A promotional event for a documentary about the Singapore army that took place on Friday afternoon has drawn some flak. — ST PHOTO: NURIA LING
The Straits Times, posted on 2 August
A promotional event for a documentary about the Singapore army that took place on Friday afternoon has drawn some flak.
The event was to promote the second season of Every Singaporean Son, which will be shown on the National Geographic Channel.
Passers-by at Raffles Place were invited to deliver drill commands to a squad of what appeared to be NS men. Their faces were camouflaged and they were dressed in army gear.
Some netizens, commenting on photos of the men which appeared on forums, called the stunt demeaning to Singaporean soldiers.
The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Friday clarified on its Facebook page Cyberpioneer that those involved in the event were paid actors. It also said that Mindef and the Singapore Armed Forces neither endorsed the use of military uniforms or sponsored the event.
Ex-army regular Charles Quek, 34, found the stunt inappropriate. “The military is all about discipline and image, but this makes them look ridiculous,” said Mr Quek, who is currently self-employed. “People will assume that it’s Mindef the moment you don the uniform.”
Others did not see any harm. “I thought they were National Cadet Corps kids having some sort of camp,” said lawyer Christine Sim, 25.
National Geographic Channel Singapore, which organised the stunt, apologised on their Facebook page, explaining that the event was designed to “let normal Singaporeans understand how an army officer’s job is really difficult”.
A spokesman for the channel added: “We didn’t intend for it to come across as devaluing our army officers, who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears in service of our nation. We seek the forgiveness of all Singaporeans who were offended by our marketing activity, and promise that we will give more consideration in the future for our publicity push of our programmes.”
Source link : Publicity stunt in Raffles Place promoting Every Singaporean Son draws flak
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Hi guys, the “Every Singaporean Son 2” publicity event outside Raffles Place MRT station this afternoon was an initiative by the National Geographic Channel (NGC) to create awareness on the launch of the TV series.
We would like to clarify that all “soldiers” involved in this publicity event were paid actors and none of them were full-time National Servicemen.
The event was neither run by nor sponsored by MINDEF/SAF. The use of SAF uniforms was also not endorsed by us.
We are glad that there is a strong sense of respect for uniforms and the portrayal of our soldiers. We thank everyone for registering their concerns on this matter.
That said, we would still like to express our continued support for the broadcast of the “Every Singaporean Son 2” TV series on NGC.
We have conveyed our concerns to NGC. NGC will be responding separately on this matter.
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The Singapore Army is very disappointed with NGC’s publicity stunt today.
The stunt using our Army’s uniform was disrespectful of our Soldiers, and undermines the dedication and commitment of all our Soldiers who have served dutifully in the Defence of our country.
Our Army was not informed of this publicity stunt nor the use of our uniforms.
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We didn’t intend to devalue army officers: National Geographic Channel
SINGAPORE – The National Geographic Channel has issued the following statement after a publicity stunt today drew fierce criticism online:
National Geographic Channel (NGC) Singapore has the highest regard for our National Servicemen. It was that respect that we had for our servicemen that we had partnered with MINDEF to produce the documentary series, Every Singaporean Son.
However, in our effort to raise awareness of the series’ second season, Every Singaporean Son II: The Making of an Officer, we had unintentionally offended national servicemen with our marketing activity held at Raffles Green on 2nd of August. For that, we apologise unreservedly.
We had intended to bring across the spirit of the series, which was to showcase how much endeavour our officer cadets have to go through in their training, with a hands-on experience of commanding a platoon. It was meant to show that even the task of shouting commands was not easy, and to communicate across a sliver of what it must be like to go through Officer Cadet School.
We didn’t intend for it to come across as devaluing our army officers, who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears in service of our nation.
We seek the forgiveness of all Singaporeans who were offended by our marketing activity, and promise that we will give more consideration in the future for our publicity push of our programmes.
Source link : We didn’t intend to devalue army officers: National Geographic Channel
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