Shame, this ugly Singapore Slam

by Yeo Sam Jo
styouth@sph.com.sg

5 Jul 2010

Straits Times

Let’s support each other, rather than strive to put everyone down – especially ourselves

It is official: We hate ourselves. I say this because of some recent events which should have been proud moments for our country, but instead degenerated into shameful displays of slander, pettiness and a nation divided.

Just think about this year’s Miss Singapore Universe pageant and the World Table Tennis Championships. Clearly, we do not want each other to succeed. I mean, why else would we start demeaning rumours about our own beauty queen, and scorn our paddlers for winning us a gold in Moscow?

It is strange, given how much we enjoy being first: First in line, first in class, first to eat.

But if history is anything to go by, we are also the first to bring each other down. I will call this the Singapore Slam – where we slam everyone and everything, especially those we call our own.

In this Internet age, online forums, blogs and websites readily breed this culture of self-loathing. They provide the fertile medium for virtual insults to be hurled with little thought. After all, dissing someone else is only a click away. A friend of mine once remarked that five minutes of reading YouTube comments is more than enough to lose all hope for humanity.

I still hear the echoes of our past glories tainted with snide comments: “Gawd, Fann Wong’s English was cannot-make-it in Shanghai Knights.”

“Please lah, Hady Mirza was just lucky to have won Asian Idol.”
“I Not Stupid is really, erm, stupid.”

And the self-deprecating list goes on.

Speaking of which, where are our Singapore Idols? I saw Taufik’s CD going for $2 at a music store. Sure we love a good bargain, but I’d like to think our “Idol” deserves more than that. Unless it is National Day, we do not hear many of our home-grown singers on our airwaves. Or wait – maybe we just do not want to.

It is no wonder so many of our talents have gone overseas to get famous. It is just so darn hard to impress the crowd here. If Stefanie Sun had based her career back home, I’m guessing she would have been drowned out by critics sooner than she could croon My Desired Happiness.

Instead of putting our icons and winners on a pedestal, we knock them down with the classic Singapore Slam. Of course, some of us have higher expectations, and there are always exceptions like the Merlion, which we have come to regard with affection.
But surely we do not need to be disparaging about everything. We pride ourselves on being a tight-knit country, yet aside from food, we are stingy with our praises, and appreciation for one another is disturbingly scarce.

I do not know if this is misguided humility or some subconscious jealousy, but there is a dangerous message we are sending to our young and eager ones: “Don’t get in the spotlight, nobody will support you.”

Or: “Stay low, you’re not good enough anyway.”

If we keep doing this, let us not talk about a brain drain – nobody is even going to try. Then Singapore will really be nothing to shout about, and it is ultimately we who stand to lose the most. So instead of jeering, how about cheering? Think of the World Cup and Eurovision, where people fervently rally behind their countrymen. I doubt any footballer or singer could make it without such support.

We also see it in our schools, where young athletes are driven to shine by their encouraging peers. It is amazing how a simple thumbs-up can make a difference.
So before you pass the next nasty comment, think about who you are really harming.
Philosopher Rene Descartes said: “It is easy to hate, and it is difficult to love.”
I say it is about time we choose what is right over what is easy.

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obtained from http://forum.channelnewsasia.com/viewtopic.php?t=356526&start=10&sid=ebdbde9f154aea7b7cccb537e9218548
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very interesting.