1. What are some of the current issues confronting our world today? Amongst them, what is of interest and a cause of concern to you? (250 words max)
Autoimmunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
AIDS is an acquired viral infection caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HIV) which attacks the human immune system over time and result in a compromised immune system. Unprotected sex is one of the various ways which it can be transmitted. Public education on AIDS has been ongoing for years and yet, there is always this stigma and discrimination present in society. With it being a sexually-transmitted disease resulted in its association with “shame, embarrassment”. Thus, this social stigma that is present has in turn prevented affecting people from accessing HIV services.
Links:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=123&ContentTypeID=134
https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/aids/index.html
https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2017/october/20171002_confronting-discrimination
https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-social-issues/stigma-discrimination
Vaccine hesitancy
While immunizations have seen success in the prevention of many prevalent diseases such as measles and chickenpox, some parents are reluctant to vaccinate their child due to various reasons such as complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines and the lack of confidence in it. This causes a loss in herd immunity and is a reason as to why some vaccine-preventable diseases continue to exist in society.
Links:
https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019
https://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/vaccine_hesitancy/en/
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/08/25/peds.2016-2146
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6612430/
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30092-6/fulltext
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6433118/
Ageing population
With the increase in life expectancy and the ageing of the “baby boomer” generation, the ageing population is becoming an issue of concern. This suggests a reduction in the labour force and lower economic growth.
Links:
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spores-gdp-capita-growth-faces-15-drag-every-year-until-2060-because-ageing-population
https://tsaofoundation.org/what-we-do/research-and-collaboration/issues-in-population-ageing
Losing Ability to Speak Mandarin and Dialects in Singapore (Chosen)
In our English-speaking society today, where is the English Language is the main and preferred language of command anywhere, many Singaporean Chinese are losing their ability to speak or even understand Mandarin and their dialects as they lack the environment to interact in those languages.
Links:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/the-battle-to-speak-mandarin
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/3-ways-in-which-the-chinese-singaporean-identity-is-evolving
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/mother-tongue-language-bilingual-education-parenting-learning-12027710
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/more-local-chinese-speaking-english-their-main-language-singapore-losing-bilingual-edge-pm
https://www.todayonline.com/voices/youth-must-learn-dialects-or-risk-losing-part-their-culture
https://www.unscrambled.sg/2018/06/05/should-singaporeans-show-more-interest-in-our-dialects/
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/minority-languages-on-the-rise-in-singapore
2. Why is the issue important? Who does it affect and how? (200 words)
The main reason for the loss of dialect-speaking environment arises from the Speak Mandarin Campaign which was started in 1979 to encourage dialect speakers to speak Mandarin. This campaign was deemed a success as statistics showed an increment in the use of Mandarin in Chinese households and saw a decrease in people usage of dialects at home. As schools were all eventually turned into English-medium schools, there was a rise in English-educated speakers the Speak Mandarin Campaign turned to focus more on this group of people instead. As of today, this campaign continues to encourage more Singaporean Chinese to speak Mandarin which suggests that there are still fewer people who prefer to speak in Mandarin.
As such, this suggests that while fewer Singaporean Chinese speaks Mandarin than English, there are even fewer Singaporean Chinese speaks dialect(s). Less has been done for dying dialects, however. The increase in the number of youths who are willing to learning dialects stems from their wish to prevent the loss of their roots.
While there are people who find it important to not lose their roots as Singaporean Chinese, there are many more who finds nothing wrong with not being able to speak the languages, including the dialects. This is a cause for concern. There is a loss of culture when fewer, if not no one, speaks the languages in the future. While there are still many people who primarily communicate through Mandarin, language differs slightly in the different regions of the world. To protect the heritage, languages used in the specific regions must not die.
3. Who do you need to communicate to, and why? (150 words max)
I would like to target at Singaporean Chinese who find it difficult to speak, read and understand Mandarin and dialects. I hope that through this, the audience will be able to find the spark that pushes them to learn the languages. Learning them will help to preserve our region-specific heritage and allow future generations to appreciate the culture we have here in Singapore.
4. How has visual communication contributed to address the cause?
Mandarin Tip Notebook, fFurious, Print, 2017
http://www.ffurious.com/#!works/digital/smcnotebook2017/5
The illustrations within the design were very clear and straightforward to tell what each word meant. The graphic stylization made the entire notebook appear more playful and hence more engaging. The use of bright yellow also further draws attention to the work so people would take a longer look at it and understand what is going on within each illustration. I find that overall, it has a good clarity to show what word, ways to read it and also how different countries refer to the same thing differently.
Speak Good English Movement Postcards, fFurious, Print, 2017
http://www.ffurious.com/#!works/featured/sgempostcards/4
This design comes in the form of infographic postcards. Symbols were used to illustrate what the words or sentences meant. While the dense title looks great, it got me to wonder if the subheadings appear too dense that visual hierarchy is not present. At the same time, I am not very sure if this bold colour scheme works. That brings me to the clarity, I find that the 3 designs are not very legible as the colours used were too distracting for me. I would have found that it is more informative than engaging and the elements are not interesting enough for me to keep my eyes on them.
The New Singlish Perpetual Calendar, Ng Xin Nie and Donn Koh of STUCK, Print, Year Unknown.
https://shopperboard.com/THE-NEW-SINGLISH-PERPETUAL-CALENDAR/product/693477
https://sg.carousell.com/p/stuckshop-the-new-singlish-perpetual-calendar-204278296/
This calendar appears to be inspired by the lunar calendar and comes with Singlish vocabulary. This delivery format was great as the calendar is something which people look at every day. Therefore. for someone learning Singlish, the attempt to incorporate that in the calendar may help the learner to learn new Singlish vocabulary every day without having to flip through a book to learn about. That saved the hassle. This complimentary colour scheme used is very close to the one used in the lunar calendar and that helps to draw a relationship between the two. This is also very clear with clear hierarchy that helps to draw attention to different parts and follow. The fun element in this work is the ability to flip to other days/month/year and the user will be able to learn new sentences everyday, making it engaging.