“Feel good” propaganda is like unhealthy food

This previously unpublished article was written some time ago as part of a commentary series on our national media

Photo courtesy of SingaporeMind

The British media is considered by some to be the scourge of English football, to the extent that the careers of promising English footballers went on a downward trajectory thanks to it.

What happened was that the media talks up the potential and abilities of promising footballers. In doing so, this revs up the public’s expectation of them, and as a result, generates unnecessary pressure. This can have an adverse effect on their performances on the field. In other cases, the talking up by the media leads to a “feel good” factor that eventually gets to the heads of these promising footballers and results in a sense of complacency.

Our British media in a certain sense is similar to our national media especially when it comes to national issues. Every now and then, we get reports on relatively positive ranking numbers that shows Singapore on top of the pile, and rarely do we get a discussion on the ranking methodologies. Usually, we get a headline screaming “Singapore ranks top for…………”, but the exact details on how the ranking is carried out, we are kept in the dark. Critical news showing poor performances in other areas are a rare sight. Critical opinions on Singapore rarely see the light of the day. In a similar vein to the British media, such “feel good” news will eventually lead to a sense of complacency among Singaporeans in a phenomenon known as “living in a make-believe world painted by our national propaganda”, which actually reminds Discovery Channel viewers of a documentary entitled “A State of Mind” on North Korea (if they caught that episode).

Photo courtesy of SingaporeMind

Ironically, this sense of complacency wasn’t lost on our leaders. In an interview with The Straits Times, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew remarked that:”There is no country in the world where nothing goes wrong. Anyone who believes nothing can or will go wrong in Singapore is living in a make-believe world”. PAP MP Lim Wee Kiak added that:”There is a sense of general complacency in Singapore because we have a very efficient civil service and Government that takes care of most people’s needs – shelter, employment, education, medical, transport, even retirement needs…”. MP Lim’s remarks remind us of an article produced by our media on the number one ranking of our civil service for efficiency. Now, with such favorable reports on our government and civil service, the question we should be asking is whether we have been feeding too much on our national propaganda.

There is a saying that foods which taste extremely delicious are usually unhealthy, and if consumed regularly enough will clog up our arteries and leave us with unwanted diseases. “Feel-good propaganda” is similar to such delicious food. It makes us “feel good” in pandering to our taste buds, but in the long-term, makes us sick with complacency.

Thus, we should be asking ourselves a critical question – are we feeding too much on the “feel good” propaganda churned out from our national media that we are starting to tune into its “make believe” world, and that has made us complacent? If the answer is yes, then we may have to go on a therapeutic regimen that exercises the faculties of our mind, just like how regular exercise can improve our health. That being said, there is no running away from the fact that our national media is the major culprit in instilling a sense of complacency amongst Singaporeans. Thus, will the latter reform in a way that stimulates us to better exercise our mental faculties? That is a million dollar question.