Make or break.

Help me and Tawn get married.

I chanced upon this blog post one day, thinking how can anyone help with marriage? Then I realized that Tawn and Chris are a gay couple who might be affected by the outcome of a campaign known as Proposition 8.

"Here's how you can help me and Tawn:

Contact the people you know in California - let them know about me and Tawn and that if Proposition 8 passes, we'll be unable to marry in December. Ask them to vote no on the proposition and to talk with their friends, family and fellow citizens, too.

If you are a Californian, talk to people who think differently from you - it is easy to "preach to the choir" but the ones who need to hear form you are the undecided voters, the ones for whom a personal story will make all the difference. Studies have shown that personalizing the issues makes people more supportive of equal rights.

If you are a registered voter in California, remember to vote - right now the proposition is slightly ahead in voter support. To defeat it, we will need ever supporter who is registered to vote to actually get out to the polls. Your vote will count!

Consider contributing to the "No on 8" campaign - They are being outspent by 2-to-1 by donations from outside the state, 30% of which have come from the Mormon Church. I have already made a donation and hope you will join me. Even if you donate just $10, you will help buy valuable television airtime so our side of the debate can be heard. Click here to donate at Equality California's secure website."

Upon reading his post and the various ways to help them, donating to their cause was one option. Chris said that he has made a donation himself, and went on to say why it mattered. Here comes the shocker. The more donations each group has, the more media time they will receive. I never knew that people had to ‘pay’ for media like these. It truly highlights the fact that the rich and powerful are the ones steering the direction of the media. Because the media holds a limited, but still powerful degree of influence, it tends to shape public opinion. It has the power to shape the opinions of the neutral group, as their vote can make or break the entire campaign.

This is media hegemony in place, where the group with less financial power will be silenced. It is exactly why Chris appealed for more help, as he wanted the minority to have a say in the debate. He wanted people to hear, what the minority had to say. Likewise, the lack of coverage on any side would result in voters being skewed to the party that has been mentioned more in the media. This results in priming, which leads to greater awareness of one party over the other, which is rather unfair. It is especially so when only one side of the story is heard, which is made even worse if the message is biased.

Aside from that, Chris has actually mentioned media determinism in his post. He urges Californians to talk to those with a different view. Just like Marshall McLuhan, Chris believes that the medium in which the message is sent makes a whole lot of difference. In fact, Marshall McLuhan believes that "the Medium is the Message". And it is true that the medium makes a whole lot of difference. Chris stands by this concept by asking others to share a personal story. This medium would be much more personal as compared to ads on television, or even an article in the papers. Because afterall, face to face communication is the richest medium that is available.

On another note, my initial intention wasn't to do a post on Chris and Tawn. Instead, I was contemplating of doing something closer to home.. perhaps in reference to this. And this. But I was too much of a chicken. I am the perfect example of the spiral of silence! It states that people have the tendency to refrain from expressing unpopular ideas or views. It is true, I am refraining because I am afraid. Even our own newspapers are not supporting this particular view, there is an utter lack of coverage for the other party. They are working together with majority of the public opinion, effectively silencing the minority, who have thus turned to mediums with more freedom. Likewise, people like Chris have also turned to the internet as it is very effective media channel, and much less restricted than the traditional forms.

Do you think that things would be different if it wasn't for new media channels such as the internet? Well, I certainly do.

We all have differences.

A friend once told a group of us this true story that happened in Europe. As she told us what happened, she also mentioned that she wanted us to guess what was going on.

Before I start, be forewarned that some of the following images may be deemed offending.

It starts about a man who was refused entry onto a crowded bus. Undeterred, he ran to the front of the bus and stopped it effectively, then going on to show the bus driver his pinky. Like this:

Prick

Some of you may recognize this sign, it's otherwise known as the 'Prick'. Intended for males, the meaning behind it is as literal as can be.

Continuing with the story, the driver then responded to the man with a gesture like the one below.

Because this is a PG-13 blog, I shan't state the name of this gesture. An excerpt regarding it is as follows;

"This is a two handed gesture and involves first making a hollow fist from one hand and the slapping the open palm of the other over the hole several times. Not only is this very graphic - it makes a satisfyingly insulting and remarkably accurate sound too." [Source]

At this point of the story-telling, my friends started dropping comments like,

"How can the driver be so rude?!" (Afterall he is a public servant, customer service is the way to go!)

"Are you serious?"

And some others just went "OMG OMG OMG". Seriously.

After the driver's unfriendly response (he still firmly refused to open the door), the man then flashed him another sign. His right hand in the sign of a 'Prick', he stuck his last finger into his left hand, which was formed into a loosely-clenched fist. Lo and behold! The driver proceeded to open the door and let the man up. And that was the end of it, an unexpected happy ending.

A surprise to us all, everyone who was listening responded with a confused "Huh?" And there we were, all thinking how blatant the Europeans were in insulting each other.

My friend then decided to share with us what really went on instead. It turns out that when the man first flashed his pinky, what he meant was "Could you please let one more person up?"

The driver's response actually indicated a "I'm sorry, but my bus is packed to the brim."

The man then replied with his last gesture, "I know it's packed, but it is possible to squeeze more person on board!" And that was why the door was opened to him.

At that point, understanding dawned on us all. I guess this shows how people in different cultures take to things differently. Most of us had a negative view on whatever that happening between the two, believing that both were throwing rude gestures back and forth. This is so as the culture that we grew up in has programmed us to think that such hand signs can only have rude connotations. We have been brought up to think that way by our parents, and them by our grandparents. Us kids would receive a stern lecture or a whack on the head by our parents if we were to display such signs. It is because cultural norms have already dictated what we can, or cannot do. And in the case of Singaporeans, flipping the bird and all similar signs are deeply frowned upon.

Aside from that, I believe that Singapore has a low context culture whereas Europe has high context cultures instead. The main reason being that low context cultures focus more on appearances and visual cues etc rather than the core message itself. High context cultures on the other hand, places its emphasis on the message itself rather than the way it is transmitted. In this instance, people who grew up in Asian countries would view the signs as vulgar, offending, and probably wouldn't derive any other meanings. However, when this happened somewhere else, a European country, people delved into the deeper meanings and messages that the hand signs contained instead. It shows how important packaging plays as a part in low context cultures, for we would never, ever, think to use such signs to convey similar messages.

I daresay that we would never be able to pull off the same stunt here in Singapore, bus drivers would probably be stunned. Those who react fast enough may just proceed to run us over. Culture shock I say!

Now then, what other vast differences have you come across in different cultures? So much so that the same actions would mean another thing in a different place? On another random note, do you think that there's a connection between geographical boundaries and high/low cultural contexts?

Allswell that ends well?

Allswell Chestnut drink!

This TVC has been circulating our screens for the past few months, and created quite a furore if I'd say so myself. Alright, maybe not. But still, it was talked about to the point that it was covered in the newspaper. I mean, what were your thoughts when you first saw it? Did you think it was sweet? Or just plain cheesy? This ad has been lambasted from all sides by Singaporeans old and young. Said to be too cheesy, mushy and distasteful, many felt that this ad was a waste of resources. Most found it a cheap production mostly because of the way the actors were speaking. Filmed entirely in Singlish ("No I want my teh peng!"), some people were turned off by it. Repulsed, actually. In fact, a friend told me that she swore off chestnut drinks after watching the ad. And no, I'm not lying.

What do you think, is the cause of such a negative response from viewers?

In my opinion, I attribute the main cause to the dialogue and language used. Singlish. Ahh, it's a love-hate relationship. It's what Singaporeans are known for, but we hate being known for it (despite our daily intensive usage). Singlish is this big exclusionary language that nobody understands except for people on this island and the ones near it. And language, is power.

Some foreigners who come to Singapore might look down on Singlish like it's part of pidgin language. Or, some locals tend to think that those with poor English are of a lower class. There is a perception that an increased fluency in English would mean that the person is highly educated, well groomed and therefore likely to be successful. Because of past experiences that eloquence has the ability to elevate one's status (just take a look at our leaders), we associate english with high social status. Just like how some atas soul would hold her snotty nose high up in the air with regards to an ah beng. Yes I'm stereotyping, but it's true! Why do I say that language is power? Well, people with a good command of english often use it to their advantage to impress, and to intimidate. Just how often is a salesgirl made speechless when she is thrown a barrage of terms that she doesn't understand? Back to Allswell, viewers probably had the perception that it's badly scripted as compared to other ads whereby the dialogues are catered more to an international crowd. And that's probably because it has to befit the overall brand image that it has in the world.

Locals are absolutely ashamed to be portrayed in the light that Allswell has shone on all of us. But if you think about it, that's how Singaporeans speak. Hop on the bus or a train; you'll hear that kind of dialogue anywhere. Why is it then that this ad generated disgust? Are we being hypocritical? Or perhaps, it's a case of self serving bias where we judge ourselves more tolerantly?

Are we in denial?

But whatever it is, Allswell actually saw a ten percent increase in sales despite the negative responses. I stick by my mantra that bad publicity is better than no publicity. At least there's awareness.

On another note..

I wouldn't say that the Allswell commercial's a great ad, but it's not exactly the worst either. (In fact the holder of that title belongs to a KOKA ad a few years back, up till now I've never patronized them.) Yes the ad may be disgustingly mushy and all, but you've got to say that it's kind of sweet. Kind of.

And just for the haters, what's that one thing that you detest most about the ad?