We Are Majulah has the potential to unite but also to divide

Will cynics give them a chance?

Jonathan Lim| February 22, 05:42 PM

We Are Majulah's (we shall henceforth abbreviate them as WAM without the "H" or "!") video 'I Will Not Die For Singapore' is a viral sensation.

With 460,000 views and the various media reporting about it, it is obvious many people loved it as you can't force 12,000 people to share a video if they didn't like it.

Was the video a success? Yes, it got many people to devote eight minutes of their time to listen to ex-radio personality Divian Nair's evocative monologue on forging a shared identity.

But how convincing was it?

Is it the rallying call we all need?

 

Cynics make up part of Singapore too

However, a quick study of the comments that accompanied the video shows there are Singaporeans who are cynical/ skeptical about it. Some even thought of it as propaganda from the establishment.

That's precisely the danger of such a video.

While the video tries to lift spirits, rally Singaporeans behind a common catchphrase, as well as combat rising cynicism, the movement must be doubly sure it does not turn off the very cynics it is trying to convert.

'Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist' - American comedian George Carlin

Skeptics and cynics are waiting to be proven right that this movement has some establishment influence in it. One misstep and the movement may very well create more cynics that will divide society even more.

Credit to WAM without the "H" or "!", they declared that the movement is apolitical and is currently self-funded. I guess they want to be silent no more on how the country is turning out.

 

All eyes on them now

Would people have been less cynical if it was a one-off video done by an average Joe who disappeared into the night afterwards? Who knows?

What we know is that this fledgling movement started off with a well-polished bang and has a website already churning out articles and content daily.

Talk about efficient execution.

Now that they have the attention of Singaporeans, they have the chance to not mess it up and get everyone excited about their idea behind the word "Majulah".

That shouldn't be too hard since Divian is capable of producing rather polished feel-good videos, like the one he did for National Day 2015 which featured Law Minister K Shanmugam and Josephus Tan, the lawyer with L'Oreal hair:

Singapore'>
has progressed significantly. We want to keep it that way, and provide every Singaporean the opportunities to...

Posted by K Shanmugam Sc on Friday, 7 August 2015

 

All the best Divian and people at WAM without the "H" or "!".

Check out how excited he was filming the project, he even says "Onward" twice, perhaps foreshadowing We Are Majulah. #ManBunGameStrong

divian nair PAP

 

Here's a random WHAM! song just because:

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