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- Sep 24, 2008
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Too Westernised our country, especially those below 30 who are obssessed with Hollywood values
That's why we need to import 1.5 million more PRCs to improve our stock
EXCERPTS of NMP Calvin Cheng's speech in Parliament:
'My experience in media, entertainment and fashion is regional and it is my observation that we remain the only country in Asia with such an overwhelming hang-up with what is Western.
'What is happening in our fashion and media is I think a manifestation of something deeper in the Singaporean psyche. Maybe we think as a young nation, we do not have our own culture and we need to ape others. I think this is false. We may be a young nation but the constituent cultures of our nation is old. The Malays, Indian culture, and Chinese cultures are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
'And for hundreds of years, since 1819, these cultures have interacted, together with European culture, to form a unique �rojak� that one cannot find anywhere else in the world. It may be a rojak culture we have, but it is ours, let's embrace it, let's be proud of it, because it is our own. We do not always have to look outwards for inspiration in our media, our arts, our fashion as I truly believe there is enough richness, enough substance in what we have inside us.
'As we work towards being a global city, I think it is imperative that we create a first class Asian and international city, and not a second-rate Western city, a pale imitation of the original. We can continue what I see as our current obsession with Western content, Western media, Western ideas and import more Western concepts, events and media properties, or we can have a healthy blend of East and West that creates a uniquely Singaporean cultural identity.
'To do the former would be foolish and stunt our growth into a matured society. Only the latter route would offer Singapore and Singaporeans a chance to establish a permanent and unique role in the world.'
That's why we need to import 1.5 million more PRCs to improve our stock
EXCERPTS of NMP Calvin Cheng's speech in Parliament:
'My experience in media, entertainment and fashion is regional and it is my observation that we remain the only country in Asia with such an overwhelming hang-up with what is Western.
'What is happening in our fashion and media is I think a manifestation of something deeper in the Singaporean psyche. Maybe we think as a young nation, we do not have our own culture and we need to ape others. I think this is false. We may be a young nation but the constituent cultures of our nation is old. The Malays, Indian culture, and Chinese cultures are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
'And for hundreds of years, since 1819, these cultures have interacted, together with European culture, to form a unique �rojak� that one cannot find anywhere else in the world. It may be a rojak culture we have, but it is ours, let's embrace it, let's be proud of it, because it is our own. We do not always have to look outwards for inspiration in our media, our arts, our fashion as I truly believe there is enough richness, enough substance in what we have inside us.
'As we work towards being a global city, I think it is imperative that we create a first class Asian and international city, and not a second-rate Western city, a pale imitation of the original. We can continue what I see as our current obsession with Western content, Western media, Western ideas and import more Western concepts, events and media properties, or we can have a healthy blend of East and West that creates a uniquely Singaporean cultural identity.
'To do the former would be foolish and stunt our growth into a matured society. Only the latter route would offer Singapore and Singaporeans a chance to establish a permanent and unique role in the world.'
