Saturday, September 10, 2005
My Backyard is too Small
I was recently having a discussion with my friend from "Ampulets", and we had an interest insight about the cultural "economy" of Singapore. Some would kill me for even pitting the two words "cultural" and "economy" together, and I have to therefore clarify here, that "economy" here is not necessarily about $$, but rather the simple demand and supply dynamics in Singapore's cultural scene.
Many artists (or for that matter, entrepreneurs) lament that Singapore's small population of 4 million is just too small for them to be sustainable. They are probably not wrong, but the truth might just be worst than they imagined!
Singapore is not only one small market of 4 million, but this market can be significantly further sub-divided into 4 smaller markets, as indicated by the main cultural contexts, that is, Chinese, Malay, Indian and the Others. There are of course some cultural products, such as "Forever Fever" by Glen Goei or some Michael Jackson song, which might be able to cut across the 4 segments, but more often than not, most cultural products appeal only to one of the 4 sub-groups.
Of course, artists generally do not like to "universalise" their work for the sake of gaining a broader audience, but the reality is that if they only appeal to a small niche group, they might have problems making ends meet.
Many artists (or for that matter, entrepreneurs) lament that Singapore's small population of 4 million is just too small for them to be sustainable. They are probably not wrong, but the truth might just be worst than they imagined!
Singapore is not only one small market of 4 million, but this market can be significantly further sub-divided into 4 smaller markets, as indicated by the main cultural contexts, that is, Chinese, Malay, Indian and the Others. There are of course some cultural products, such as "Forever Fever" by Glen Goei or some Michael Jackson song, which might be able to cut across the 4 segments, but more often than not, most cultural products appeal only to one of the 4 sub-groups.
Of course, artists generally do not like to "universalise" their work for the sake of gaining a broader audience, but the reality is that if they only appeal to a small niche group, they might have problems making ends meet.
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