TODAY, 6 Jan 2014
I refer to Ms Maria Alice Anthony’s letter. As the grand finale to a year-long celebration of 50 years of television in Singapore, Celebrate TV50 was special.
More than the usual countdown show, it was conceived as a multi-ethnic, multilingual showcase of television’s history, personalities and memorable moments.
Hence, it was a five-hour show instead of the usual 1.5-hour programme. A show of this scale allowed us to bring together our most popular artistes from all TV channels and two international acts, The Wanted and Wang Leehom, to lend an international appeal.
MediaCorp decided to simulcast on Channels 8 and 5 to broaden the show’s reach, instead of having separate countdowns as in previous years.
We are very mindful of sensitivities when producing a show for a broad audience. The programme was primarily in English, though it was interspersed with Mandarin commentary for Channel 8 audiences.
We featured performances in the four official languages, making sure the 180 local artistes represented Singapore’s multi-ethnic make-up. They included names such as Margaret Chan, Brian Richmond, Dick Lee, Duncan Watt, Asnida Daud, Jayaram, Taufik Batisah, Sylvia Ratonel and Shabir.
The early part of the show celebrated the history of television, and more airtime was given to Mandarin productions because of our 30-year history of producing Mandarin dramas, longer than for any other language. Hence the larger pool of Channel 8 artistes, who are our most popular, reflecting our TV audience profile. Some parts of the show had blocks of Mandarin dialogue, as some artistes had chosen to speak Mandarin.
To insist that they speak in English would have meant they might have been unable to express themselves clearly. While many viewers enjoyed the show, we understand there are viewers like Ms Anthony who thought the use of Mandarin excessive.
We could have done more to engage Channel 5 audiences and will continue striving to get the right balance in language content for such shows in future.
We will consider the use of subtitling, although this could mean losing a fair bit of spontaneity, as dialogue would largely be scripted.
We thank Ms Anthony for her comments. We assure her and all our viewers that MediaCorp will do its best to serve TV audiences better.
Why Mandarin segment on Channel 5 show?
WHILE watching Channel 5's countdown show on New Year's Eve, I was shocked to see a host speaking in Mandarin during the programme.
I had to switch between channels to check if I was tuned in to Channel 5, an all-English channel, or Channel 8, the Mandarin channel.
If the hosts were present to translate the English-language segments into Mandarin, where were the hosts to do translations into Tamil and Malay?
Why was a national celebration turned into a bilingual event catering to only one ethnic group?
Maria Alice Anthony (Ms)
ST Forum, 3 Jan 2014
ST Forum, 3 Jan 2014
Countdown show not socially inclusive
MEDIACORP'S countdown to the new year, televised live on Channel 5, was a disappointing demonstration of linguistic violence in our society.
During a portion of the programme, I heard the hosts speaking exclusively in Mandarin, with no English subtitles on the screen.
Thinking my family had mistakenly tuned in to Channel 8, I rose to change the channel for an elderly relative who does not understand Mandarin.
Imagine my shock when I realised this was a national programme televised on an English-language channel.
The use of Mandarin in the programme showed a lack of consideration for the large number of Singapore residents of all races who do not understand Mandarin.
With or without subtitles, it is an egregious act of social exclusion to carry out a concert intended for the entire nation in a language associated with the majority race.
MediaCorp should apologise to its minority viewers and refrain from similar programming decisions in future.
It is contingent upon racial majorities everywhere to be conscious of our societal privilege and ability to alienate members of minority groups.
It is also our responsibility to strive against engendering such alienation.
Leow Hui Min (Ms)
ST Forum, 3 Jan 2014
ST Forum, 3 Jan 2014
MediaCorp: Countdown reflects Singapore
By Lisabel Ting, The Straits Times, 4 Jan 2014
By Lisabel Ting, The Straits Times, 4 Jan 2014
MediaCorp has responded to criticism that its New Year's Eve countdown and 50th-anniversary celebration variety show, Celebrate TV50, was not multi- lingual enough.
"The show was conceived as a multi-lingual, multi-cultural show to reflect Singapore's multi-cultural heritage," it said in a statement that was released to the media on Thursday evening and also posted on its Facebook page at about 10pm the same night.
"A fair mix of English and Mandarin content was featured in the dual-channel telecast, with seamless programme transitions in both languages."
The five-hour telecast featured a red carpet segment, song-and-dance performances by local and foreign acts, and video montages. Headline acts were British-Irish boyband The Wanted and American-Taiwanese singer Wang Lee Hom.
Viewers slammed the show for its under- representation of minority artists as well as its excessive use of Mandarin.
Theatre actor-director Ivan Heng posted on his Facebook page on Jan 1: "Where were the Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Peranakans and not to mention, the dozens of other races and nationalities who today call Singapore their country and home. And could we not have featured more of our wonderful Singaporean talents on stage?"
As of yesterday, his post had garnered almost 9,500 likes and 3,000 shares.
Response to MediaCorp's statement on its Facebook page was similarly vitriolic.
Facebook user Deborah Branson commented on its page: "You couldn't even be bothered to provide translation for the non-Mandarin speaking audience. You should have broadcast it on Channel 8 then."
Netizen Khidhir Zaini commented: "I felt like I was watching Channel 8 charity show instead of countdown."
In its statement, MediaCorp said: "Besides established Channel 5 and Channel 8 artists, popular personalities from Suria and Vasantham were also part of the festivities, such as Taufik Batisah, Sharon Ismail, B.J. Kadir, Rahayu Ridwan, Shabir, Ebi Sankara, Vignesh Wadarajan and Suthasini.
"They were prominently featured in the main programme as well as the Walk of Fame segment."
Countdown party not multi-lingual enough
Viewers criticise the show for the overwhelming use of Mandarin and Channel 8 stars
By Corrie Tan And Lisabel Ting, The Straits Times, 3 Jan 2014
Viewers criticise the show for the overwhelming use of Mandarin and Channel 8 stars
By Corrie Tan And Lisabel Ting, The Straits Times, 3 Jan 2014
MediaCorp's New Year's Eve countdown and 50th-anniversary celebration variety show on Tuesday night has drawn flak from viewers who said the show failed to represent Singapore's multi-lingual and multi-racial society.
Celebrate TV50 was a five-hour countdown show at Marina Bay that ran from 8pm on Dec 31 to 1am on Jan 1 and was attended by nearly 18,000 people. It combined countdown celebrations with a look back at 50 years of Singapore television history.
It included a red-carpet segment, song-and- dance performances from local and foreign performers including British-Irish boyband The Wanted and American-Taiwanese star Wang Lee Hom, and a Walk Of Fame featuring MediaCorp stars from past to present, such as Moses Lim and Zoe Tay.
The hosts were a mix of actors and DJs including Gurmit Singh, Joanne Peh, Bryan Wong, The Muttons (Justin Ang and Vernon A), Jean Danker, Dasmond Koh and Vivian Lai.
But some viewers have taken issue with minority under-representation and the dominant use of Mandarin on the show.
Straits Times reader Leow Hui Min wrote to the Forum page saying that during a portion of the programme, the hosts spoke exclusively in Mandarin and there were no English subtitles on the screen.
She said the use of Mandarin in a national programme that was broadcast on an English- language channel showed a lack of consideration for people of all races who do not understand Mandarin.
Actor-director and Cultural Medallion recipient Ivan Heng, 50, posted a strongly worded critique of the countdown show on Facebook that garnered more than 8,500 likes and more than 2,700 shares on the social media platform.
He wrote: "I just could not bear watching the MediaCorp Channel 5 Countdown. I kept flipping channels to doublecheck to see if I was watching Channel 8 or CCTV."
CCTV is China Central Television, the main state television broadcaster in China.
He added: "Jack Neo and Zoe Tay wished me Happy New Year in Mandarin, and Wang Lee Hom took to the stage as the main act. Wake up your ideas MediaCorp. This is Public Service Broadcasting. This is the countdown for our nation.
"Where were the Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Peranakans and not to mention the dozens of other races and nationalities who today call Singapore their country and home. And could we not have featured more of our wonderful Singaporean talents on stage?"
MediaCorp could not respond to queries by press time.
MediaCorp could not respond to queries by press time.
Heng told Life! yesterday: "Channel 5 should be everybody's channel because it's an English channel, it's our lingua franca... But at the point of the countdown, when we all are supposed to say 'Happy New Year, Singapore!', the other races did not get a word in. Having Gurmit Singh as a compere is just not good enough.
"I felt excluded, as were my friends and family. I felt this is not my country."
Stage and screen actress Nora Samosir, 55, who was part of the red carpet line-up at Celebrate TV50 for her role in the 1994 TV drama Masters Of The Sea, said: "I'm currently not on TV and not courting TV work, so it didn't bother me. But it bothered my former colleague, someone who was on Channel 5 a lot in the past.
"If you actually do look at the recording, you can see that, centre stage, were all Chinese faces."
However, Vasantham artist Ebi Shankara, 26, disagreed. "I think we were quite well represented. I got to sing a song and Shabir got to sing one of his own compositions."
Shabir Tabare Alam is a winner of the Vasantham Star singing competition.
Shankara added: "We have to accept the fact that the majority of Singaporeans are Mandarin-speaking Chinese and that Channel 8 has a greater reach. I watch Channel 8 and I think that even some Indians and Malays will want to see Channel 8 stars."
Aside from Shankara and Shabir, stars from other channels who performed included Rahayu Ridwan, winner of Suria's Anugerah 2011, Max Surin and Linda Elizabeth from local band Tokyo Square, and T.G.I.F, winner of last year's Vasantham Dhool dancing contest.
Life! checked the press release on the event and estimated that of the artists and groups who walked the red carpet, about 65 per cent were Chinese, 15 per cent were Malay, 11 per cent were Indian and 9 per cent were from other races.
Film-maker Royston Tan, 37, also posted a critique of the show's production values on his Facebook page.
He said in an interview yesterday: "For me, it's not so much about racial representation, it's more about Singapore music and the Singapore industry, that Singaporean artists are represented. For me, that's more important. They all deserve to be heard."
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