Singapore: seeing the new in the old

Kristina Dryza

“I’m very much of the opinion that we need to use what we have in Singapore instead of constantly looking into the new,” says Floydd Wood, a Project Director for Flamingo Asia Pacific, a qualitative research and strategic marketing consultancy. “Recycling, re-purposing, re-invention, improvement and adjustment are much more important than the ‘cult of the new’ which is often wasteful and unnecessary.”

But the cult of the new is where many companies believe their future lies; and where they spend unnecessary budget and needless man-hours. These companies who continuously chase the new belief that their future exists in what they don’t yet have, rather than what they do have. Tomorrow holds all the promise, not today. Being able to see the new in something old is the future.

For Katie Rankine, a small business owner in the health and wellbeing field, innovation means not just the typical ‘thinking outside the box’ but being creative in sending out the message you want people to hear. “I'm always looking at the way Singaporeans look after their health. I love being outside and Singapore has some of the best parks to be outside in. They have a great system of park connectors throughout the island, which all join and lead to various locations, such as the east coast parkway.” The park connectors have exercise stations with low impact exercises for young and old and support many community based activities that encourage people to get outside and be active. Again, it’s taking what already exists in society and putting it to work for the betterment of the community.

NEWater is the term coined for high-grade reclaimed water purified with advanced membrane and ultraviolet technologies to provide Singapore with a sustainable and diversified supply of water. Environmental initiatives like water recycling and waste management according to Wood, is what will make Singapore a real future facing nation. “These initiatives are about using what we have, and creating jobs and wealth, as opposed to making anything new and being wasteful.” 

Unfortunately most business articles on the city-state don’t focus on Singaporeans admirable ability to have a new take on the old, but rather focus on how creativity is stifled, or how Singapore life can tend to have a sameness about it, or that mainstream culture is ‘all about shopping and consumerism’.

Paul Coleman, who moved from France to Singapore to create Qi-Global, a social enterprise focused on environmental issues, believes the city-state has concentrated on vocational qualifications at the expense of creativity. Others cite as contributing factors to the perceived lack of vision in Singapore the mostly middle class demographic, overbearing public policies that have more influence than the individual agenda and that historically the arts have never been taken seriously enough (in education, commercial activity and government policy).

But it’s always a confluence of factors at play and creativity never occurs in isolation. To innovate and be ingenious both at a corporate and individual level means embracing not only new ways of thinking, but also new ways of feeling and behaving. Elizabeth Peru, an Australian sound and colour healer who teaches frequently in Singapore observed that this can be difficult for Singaporeans who feel an intense loyalty to staying in relationships and jobs even when they have turned toxic due to family honour. “Many feel trapped and with little hope, caught in a cycle of working to pay bills, to keep a home and family, whilst never honouring their individuality or personal needs. Whereas the people I have worked with in Australia on the whole will move out of relationships and change jobs more frequently if a situation has become unbearable, with less emphasis on the family and more on the individual.”

But a point of liberation and excitement to celebrate is Singaporeans reverence for their heritage – whether it be Malay, Chinese or Indian – to ensure their roots don’t get lost amongst the all pervading global cultural influences. As Wood explains, “Seeing people taking their own culture seriously and using this creatively in design or products is very inspiring.” Peru agrees describing how the Singaporean youth especially are designing and inventing more personalised products and services that have the ‘home spun’ edge to them. “What we can learn from the new ‘developing’ Singapore is to stop worrying about competition and focus on internal strengths because this is where true creativity and innovation comes from.” Hear, hear!