At first glance, this comic strip might not mean anything to you, but it is actually hiding an underlying meaning. Now, I shall give a detailed explanation on the meaning of this comic strip. Essentially, this comic strip is meant to give a comparison between life in Singapore in the past (ie. early post-independence) and life in present, modernised Singapore. The panels on the left represent life in the past while the ones on the right show examples of life in present day. Now, I shall proceed on to explain the meanings of the comic.
On the top left hand corner, the comic panel shows a Malay man behind his cow, while saying the words “Bergarak!” which means go in Malay. There are bushes in the background and a noticeable lack of any buildings. On the other hand, the comic panel next to it shows two cars stuck in a traffic jam. The driver in the yellow car, which is behind the red car, furiously honks at the driver in front, while shouting, “Hurry up!” Also, in contrast to the first comic panel, buildings are seen in the background. These two comic panels are meant to show the contrast between people and Singapore’s environment in the past and present. In the past, Singapore was much less modernised and had few buildings, with flora and fauna taking much majority of Singapore before it became industralised and commercialised. In the present, however, Singapore is a sparkling metropolis with numerous towering skyscrapers. Another obvious difference is that in the past, the people mostly used Malay to converse, which was also Singapore’s national language. Also, there was a lack of advancement in technology, therefore they had to rely on animals to do labour or carry out transportation, for example. On the other hand, in present day, Singaporeans have a wide range of technology at their fingertips, and everything is more updated and modern. They now use cars to move from place to place, instead of maybe walking or riding a bicycle. However, as it is seen from the comic panel, Singaporeans have become more impatient and rude, as they lead a more hectic lifestyle nowadays.
Now, for the other two comic panels. On the bottom left hand corner, the setting is the interior of a kampong. As it is seen, the lighting is poor, and there is a towel strewn on the sofa. Also, there is a middle-aged Chinese man who comments, “好累啊!”, which means “How tiring!” in Chinese. He has just come home from a long strenuous day at work, and works at a textile factory, where it is labour-orientated. In the panel next to it, however, there is a large house, which is noticeably bright. Also, the house is clean and there is a painting in the house. Technology advancement is noticeable as there is a computer on a table in the room. A boy is standing in the room, shouting rudely for his mother to give him his ice-cream.The main message that these two comic panels are trying to convey is how much the attitude of Singaporeans and the standard of living have changed over time. In the past, the housing was much less neat and clean, and majority of Singaporeans lived in kampongs, or attap houses, with poor hygiene standards. Also, most of the adults worked at labour-intensive industries, as it was just after independence and the government was trying to solve the problem of unemployment. Singaporeans in the past definitely led a hard life in the past. As for the present, the standard of living has greatly improved, as seen from the much improved hygiene and lighting. Technology has also improved by leaps and bounds. However, there is a boy in the room, who impatiently whines, “Mum! Where’s my ice-cream!” These two comic panels demonstrate a great improvement in the standard of living, but does it come at a price? It seems that teenagers are getting ruder and more complacent.
In conclusion, the message that I am trying to convey through this comic strip is that despite Singapore having greatly advanced since early post-independence years, it has come at a price. Industrialisation and modernisation may result in cases of possible major pollution, as seen in the BP oil spill. Also, the large improvement in the standard of living may have caused the young people of this generation to be more complacent in Singapore’s successes, as noted in the recent book about Minister Mentor and ex Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, “Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going”. The question at hand is, is Singapore’s globalisation worth the prices it has to pay?
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