Creativity in Singapore
Last week during my Current Issues in Business, Culture, and Society class, a very interesting speaker came in to give a talk. Randolf Arriola, a Singaporean musician spoke to our class about the importance of creativity.Randolf is known for his experimentation with loops music. He plays with a guitar and attached is a machine that can record the music the guitar plays and then play it back through the sound system. Randolf layers sounds on top of each other so that it comes together to create the illusion of a one-man band. It was an extraordinary thing to see him play. You can watch one of his recordings here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvTT-x8ZAI
After his performance of a few songs, he explained why he thought creativity is lacking in Singapore. Randolf argued that creativity is lacking in Singapore’s society and economy because the culture was first built on effectiveness. Singapore is still a young country (only 50 years old!) and for it to become of the best cities in the world to live in (in terms of safety, health insurance, economy), the culture was geared towards effectiveness rather than creativity. Singapore is a city of rules. Or should I say, a city of fines. People like to stick to the familiar instead of risk-taking (Singaporeans are pretty high on the risk-aversion scale). The arts are considered inferior compared to science and math and people are encouraged to stick to a structure in the workplace (things that a local student told me about). Randolf also argued that in order for Singapore to compete in the 21st century, it would have to become a more creative and innovative society.
This is a big difference compared to the US, as Americans are supposed to be embedded with the spirit of entrepreneurship. Creativity and innovation is the backbone of American businesses and this talk made me more aware of it. To me, this always just seemed …obvious. As if creativity and innovation were fundamental parts of any country’s culture and society (which I now realize is not true).
It made me realize that working abroad could have a lot more implications than I originally thought, (I’m relating this to working abroad because it’s something I’ve thought about and is one of the reasons I wanted to go on exchange). Not only would you have to get used to the culture, you would also have to learn to adapt to a completely new work culture. My friend told me that Singaporean businesses like things to be done in a certain way and there’s very little freedom in how you complete your work because they are so focused on doing it the most efficient way possible. Compared to the US, I think people in the workplace are usually given more freedom, given that they get the results their boss wants.
This doesn't discourage me from wanting to work abroad however, in fact it makes me even more curious.
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