain level of apathy amongst citizens regarding political issues. The fact that the city-state’s politics have been dominated by the People’s Action Party (PAP) since the 1959 general election isn’t helpful. From the outside, Singapore looks like a success story of how a country became wealthy after decolonization. But there is a shadowside too and the wealth isn't equally distributed. With a depoliticized civil society, independent journalists and media initiatives become even more important in illuminating the shadows.
Writer, journalist and activist Kirsten Han does that regularly in her newsletter We, The Citizens. She won the Portside Review’s 2024 Human Rights Essay Prize with Singapore Will Always Be At War about the city’s death penalty. Kirsten was one of the speakers in the panel Breaking And Remaking News in which moderator and professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University Cherian George described her as part of ‘contentious journalism’. On one hand, contentious journalism aims to oppose powers, on the other hand, it doesn’t necessarily accept the ‘rules’ of journalism and rejects certain journalistic ‘norms’, George explained. One of those norms is that journalists shouldn’t be activists. The dividing line between a journalist and activist isn’t clear in all contexts. Kirsten Han says:

​Wake Up Singapore founder Ariffin Sha added that as a journalist you can be factual and at the same time partial. For the first time in decades, Singaporean media set the agenda on certain societal issues. Is that activism? Or is that the space journalists need to do their work properly?

Independent media are paving the way

All in all, attending the media fair gave hope in how a young generation of journalists and media creators connect with audiences. Just like Wake Up Singapore, Lepak Conversations is also successful on Instagram facilitating sensitive dialogue on Muslim issues. The media landscape is getting more fragmented and many different opinions and truths exist next to each other. It couldn’t be more decolonial, in that sense. The challenge will be to sort the wheat from the chaff, for audiences to find reliable sources of information, and for media makers to live up to journalistic values and a high ethical standard.
The panel discussions at this event made clear though that stories in which new and better language is introduced pave the way for change. When journalists dare to put difficult topics on the agenda and use the right language to address them, without self-censorship, it gives space for political parties to embrace issues in the next election. For Singapore, the next general elections will be in November 2025.

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One more thing

I was going to take a break until August but felt like sharing this newsletter about Singapore with you. Just reply to this email with your comments and feedback.
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See you again soon!

Sanne