S'pore appears in Onion article parodying lab-grown meat for sale announcement

Not the first time Singapore appeared in The Onion though.

Belmont Lay | December 07, 2020, 02:00 AM

Singapore has made it into satirical news site The Onion -- again.

What news?

The Onion wrote a short Dec. 4, 2020 article parodying the announcement that Singapore has given regulatory approval for lab-grown meat to be sold and eaten here -- the first in the world to do so.

This was the real news:

How did Onion do its parody?

This is not so much a "Haha" joke, but more of a wisecrack.

As per The Onion's tradition of changing one word in the headline to conjure an alternative scenario -- that might still sound plausible -- the headline the satire went with was: "Singapore Approves First Lab-Grilled Chicken".

This is obviously a play on "Singapore Approves First Lab-Grown Chicken".

So, the joke -- which is obviously lost when it is explained -- is that scientists are grilling meat for the public to consume.

Hopefully, lab-grown chicken is not as dry as this piece of satire.

Here's another example:

The traditional take on this would have been: "Frisky Housewife Lets Revealing Robe Slip After Opening Door To Amazon Deliveryman".

You get the point.

What was one thing that stood out?

The Onion's attempt at creating a Chinese name, while sticking to Chinese naming convention, stood out as it appears easier to mimic conventional news writing than it is to name someone of ethnic Chinese origins.

In their attempt at world-class parody, they created a gender-free Singapore Food Agency spokesperson name -- with two words that can pass off as surnames: Kuan Sim.

The Onion wrote:

“After years of research and testing, consumers will now be able purchase delicious lab-grilled meat,” said Singapore Food Agency spokesperson Kuan Sim, adding that the approval was the first step to replacing chicken grilled in restaurants and the home with lab-grilled chicken that was just as succulent and tasty as the real thing.

Nice try.

Probably in the same league as Cho Chang.

5 out of 7 stars.

But The Onion was precise enough to get "Singapore Food Agency" right -- which means that SFA media monitoring team can count this as a media mention.

Is this the first time Singapore appeared in an Onion article?

Interestingly, no.

In December 2018, The Onion did a piece of satire, titled, "Every Person In High-End Singapore Casino Either Carrying Out Or Target Of Assassination".

This was likely in response to the Crazy Rich Asians phenomenon that year -- a year where Singapore was thrown into the spotlight twice, thanks to the Trump-Kim summit and Hollywood's Asian-led movie extravaganza that used the Republic as its centrepiece.

Onion's characterisation of one of Singapore's preeminent casinos is that everyone in the gambling venue is an assassin or a potential victim of assassination.

This sort of portrayal was in response to the over-the-top (i.e. probably accurate) representation by Hollywood of the insanely rich and richly insane people in Singapore.

Badge of honour

To be featured in The Onion is not a bad thing.

Any mention is meant to be worn as a badge of honour on the sleeve as it means the newsmaker has made an impact enough to be talked about by a parody news site.

Inevitably, there are also the absurd unspoken scenarios that are nascent in this piece of news about lab-grown meat.

For example: If scientists can grow meat, can they grow specific chicken parts, such as chicken feet only, or else, how would the Chinese continue to eat braised chicken feet?

Or: If culinary culture was a journey of trial and error by making appetising every possible scrap of edible and almost inedible bit into a morsel of tasty food by the sheer creativity of humans, will lab-grown meats risk replacing that practice with its highly-optimised methods of production that ensures little waste?

Also: Can lab-grown meat feel pain -- without a brain -- if it could have pain-sensing receptors gene-edited into it?

Still early days.

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