Intercultural Observation

I began drawing manga characters ever since my fascination with anime and manga (a type of Japanese comic), which started during my secondary school days. Whenever my parents caught me drawing, they would reprimand me and tell me that I should be studying, instead of wasting time doing my drawings. Hence, when I bought my first manga during my secondary school days, I had to do it discreetly and hide it somewhere so that my parents would not find it. Eventually, however, they found out about my manga collection and were tremendously disappointed. Even at the present moment, with manga gaining popularity, my parents still disapproved of me attending cosplay events or buying more manga. Clearly, such hobbies are not encouraged in Singaporean environment.

In contrast, manga, anime and cosplaying are part of Japanese culture. With the constant exposure it became so rooted in their culture that reading and drawing manga is a norm. Even cosplayers are normally seen walking down the streets of Harajuku and Aikihabara (popular districts in Tokyo). Not surprisingly, almost anyone can be a mangaka (comic artist), since all they have to do is to draw and publish their doujinshi (usually a fan book) on their own.

As I looked back and thought about the reasons for my parents’ disapproval, I realized that in Singapore, reading a manga is probably considered as slacking. Likewise, a cosplayer walking down the streets of Orchard Road is labeled as weirdo since it is not commonly seen. I feel that, perhaps the lack of promoting comic production locally causes my parents to think negatively, that there is neither prospect nor future for comic artists. This becomes even more striking when considering that Singapore comic artists have to go through competitions to be awarded a contract with a publisher.

Still, with the upcoming events of anime and comic festival it can be seen that the Singapore society is slowly embracing comic as a form of art. It may take a long while to see the transition, but as an amateur comic artist, I am always optimistic to see the upcoming changes.