PHOTO: COURTESY OF SONNY LIEWThis comic is using verbal communication to bring across the message of how Christmas can be bought to those people who live in the HDB apartments. It uses various ideas and opinions on how Santa would be able to go up the floors and into the house of the present recipient. I think it is a very different of bringing across the message of Christmas to the HDB apartment people.
Many of us, are comic readers. Be it comic books or comic strips from the news paper. I am one of those people who likes to read comic strips form the news paper. It makes me want to read more about the news that the comic strip is talking about. It uses language in such a way that it holds the reader's attention no matter how boring the topic of the comic might be. It expresses our emotion in general. The comic strip also uses feelings. Emotion and Feelings that are used in the comics are mostly comedy or tragedy. IF these two things were not used in the comic strip, we might not even be able to grasp what the comic is trying to tell us in a way.
The comics are abstracts of the whole picture. It is kind of like in intro to the whole news that we will eventually read and not try to figure out what is the news all about. Comics are all about using direct language to bring across a certain message. Although, they do tend to be flexible and often use slangs that expresses a particular group like the Singaporeans for example. We tend to use singlish more often then we do English. It is due to the very often used singlish that it gets around and more people start using it even the comic writers. This makes it way easier for all of us to enjoy the comic more. For Example, how the Mass Rapid Transit uses Pua Chu Kang; local comedian actor in their advertisements to bring across the courtesy message on giving way to passengers who are alighting forn the train.
But, would it be okay if we were to start using singlish in our daily lives??
Many of us, are comic readers. Be it comic books or comic strips from the news paper. I am one of those people who likes to read comic strips form the news paper. It makes me want to read more about the news that the comic strip is talking about. It uses language in such a way that it holds the reader's attention no matter how boring the topic of the comic might be. It expresses our emotion in general. The comic strip also uses feelings. Emotion and Feelings that are used in the comics are mostly comedy or tragedy. IF these two things were not used in the comic strip, we might not even be able to grasp what the comic is trying to tell us in a way.
The comics are abstracts of the whole picture. It is kind of like in intro to the whole news that we will eventually read and not try to figure out what is the news all about. Comics are all about using direct language to bring across a certain message. Although, they do tend to be flexible and often use slangs that expresses a particular group like the Singaporeans for example. We tend to use singlish more often then we do English. It is due to the very often used singlish that it gets around and more people start using it even the comic writers. This makes it way easier for all of us to enjoy the comic more. For Example, how the Mass Rapid Transit uses Pua Chu Kang; local comedian actor in their advertisements to bring across the courtesy message on giving way to passengers who are alighting forn the train.
But, would it be okay if we were to start using singlish in our daily lives??
The use of Singlish will eventual exclude foreigners who do not really understand our colloquial slangs and culture. Miscommunication and/or communication breakdown would have occured. I might need an essay to explain to a foreigner why "Tom just merlioned the minute he stepped out of the bar"
ReplyDeleteIt will be ideal if we can hone the ability to switch between both proper English and Singlish. But an ideal will just remain as an ideal. Usually, most of us will end up at neither ends. ...
Comics, like television, or books or newspapers, are just a medium for the transmission of ideas. However, thanks to the general perception of comics as being no more than funny drawings to entertain and amuse, not many people bother to pick up on the underlying messages present in many comics.
ReplyDeleteAs for slang, it all depends on who the target audience of the comic is and what is the agenda of the comic. In this case, the agenda is a simple satire of a common local human habitat and the target audience are locals who live in said style of housing. So using local slang in such comics are fine and would even lend to the effectiveness of getting the message across and appealing to the audience emotionally.
However, if one were aiming for an international audience with a purpose of tackling more heavy issues such as a social commentary, politics, psychological issues or even philosophy, then local slang would have to be dropped totally.
Singlish has yet to be accepted as a "professional" or "official" language in the international community. Until the day it is accepted, it should be used only within a local context to establish rapport with fellow locals.
sometimes there are things that is acceptable but also there ae things that are not acceptable. As a human being who has brain to think, we should think whether the idea is a good idea to be accepted or not. So be wise I guess. Thats all I can say!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with shawn, it would be ideal if we can hone the ability to switch between singlish and proper english. Singlish is part of singapore's culture. Writing it in comics will add to tits comic factor and relate better to singaporeans.However i feel that the use of singlish should not be widely practised as it has the ability to rupture language ability.
ReplyDeletehahaha nice one:)
ReplyDelete