Welcome to the newest page on the block…. I mean blog. This is an Independent Study Module (ISM) on wordplay, which somehow morphed into one heck of a Sociology paper. But that is all immaterial, what matters now that I churn out a good paper.
As of the 22nd of March, the paper is still untitled, but don’t fret, it’ll get a name soon. As for now, I’ll codename it “Gordon Gordon”. So here’s Part 1, the introduction to Mr. Gordon Gordon:
1. Introduction
Consider the following statement posted on a Facebook group by a National University of Singapore student:
Example 1:
“It probably won’t be surprising to hear, but utterly disgusting to actually see a woman licking the spoon she used to stir her coffee, and placing it back with the other communal stirrers. Science canteen [by the way]”
- Overheard at the National University of Singapore-
This statement seems to be nothing more than one person’s complaint to a friend about the lack of civic-consciousness some people portray. However, the context in which this statement was posted in seems to suggest that this is more of a laughing matter. Why is that so?
Ask any university student in Singapore about the funniest thing they’ve seen, heard or read recently, and he or she might mention a collection of groups on the social networking site, Facebook, known as “Overheard at…” or simply “Overheard”. These Overheard groups were inspired by blog initiatives of the same name which sprung up in universities and cities throughout the United States in the last 10 years, beginning with Overheard in New York. Just like their predecessors, these groups serve primarily as a communal repository of humour or as the description of the Overheard at SMU group puts it, “…this [group] will be the unlicensed hideout for exposes, quips, statements brimming with intellect and healthy humour (or the lack of), non-sequiturs and the variants of it…”. They have enjoyed immense popularity with the students, and they have most certainly struck a chord (or rather, tickled the funny bone) of the average young Singaporean, and therefore a decent representation of what they value as humour. What, then, do the Overheards tell us about young Singaporeans’ humour? An example of what one might expect to read on Overheard is as follows:
Example 2:
“You’re on the bus already? Ok so when you see NUH, yeah the hospital. When you see NUH, you press the BUS STOP.”
-Overheard at the National University of Singapore-
It is not difficult to find the remark in Example 2 funny (the mere thought of someone attempting to touch the bus stop while on a bus is decidedly absurd), and it is easily justified why the student decided to post this on Overheard. However, mixed into the hodgepodge of jokes and funny statements, are other posts which might not immediately seem to be funny, like Example 1. The following are several more examples:
Example 3:
Girl at Subway: “I’d like half a feetlong pwease.”
Subway Guy: “Huh?”
Girl: “You know, half a footlong sandwich? Half twelve inches long?”
Subway Guy: -_-
- Overheard at the Singapore Management University (SMU)-
Example 4:
“SPMS shuttle bus stop. Apparently this guy, who (sic) I believe is a student, just came to the bus stop and deprived others of a seat while waiting for bus. And he seem (sic) to be wearing G-string? I [don’t know].”
-Overheard at Nanyang Technological University-
Example 5:
“FPY data?”
- Overheard at the National University of Singapore-
The emergence of these posts as jokes which are contrary to what we conventionally accept as humorous raises the question of the merits of such statements or observations which has led to the student deeming them to be suitable to be posted on the Overheard
We may infer from these examples that Singaporean students seem to derive humour from instances of uncivilised behaviour, such as unhygienic practices, (Example 1) and inconsiderate behaviour (Example 4). In addition, there is adversity towards the usage of broken English and bad spelling or grammar (Examples 3 and 5). It is also clear that these types of humour are definitely not universal, because if one were to compare the Singaporean Overheard posts to that of their Western counterparts, one will find that these types of humour are seldom or almost never seen. It is typical, for instance, to find a student from Harvard deeming this as humorous:
Example 6:
“Grad student: Wait! I just realized why the paper didn’t make any sense to me…I had the pages stapled in the wrong order.
Professor: Hmm…that’s a new one.”
-Overheard at Harvard-
However, one would never stumble upon a post about the unhygienic behaviour of a man in the cafeteria or his lecturer mispronouncing “bonding” as “bounding” on Overheard at Harvard. From this comparison, it is clear that there is a disparity between what young Western students and young Singaporeans perceive as funny. From the above points, one could conjecture that the humour of the young Singaporean is unique to the Singaporean society and the reason for this unique blend of humour, unseen in the West, reflects significant societal and cultural differences between young Singaporean and Western communities.
Using the Overheard, STOMP (Straits Times Online, Mobile and Print) and other examples of Singaporean humour, I will argue in this paper that this difference arises from the fact that Singaporean society is one of social conditioning and strict rules leading young Singaporeans adopt the “humour of conformity”, where a person seen behaving against the societal and linguistic norms of the society is demeaned. This is evident from the aforementioned choice of subjects young Singaporeans seem to derive humour from, which include bad English and publicly demeaning those who act in an uncivilised manner. However, within the strict conformity that seem to permeate through society, humour could be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to government policies which seem to have place a burden on the Singaporean society, and used to help make living more tolerable under such a regime.
