I was an employee of yours a few years ago and whilst I had big visions of changing the entertainment industry back then (and now), as a small fry, there was absolutely no way I could have done it.
I’m not sure who decided on the concept of Countdown 2013 but it certainly didn’t impress me, neither did it impress a lot of people. As THE national broadcaster and THE biggest media company in Singapore, the countdown was a social disaster.
In fact, it showed a lack of cultural sensitivity of the leadership of whoever was in charge and whoever was involved in the planning and conceptualization of the countdown itself. Perhaps, this was the intended direction of the leadership – to move Singapore towards a more China-based or Chinese-speaking audience. Yes? No?
As someone of mixed heritage who is heavily involved in the education sector, local community and the global world, I find your lack of sensitivity towards the diverse culture that live and work in Singapore to be extremely disappointing and your possible ignorance to the trends of the conflicts that has been happening in Singapore, shameful.
The leadership involved in the planning and conceptualization may have had the best idea on how to entertain, but they certainly didn’t know who they were trying to entertain.
I would highly suggest that you send your leadership and staff for diversity training, so they have a better understanding of the different cultures that live in Singapore. So that your Channel 5 programmes will see better diversity and is a reflection of the cultures that live and work in Singapore, not the culture that you wish to create.
If you don’t have an idea on how to do it, let me know. I spent time in the US to researching on these issues and developed a programme for it. You could really use the programme.
And OH! In case you forget, “To engage, entertain and enrich audiences by harnessing the power of creativity.”
That’s your mission statement. FAIL.
Cheers.
Your Ex-Employee, Abdillah Zamzuri
Source: http://abdillahzamzuri.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/mediacorps-countdown-a-social-disaster/
