Globalisation of Britney Spears!?

"Baby one more time". What can you think of when you come across such title? Britney Spears? If you say that, you are not wrong. This article that I came across yesterday featured Britney Spears as their star and talked about her comeback after the fiasco at 2007 MTV VMA Awards and a couple of broken relationships. It summarised her life and her going-to-release album, "Circus".


Here, we witness the success of foreign media, which allows us to have access to foreign products. The case of Spears is definitely one excellent example to show how much we consume foreign products as events like when she got married, how she silenced all critics during her recent sweep at the 2008 MTV VMA Awards are brough to us immediately after an event occurred.




This article and Britney Spears demonstrated the Globalisation of Mass media where media companies attempt to acquire a larger share of the profits available in the international market. Although this article is not a product of the foreign media but the fact that Jive records (the company that Britney Spears belongs to) paved the way for Spears to be known in the Asia market shows the attempt to 'invade' overseas market as they deem their market as saturated. It is obvious that their market is saturated with other pop stars within the region like Christina Aguilera, Pink and Jessica Simpson risng to fame at the same time as Spears. I'm not too sure whether if it is considered as an attempt to acquire a larger share of the profits but since they have made Britney Spears known to various parts of Asia, I assume it is considered too?




If you do not agree with me regarding the point mentioned above, maybe you will agree with this? This article which is a local publication mostly feature the latest trend in town and stuff that will entertain youngsters. However, I came to notice that most of the entertainment section of this publication actually consists of foreign products especially foreign artists and their work. This would then illustrate that because the market of Asia is rather small and our resources are limited, we rely on foreign countries to provide entertainment.

Have you wonder why interregional trade within Asia is limited? Most of us are aware that the Asia market is rather small as our technology is limited. We are not equipped with the advance and high-technology that foreign countries especially the U.S. own. In addition, the different cultures in Asia also play a part in the media globalisation of mass media because the diversity of our cultures have turned us away from other products in fear that we do not understand and appreciate the culture of countries. On top of that, Asia has quite a few undeveloped countries whose economics are not capable of purchasing media products which thus makes the interregional trade increase.



Given all these reasons, it is not surprising that Singapore need to purchase lots of foreign products like from Taiwan, Hong Kong and the European countries. I'm not too sure if we purchase media products from India but I think the answer is 'yes' as recently in a newspaper, I saw this article which states a group of Indians gathering at one place to meet their idol, a Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan. Therefore,since Singapore is small and with limited technology, we are not able to produce alot of different products to suit the locals which then results in the media turning to overseas market to purchase productions that might appeal to us. For example, Mediacorp purchased alot of Korean shows which are suitable for families, Taiwan shows (in dialect) to suit our older population and European products like Harry Porter to suit the young in Singapore.

This leads me to think, since Singapore is a multi racial country, our production ideas would most probably come from the brains of the different race in Singapore, so, why is it that it does not appeal to foreign counties? We see Britney Spears hitting into the Singapore market but i doubt the Europeans know who is Stefanie Sun. That is to say, we see foreign products in our country but we do not see our products in foreign countries. We buy drama series from Taiwan such as the recent Taiwan hit "You are my destiny" but we do not see our drama series like the recent channel 8 show on volleyball being screen in Taiwan. Probably, this situation occurs because the foreign market is too saturated to take in any more production?

Nevertheless, the point here is that we consume alot of foreign products and they are very successful. Maybe after all, we have to admit that local productions are not as appealing as the foreign productions? This can be seen as we see how the upcoming "High School Musical 3" hit local whereas our own productions like "Money No Enough 2" stays within Asia or maybe just Malaysia whose lifestyle are similar to ours.

What I can hope now is probably to pray that one day, the foreign media will have a space for our productions or that one particular local production will interest the foreigners such that they open their market to us to make the trade a two way process.

Reasons for choosing The New Paper over The Straits Time

This article tilted “Lured by bigger bucks in bars elsewhere?” was published on The New Paper. The highlight of the article is to inform the public that one of the night clubs in Singapore faced issue where the employees from China freed after they managed to get the work permit. The victim in the article suspect that these China women who are supposed to be working as singers in the nightclub escaped to other places in hope of finding a job that offers a higher pay.

I grabbed hold of the latest copy of The New Paper yesterday on my way home out of boredom as the traveling time is rather long which according to Charles Wright, as “surveillance”. Choosing The New Paper over The Straits Time makes me understand that my relationship with these media sources is voluntary. I can choose not to consume any of these media articles and stay ignorant or I could choose another form of media to gain information such as watching the daily news which tend to be more appealing in my own opinion as there are clips inserted to give me a visual view and there will be a reporter reading the news to me thus saving the effort to read the article. This then shows another characteristic regarding the mass media as there is competition with other media sources. Not to forget, I can have a choice of terminating the communication when I feel bored or when I am not interested in the article. Personally, there are only selective news that would interest me to read on. For example, this article on the runaway China singers whereas other issues that were also included in the papers like the economic fluctuation will not interest me. Thus, i will only select to consume social news and would terminate communications with other forms of news.

The various topics covered in the newspaper shows another factor regarding the mass media- they are not individualized. Whatever articles that are printed in The New Paper are not specially printed to suit any of its readers. They are inclusive of topics that one might not be interested but luckily (for me) the wide varieties of mass media choices allow me to turn to whichever source that interest me. Freedom of choice perhaps? An individual source of media will not be specially printed to suit to perference but rather, it would include a range of world issues. The varities of choices mentioned can spring from sources like magazines, reader digest, different newspapers and the television.

From my point of view, mass media like the newspaper exists for intended purpose that is to inform the public of the latest issues. It enables readers to be aware of the changing world and enjoy the entertainment provided like the comics and articles covering sports, movie reviews and a close-up with different movie stars. The unintended part could probably be that it leaves a bad impression such as the article today seems to highlight the dangers of taking foreign workers as they could escape. Unintentionally, I have adopted prejudices against the Chinese for such acts because not only did they escape their duties as a nightclub singer, they have inflicted harm on the person whom have hired them.

In my perception, mass media creates a great impact on our lives. It is easily available, in bookshops, supermarkets and magazine shops like Buzz. Given the easy access, I believe that the most common and convenience type of mass communication are the newspapers. Newspapers available in Singapore would include The New Paper, Lianhe Wangbao (the blue one), Xinhe Zao Bao (the red one), The Straits Time, Today, and My Papers. Though their coverage are rather different, I feel that the content are more or less similar. The choice of media chosen depends on the individual and the issues talked about. Therefore, the choice of mass media we consume depends on alot of factors that range from reasons why one would consume a particular source to why one would reject to consume any.

Geisha- Japan's culture

The television programme "Come Dance With Me" had its first debut yesterday. Hosted by Belinda Lee, this programme takes on "various cultures through learning the steps to a magical world of dance". The dance learnt in this programme of a total of 13 episodes ranging from "erotic belly dance, to the energetic samba, to the highly demanding Irish tap dancing where different dances represent different cultures, histories, society and people. These series explore the different cultures through the myriad world of dances." (adapted from mediacorp, channel u website)http://u.mediacorptv.sg/default.aspx

Out of all the dances screened during the advertisement, that of the Japanese appealed to me the most.As seen from the photo below, in order to perform the traditional dance, dancers are to wear the Japanese traditional costume known as the Kimono and they have to doll themselves up. The term given to these dancers is "Geisha (person of the arts) are traditional Japanese artist entertainers". In my opinion, Geisha is a good representation of the Japanese culture as it has been a tradition passed down from generations. The training of a Geisha starts from when they are young. "This culture has been learnt from the 18th to 19th century and is especially common during the American occupation of Japan. Geisha during that time carried connotations of prostitution, as some young women, desperate for money and calling themselves "geisha," sold themselves to American troops."
(adapted from http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/geisha.html)






As mentioned earlier that that Geisha has been trained from young, "they are mostly from poor families where they are brought into the home of a master of some art, starting out doing general housework and observing and assisting the master, and eventually moving up to become a master in her own right." This training often lasts for many years and is still practise in Japan. Enough of the background of a Geisha, I personally feel that it is the unique culture of Japan as it is only in Japan that we can find Geisha and therefore, whenever, i come across a picture of a woman with traditional costume (most likely, i would not be able to recognise which country was the costume from), in addition to make up (rather thick though) and with their hair neatly tied up, i tend to perceive that women in Geisha as it is seriously one and only!

Apart from "come dance with me" which illustrates the strictness in the process of being a Geisha, I have once viewed a Taiwan programme where similarly, the host is supposed to challenge the task of learning the dance of a Geisha. In both shows, what I have witnessed is that the costumes that they wear are very tight as I have seen how the hosts of both the shows tried to squeeze in to the clothing and without fail, they tend to make the screaming sound "ah" and often comment that the attire is very tight. From here, one can see that it is rather difficult for one to embrace the culture of another as we will need to unlearn certain feeling and acting in our mind (in this case, it would be our culture of wearing America style of clothing, rather than our traditional costume like Qi Pao for the Chinese)that has been established since we are young. This is mainly because our culture (what we have learn from young) has already been hard wired into our mind thus accepting the culture of another is never and should not be deem an easy job. This could also be the reason why we are supposed to respect the culture of other countries as it is something that is within.





Besides the costume, the training of a Geisha was never seem easy as they are very particular with every step taken. The picture above shows host, Belinda Lee practising the dance and judging from the background, it is undeniable that such culture is graceful and important to the Japanese. However,the identity of Geisha is often discouraging because although it sets out to be an artistic performance, many people including some of the Japanese view them as prostitutes. This could be because occasionally, "a geisha may choose to take a danna (an old fashioned word for husband), which is typically a wealthy man who has the means to support a geisha mistress. Although a geisha may fall in love with her danna, the affair is customarily contingent upon the danna's ability to financially support the geisha's lifestyle. The traditional conventions and values within such a relationship are very intricate and not well understood, even by many Japanese. Because of this, the true intimate role of the geisha remains the object of much speculation, and often misinterpretation, in Japan as well as abroad."

Thus, it seems that though cultures have their own defining terms, there are bound to be misinterpretation if the understanding of that particular culture is not strong.

certain phrasing are adapted from:
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/geisha.html (based on wikipedia article)

importance of group communication

Pictures adapted from wikipedia
Knowing that the sources for my blog need to come from a variety of media prints, my attention fell on the latest issue of ‘Teens’ as I was on my way home. Not surprisingly, I managed to spot an article in which I can apply the concept of group communication on. It is an article under entertainment page 48 of the ‘Teens’ October issue, titled “So Keen”.

The article focused on a British band, Keane who have make remarkable results in their music career and it also went on to talk about how they managed to get together as a band. Apparently, the debut album of the band Hopes and Fears “went straight to #1 on the UK album charts with the album eventually reaching sales of five and a half million copies worldwide and counting.” Their second album, Under the Iron Sea “sold over 200,000 copies the week on its release in June 2006. They are now on their way to releasing their third album. Apart from their wonderful achievement, the article described how the band was eventually stabilized when a member of the group, Tim Rice-Oxley decide not to leave the band for another, Coldplay.



It was indeed impressive that Tim did not leave the group for Coldplay, a famous band but rather he chose “stuck to his guns” and develop their own music which revolves around piano. I strongly believed that being loyal is an important factor in a group as it helps to build the trust of the members and give them a sense of security that the band is not scattered nor divided. Being with a group from the very beginning also enables the members to understand each other better which is another major factor to work together. Different people have different thinking thus being with the group and understanding each other can helps them to hopefully see from the other party’s point of view and thus avoid unnecessary conflict that might arise due to different in perceptions. In addition, I believe that for Tim to make the decision of staying with his original group requires that full support of the other members so as to encourage him to stay on and work towards their goal in making their very own music.

Another major factor that the group has make decision on would probably be to stick to piano and omitting guitar in their music. Though the reason was not mentioned, agreeing with such decision is never easy because not all the members specialized in piano. Personally, I feel that the band had invested lots of time coming together and discussing over this issue before they finally agree to use only piano for the music. Probably within the group, there is either a compromiser or follower who helps to enhance the social climate of the group. Their easiness prevents conflict that will emerged when perceptions differs.

Personally, I believed that in order for a group to exist in the first place is never an easy task. There are various factors that need to be sorted out before a group can decide if they can work together as it would implied that individual’s thoughts are no longer the key factor but rather the idea in which majority of the members agreed upon become the central idea.

Therefore, the group’s decision to stay united and work together with each other based on terms they have agreed upon is something worth applauding.

My best friend's girl

I read about this movie an i weekly magazine under movie review. Basically, the synopsis as summarised by Fandango goes like:

"Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the girl of Dustin’s dreams. But after only five weeks of dating, the love-struck Dustin is coming on so strong that Alexis is forced to slow things down – permanently. Devastated and desperate to get her back, Dustin turns to his best friend, Tank, the rebound specialist. A master at seducing – and offending – women, Tank gets hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives – an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus. But when Tank works his magic on Alexis, he ends up meeting the challenge of a lifetime. Alexis is the first girl who knows how to call his bluff, and Tank soon finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dustin and a strange new attraction to his best friend’s girl."

No doubt, Dustin is attracted by the physical appearance of Alexis which have the greatest impact in the beginning of a relationship. This is because the physical appearance is the only thing that we can know from the other person when we first met. Therefore, the relationship between Dustin and Alexis started based on physical appearance but it soon came to an end as the values of the two differs. Dustin was so obsessed with Alexis that he confessed how he loved the way she eats and even ordered steak (he's a vegan)so as to make her love him. Even though it was only five weeks into their relationship, Dustin could not stop himself but to suggest that Alexis and him should live together. All these actions freaked Alexis out as she wants to take things slowly and in addition, a date with Tank "made her realize that she hasn’t really dated that much and she thinks that they should just be friends" (adapted from wikipedia) and as a result, she puts an end to their relationship. This suggests that the two came to a stage in a relationship termed as 'coming apart' where the intense differentiation between them reflects that the relationship has developed too fast and that Alexis is not ready to embark in the new phrase of her life with Dustin.

On the other hand, the relationship between Tank and Alexis occurs rather differently as their feelings for each other developed after they had sex. During their relationship, there was no self disclosure from the side of Tank as Alexis only came to know that Tank goes out with girls as a form of job at her sister's wedding party where a drunkard Dustin made the announcement publicly. The part on self disclosure is important to a relationship because it is a maintenance process where one shares information about him or herself which the other party might not be aware off. As seen in the movie, the consequences of skipping this process in a relationship will result in shock and hurt to the other party and as a result, relational dissolution occurs mainly due to actions that undermine trust. Though Tank did not go out with girls for money when he was with Alexis, the fact that he confessed that was his job had already undermine the trust Alexis had in him, for the fear that the same might apply to her and that their relationship started not because of love but for money.

All in all, this movie actually highlights to us that in order to maintain a relationship, we have to be frank with our partners and let him or her know information about ourselves. Of course the process of getting a relationship started also plays a major role in whether the relationship can proceed on smoothly and that the two parities did not choose the wrong partner.

Pictures were taken from Fandango

Conveying ideas without talking

Yesterday, I was at the MRT station when I spotted this interesting poster. Coincidentally, at that point of time i was rather troubled as to what should I post on my blog this week. Despite wanting to change my topic from the society to perhaps something more personal, I found myself back to point one- the society because I feel that bringing up social issue would enable readers to relate more and most importantly, it really interest me. No link has been provided to shown the poster but I will snap a shot of the photo and upload it maybe later in the week.

This poster that captures my attention was divided into three parts- the first part, it shows this baby sleeping very soundly and sucking his pacifier. The second part illustrates that this baby was woken up by the ringing tone of a commuter. Irritated, the baby actually threw his milk bottle at this commuter and the crowd was laughing at this humorous sight, which marks the last part of the poster. Within the cartoon, there was no captions or speech printed yet, people who spotted this poster will still be able to grasp the whole idea of the poster. I believed that the poster intend to inform commuters to be considerate to the people around by maybe switching their phone to silent mode (deemed to illustrate here) so that they will not disturb the others who might be resting in the train.

I believed this non-linguistic poster is to highlight to the public in an interesting and exaggerating way of the possible consequences when one's phone disturb the other commuters. Of course, this is only my perception of that poster. The meaning of the poster perceived is rather subjective as it depends on the context and the individual people viewing it. This poster works in a receiver-oriented manner of communication whereby the receiver will attach meaning to the nonverbal cues given in the poster. Viewers of the poster shall interpret the poster according to their perception. The artist of this poster drew the poster in a way where the targeted audience will understand the poster immediately as the hidden message is something that we are familiar with. The poster serves as a substitute for verbal communication because instead of telling the commuters verbally, the train provider actually paste this poster within the station to inform the public to be considerate. In this case, instead of using the loudspeaker to remind the commuters to be considerate by switching their phone to the silent mode, the poster complement it yet was able to convey the idea to the public in an interesting way.

Another interesting, non-verbal communication that took place within the same poster is when the baby threw his milk bottle at the inconsiderate commuter. Babies do not know how to communicate verbally thus their actions serves as a form of communication to the people. In this case, the baby threw his bottle out of frustration for being woken up in his sweet dreams (perceived as seen from the first part that he was smiling while sleeping).

Thus,it is seen that communicating with one another need not necessary be in verbal form. Non-verbal such as this poster will also serve as a communication tool for people. I perceived non-verbal communication as important because it provides us with more options when we want to convey our ideas instead of just talking verbally which might be disruptive at times. No doubt, non-verbal communication leads to miscommunication because the way people interpret message differs. Thus, i believed that it is only advisable to use non-verbal communication when the idea is something that can be easily recognised by the targeted crowd.

Tattoos= Ex-Offenders? That's Stereotype

poster adapted from:
http://www.prisons.gov.sg/downloads/YRP_Event%20Poster.pdf

I first saw this advertisement in one of the 'Today' newspapers. Basically, it is a poster showing one man with his whole back filled with tattoos and is using his right hand to reach to the back in hope to remove the label 'ex-offender' pinned on him. This advertisement aims to inform the readers to "help remove the label of prejudice" that was placed on these ex-offenders. The yellow ribbon project also hopes to use this advertisement to persuade the public especially the employers to give these ex-offenders a chance to enter the workforce.

My own interpretation of this poster is that it is rather stereotyping because this 'model' is pictured using his right hand to reach for the post it that was pasted on his back. Is it true that all of us use our right hand to reach out for things? Another stereotype regarding this poster is that it assumes that all ex-offenders have tattoos which is obviously not true because some people do go for tattoos because they perceived it as a form of art. My interpretation of the creator of this poster for using post it instead of some other labels could probably indicate that this 'ex-offender' label can be remove rather easily and painlessly. Well, that's the characteristic of post it isn't it?

Just like the creator of this poster, typically, most of us would probably have our own personal constructs and thus tend to associate the term 'ex-offenders' with what we have habitually notice in gangsters like dyed hair, many ear holes some of which are so large to the extent that you could actually peeped through it, thick make up and revealing clothes for the girls and very sluggish attire for the guys. Overall, they tend to walk rather menacing. Obviously the fact that most of them smoke and drink could not be omitted. Upon the sight of such appearance, we tend to predict their behaviour such as that of their sentence which tend to be made up of vulgarities and more often than not, constant hand gesture are involved. Of course, these are, as mentioned stereotype of what we normally deemed as gangsters or ex-criminal. Such stereotype occurs probably because of our mental framework which develops over time as we grow up and we will start to form our own interpretation regarding various issues. The cause of such discrimination could probably be traced back to the time when we were younger. Things that we have in contact with do leave an impression on us and depending on whether the event that occurs is positive or negative, we then develop different opinion to various issues. For example, when I was younger, i used to witness this group of people who like to gather at the void deck talking drinking and when they got drunk, they start to create troubles like picking up a fight with another group. This could be the reason as to why I would normally associate large group of people gathering at the void deck as gangsters or people who are out to create trouble. Fortunately, it is possible to move beyond our default organisational template.

Regarding the stereotype mentioned earlier, personally i feel that not all ex-criminals have tattoos, smoke or behave like a gangster. The term 'Ex-offender' is rather broad which i would personally defined it as people who have a police record whether they are caught for shoplifting, or they sell pirated CD, speed driving, drink driving etc. So long as they have been caught for acting against the rules in Singapore, in my perception will be defined as 'offenders'. Thus, it is seen that ex-offenders do not necessary need to be a gangster or someone with tattoos.

Personally i feel that though the yellow ribbon project is gaining in popularity, it might not appeal to most of the people simply because the fear that they might repeat the offence is still instill within us. Though some part within us do believe that these ex-offenders are determined to change for the better, this perception is still weaker than our fear of they repeating the crime or commit other crimes.

If i were to be a boss, i might consider giving them a second chance as I perceived that most of them have realised their mistake and would not want to go back to the prison again. However, before i were to employ them, i might make a great deal of effort to do research as to their behaviour when they are in the prison and observe them when they are working. I mean, this is to play safe isn't it? Of course there are people who will be very willing to help but the question is, how many people are really willing to offer such help?

Singlish VS English

Please go to the following link to view the source (adapted from Today online)
http://www.todayonline.com/pdf_main.asp?pubdate=20080830 (page 5)

I saw this article on Weekend Today (30 August 2008) and it captures my attention immediately simply because I can relate to what the writer is trying to highlight- the issue of Singlish. Basically, the article wants to create an awareness that the use of proper English is in danger as most Singaporeans are communicating in Singlish. The article pointed out that Singaporeans choose to communicate in Singlish because it is considered "a colourful homegrown dialect with its own grammar" which implies that the use of Singlish is deemed unique. Also, as mentioned in the article that in a poll done by Singapore Polytechnic Business students, revealed that "nearly half the people between 25 and 29 years old don't think good English is important". In the writer's opinion, it seems that English has lost its significance in Singapore as demonstrated by the local universities whereby admission does not require students to excel in the language. In addition, the writer also highlights the fact that English teachers nowadays have to depend on the retired English teachers to teach them so that they are trained to conduct English lessons in proper English. At the end of the article, the writer suggest that universities can allow students who hold lousy English results to further their studies in the school but are to ensure that they make improvement over the time.

In this case, the newspaper article acts as a channel in which the writer highlights his concerns over the dominating Singlish. The writer targeted mainly the 'Today' readers and create a collective representation of reality using what is known as the language code (Singlish) to attract the readers' attention. This is done so as people who are most likely to flip through the newspaper are Singaporeans who are familiar with Singlish and the rising problems caused by the island wide usage of it. It is seen that the writer tries to link with the readers by using the word "Singlish" which all Singaporeans are aware that it means the improper use of English in our society. Thus, readers who are able to familiarise themselves with the word will be drawn to read the article and get hold of the gist of what the writer is trying to conevy through the interesting title "Bad English? Don't Pray, Pray". In addition, our "mother tongue"- the 'lahs', 'lehs' and 'mehs' appear on the article which helps us to further recognise the "Singlish" that the writer is referring to. Though some may argue that it's not only us, the Singaporeans who will use 'lahs', 'lehs', 'mehs', the writer cleverly includes our Singlish spokesperson- Phua Chu Kang to relate to the readers as the character played by Gurmit Singh is famous for his use of Singlish. To further hit Singaporeans on the seriousness of the use of Singlish, the writer brought in the universities' admission criteria to prove that because of the increase in the dominance of Singlish, even universities seems to perceive that proper English is no longer important. All the factors employed by the writer to illustrate the whole point of him writing the article are not only pointers which we can relate to (because the use of Singlish does not apply to other countries like the USA or British) and also it serves to sort of hit us hard on our head on the severity of the issue.

My personal opinion is that, no doubt, the use of proper English is extremely important specially when our country has close ties with for example, British and a good command of English is necessary to facilitate us in communicating with them efficiently. English is also an international language and thus no doubt of its importance in comunication. However, I feel that English is not what the writer has put it- that it is in "ICU", but rather it is just that most of us prefer to speak in Singlish as it enables us to relate to each other better. I feel that we (Singaporeans) will look at the Kairos (occasion) for the choice of which kind of language to use. For example, when my class is presenting our project work to the investigators, we spoke formally, omitting our 'lahs' and 'lehs' as we are fully aware that such language is not acceptable. However, when we are presenting to our own class, the 'lahs' and 'lehs' will spill put from our mouth be it consciously or unconsciously. Thus, it is significant that we use Singlish on certain occasions as we feel more comfortable using it and it symbolise our uniqueness. By using formal English when speaking to our own friends make us feel as though they are strangers. I do agree that Singlish do spoilt the beauty of English language but at least I feel that it is not at danger as we are still able to communicate in proper English when needed. Singlish highlights our uniqueness and it actually serves as a good way in helping us to identify with fellow Singaporeans when we are overseas. For example when I'm alone in a foreign country and there's no one I can relate to, I will be delighted when say I'm having lunch myself and suddenly I overheard a 'lah' or 'leh' coming from the other table. Another example to demonstrate that Singlish is in no way affecting our proper use of English would be Gumit Singh. In the show, Phua Chu Kang, he acts as a typical Singaporean, one who uses Singlish, can't speak a good command of English but when we meet him in real life or when his hosting a television show, he speaks fluently, almost two different person as compared to Phua Chu Kang.

Thus, even though the use of Singlish is increasing at an alarming rate, we are actually still armed with a good command of English but only choose to use it when necessary. I'm not too sure about the writer's point that retired teachers need to make a comeback to teach English teachers but I shall stay strong in my belief that our English teachers will have an excellent command of English as I believe their English standard has definitely hit a certain mark in order for them to qualify as a language teacher. Therefore, I feel that as long as we are able to differentiate between good English and Singlish and know when to use which, it is perfectly fine for us to communicate in Singlish with the people around us.