GES Meme thing

GES Workshop 3

5 March 2019

Exegesis: critical explanation or interpretation of the creative processes/outcomes of the creative project. This module asks students to constantly reflect on what they do, especially when creating something aesthetic – and relate this to what they have learnt and experienced in the process

1. What is my meme saying about Singapore?

It addresses issues of population density and land scarcity in Singapore. The meme is meant to be slightly sarcastic in its tone about the attitude the government has, and has had, towards the population in Singapore

2. Why did I choose to comment on this aspect of Singapore?

Because a representation is necessarily political, I chose to use this meme to put forward an issue with which i felt strongly about. In brainstorming topics, i realised that the issue which first came to my mind when i thought about Singapore, is how our physical geography shaped the people who used to, and still inhabit this land. Our lack of natural resources made it paramount for us to make sure that the one resource we did have-people- were marketable to the world, in order for us to trade globally and expand our international market. Because of Singapore’s struggle with population decline and growth, there has been growing sentiment about the density of Singapore’s population being too high, as a result of the influx of foreign workers, as well as the government’s efforts to increase the birth rate after previously releasing a policy intended to curb it.

3. What is the process of constructing this Meme?

I had to find an image which related both to population density, and emphasized pictorially the issue of our land scarcity which i saw to be a metaphor or an umbrella term to refer to Singapore’s general physical geography as a small island with little to no land for agriculture or marketable natural minerals/metals etc.

a. Why did I choose this image?

It related to my 2 aforementioned themes well, in showing humans looking like overcrowded plants sprouting from the ground. Originally i tried to find an image of a crowded train in India, but i realised that this would have been more impactful and relevant to the theme and context

b. Why did I choose the caption/text?

Memes generally gain traction if they are funny, so given the prevelance of sarcasm in meme culture, i decided to employ it as a medium to carry my message which is meant to carry some repressed tension in its tone.

c. How did I go about putting the image and caption together?

I used a meme generating website, as my computer’s software was unable to produce the effect i needed to produce a meme.

4. What do you hope to accomplish with this Meme?

I hope to allow my chosen issue and the slight politicity of my stance to be clear to my classmates

5. What has the process of constructing this Meme made you realise about the

challenges of representations and representing Singapore?

It made me realise that there are limited issues to consider when it comes to producing a fairly simple and nuanced meme which will be accessible to the general public. Very often, memes are merely watered down and simplified versions of a very complex problem at hand. Given the sensationalisation of news, especially in a country as small and censored as Singapore when it comes to matters of the press, it is easy to see why some may revert to being mere ‘headline readers’ who do not bother to find out more about a given topic, as long as it is widely talked about, and keeps them relevant by allowing them to contribute to the local conversation.