Culture And Public Relations In Singapore

The Relationship between Culture and Public Relations

To focus on the Singapore culture and focus on the entertainment area. Please include a thesis statement and case study.

The culture of a place is something that is reflected in every practice that is prevalent in a country[1]. The culture of a place is the backbone on which every other system is based and it is culture that acts as the base for all that occurs in the governance of a country and its systems[2]. Public relation on the other hand is the process of communication that is taken up to reach out to the mass and make something effective or establish any system[3]. The public relations industry is very important for countries in order to reach out to the world and establish an image among other countries[4]. The link between culture and public relation is very obvious and logical in nature. The culture bound nature of every place connects public relations with the culture of the place. Culture is something that affects the communication pattern and as it is evident that public relation is a communication activity, it is clear that both culture and communication are related to each other[5]. The society and its various cultural implications decide the style of communication that will be present in the country. The project examines how culture has its influences in the Public relations of the country and its various spheres mainly entertainment.

Singapore is a country that enjoys a cosmopolitan nature in the society. People from various cultural backgrounds and roots live together and have a healthy level of interaction among them[6]. The place has a mix of Malay, Indian, European and Chinese people in the population. The streets of Chinatown are seen in the country as well as the little India and the Muslim characterized Arab streets, all stay in harmony with each other and refer to themselves as Singaporeans. The Chinatown area displays all the Chinese cultural elements and has a concentration of the Chinese population[7]. The Little India has variety of Indian cuisines and the south Indian buffets dominate the food stalls of the place[8]. All these places are well connected by the public transport and hence it allows people to get taste of the variety very easily. The racial groups have their distinct celebrations and all are celebrated equally throughout the year. The unique character of each group is preserved in the country. So many cultures in the place make it the most diverse culture in the world.

Singapore’s Multicultural Society

The various languages that are spoken here are English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and Chinese[9].The place has many fascinating buildings that have religious influence to their architecture and this makes the place look very beautiful and representative of the diversity prevalent in the place. The official holiday list of the place incorporates the holidays of all the major religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam[10]. The food of Singapore portrays the rich cultural diversity that the place possesses. The cuisines from Malaysia, China, India and Indonesia come together and form hybrid delicacies that are very popular in Singapore. The huge diversity has led to the place being referred to as a secular immigrant country where government is very protective of all the religious sentiments[11].

Singapore is located at the southern tip of Malaysia. The place acted as a port for trading for the British ships en-route to the Indian mainland. As a noteworthy point of exchange or trade and because of its nearness to Malaysia, Singapore was disposed to multiple remote influences, both from United Kingdom and from various other Asiatic nations. Laborers from China and India shifted to Singapore in order to be employed at the harbor. The country was a British colony until 1942. It took a considerable amount of time of the country to turn into the state in which it is at the very moment. The industrial nature of the country was achieved after a considerable amount of time. Today, it is assessed that half of the aggregate workforce in Singapore is foreign. A blend of various dialects, conventions, and religions is seen everywhere in the country. The biggest blow to the place came during the World WarII; the land was attacked by the Japanese and in the largest surrender of history, the British army surrendered to them. Though the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the place became a British colony from then on.

Singapore went into a merger with Malaysia in the year 1963 and the people supported this move hugely but soon the merger was broken and Singapore was separated. Singapore got independence in the year 1965 and from then on the country’s struggle to establish itself as a prosperous country began[12]. The strategic location of Singapore helped the place in attaining better and faster growth and position itself favorably in the world economy. The industrialization programs were launched in the country and it helped the place to get a boost in the economy and come forward from other nations who were still struggling to establish themselves after being freed from the colonial rule.

Language and Religion in Singapore

Public relations in Singapore until recent days were mainly limited to media relations, print industry, events, promotions and entertainment. The current state of Public relations in the country is in a transformational period where the focus is shifting from the previously mentioned sections to important areas such as- development, image management and strategic planning. The industry is showing a trend towards maturity by taking the agency structure and entering the private and public sectors[13]. An eminent improvement, which lends support to the rising PR business, is the Singapore government’s push towards the regionalization of neighborhood organizations in building the nation’s external economy.The country does not invest much in the public relations area when it comes to the organizations or business institutions that are working in it, but the trends are changing and businesses are creating opportunity for public relation personnel to work for them and create a better image for them in the public.

Singapore has a controversial and complicated relationship for the entertainment area. Be it arts, films or theatre, the strict laws of censorship create struggle for the directors when they want to portray any kind of sensitive issue such as religion, politics or racial dispute[14]. Despite this the arts and entertainment area of the country has expanded massively in the recent days and film festivals and various art meets are strongly developing the scenario in the country. The public relations of the country is thriving to portray the country in a better way to the outside world and in this pursuit many projects are being taken up that show the country in a good light and enhance the rich culture of the place to the outside world. The recent plethora of films from Singapore has been very successful and has made the country proud in various international film festivals and screenings. The portrayal of culture in the content has led to the citizens emoting with the content of the entertainment industry. The idea that people have of the industry has been moving towards a positive dimension as people feel like a part of those contents that are being produced.

The relations and the image of the country are ever strengthening with the effect of public relations in the entertainment area of the country. In particular, a documentary named “The Songs we Sang”, directed by Eva Tang, was released in the year 2016. This documentary was highly acclaimed by the people of Singapore and all around the world alike. The focus of the film was a form of folk music named “Xinyao” that was popular in the 1980s but it diminished in popularity in the 90s and people did not go back to this very popular culture of the country. The Xinyao music was a folk music that was very popular and the youth were the prime target for this kind of music. These songs were a reflection of the age of innocence of the country; they spoke of the aspirations that the land held for itself[15]. The Xinyao music was attributed as the voice of common people. The public relation approach to such a project remains in the fact that the country has a huge cultural variety and hence its promotion is required for the world to know the hidden gems of the land. The documentary went on to become very popular and the people who had their youth in the 1980s were emotional on seeing it because they were feeling the nostalgia of the music from their college days. The word Xin means heart in the Chinese language and the people of Singapore who are aware of the music Xinyao refer to it as the heart of the land as it correctly reflects the values of Singapore.

Singapore’s History and Industrialization

The documentary lead people to move towards listening to the Xinyao music and this benefitted the Public relations because the songs contained lyrics that had a detailed description of some of the streets of Singapore and some of the popular places in the country. The broad variety in the culture of the place is reflective in the songs as the lyrics have words that are a combination of various languages. The song, which is Mandarin in language, has successfully incorporated lyrics of other languages as well into it. Often Hokken words are found among a string of Cantonese words in the song. This shows the blending nature of the country’s culture and the dominance of diverse culture in Singaporean context.

The entertainment industry is responsible for bringing the country at a common point and the influence of culture is evident in the type of work that is produced in the country[16]. The younger generation of the country are unaware of the variety and the past practices of the land and such products from the entertainment area only enables them in understanding the culture in a better way and appreciate the diversity that is prevalent in the land. Apart from such documentaries, numerous other entertainment products deter the nature of Public relations in the country. The plays such as “Mimi Fan”, “Are You There, Singapore?”, “Off Centre” and many more have successfully portrayed the acceptance of the diversity in the land and also the support that every individual is provided with when needed. The integrity in the society and among the mindset of the people that is a result of the Public relations in the society of Singapore is evident from the kind of work that is produced in the society and the relation this has with culture is seen from the content that is being produced.

To conclude, it is seen that the public relations of the country is something that is extremely connected with the culture of the place. The effort of the PR team in creating a society that understands and respects the diversity in the society is huge and every aspect is dealt with a motivation to uplift the multicultural dimension of the land. The process of communication with the mass is something that is looked after by the Public relations department and this effectively ensures various practices that are ensued in the society. There are various fairs and celebrations in the society that are of various religious and ethnic background. Every festival is celebrated in the country and with due respect to all the religions and other groups. Public relations of the country have made sure that every group feels at home in the land and no deterring attitude is shown by anyone to any group or individual. The optimization of the personal mentalities in a way that will promote the sustainability of various groups in the society has been the prime concern of the Public relations department in the land of Singapore.

Public Relations in Singapore

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