Smile Campaign

Have been itching to blog about this today but have been super tied down by work... didn't help that my computer crashed just when I completed by stockpicks and had to retype them all over again.

Not sure how everyone feels about the newest campaign that has hit the town but I was totally baffled when I watched on the news yesterday that there is going to be a new campaign called the Smile Campaign.

It was even more amused when I read this in the Straits Times today: "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wants Singaporeans to give a beaming welcome to visitors for September's World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings, so they will have a 'positive, unique and unforgettable 'Singapore Experience'".

The first thought that hit me was: Are Singaporeans such a sad bunch (forgive the pun) that they actually need help to teach them how to smile through a campaign just like our speak mandarin campaign, courtesy campaign or even our flush the toilets campaign in the mid-late 80s? Isn't smiling a natural, instinctive reaction that people have? Is life in Singapore that bad that there aren't enough reasons for people to smile about in Singapore?

Althought I'm very satisfied with our government and am glad to be Singaporean but I've never been a supporter of their campaigns. The Smile Campaign is the last straw that just confirms how overboard our paternalistic Singapore government can go in terms of teaching Singaporeans how to lead their lives.

A smile can break a million barriers but this has to come from the heart and shown through the eyes. It can't be done just because it's being advocated by the government or it's critical for Singapore's future. Even if everyone were to smile at the delegates and travellers that stop by our shores, if it's mechanic and not genuine, everyone will definitely remember this unique Singapore Experience, but it'll be the memory of a plastic, fake and unpleasant experience that will leave with them.

Perhaps it's time to rethink the meaning of having a campaign and whether Singaporeans actually need one. I think Singaporeans are mature and world savvy enough to know what to do. I doubt anyone of us will ignore or pull a long face when we have guests at home. Similarly on a national level, I'm confident that Singaporeans will be able to conduct themselves well enough as hosts when friends from abroad drop by for a visit.