Let’s “agree to disagree”?

A controversial rant by popular YouTube singer Steph Micayle prompts Audrey Tan to look at what some in the NTU community are saying about her.

“Homework robots.” “Narrow-minded people who are submissive and unhappy.”

Last Wednesday, an online tirade by local YouTube singer Stephanie Koh, popularly known by her username Steph Micayle, got netizens buzzing.

At last count, the 14-minute video hit more than 780,000 views and over 23,000 likes on YouTube.

In it, the 21-year-old K-pop Star Hunt 3 finalist claimed that Singapore has no place for an artist. She asserted that Singaporeans are narrow-minded, not creative, unhappy, unfriendly, and merely rule-abiding.

Reactions understandably ran the gamut.

Some condemned what she had said, but others saw her as a hero speaking up for a suppressed generation.

So I attempted to find out: do the majority of us feel equally stifled by our society? However, the responses I gathered from fellow NTU students were reminiscent of the online divide over the video.

Some agreed that Miss Koh’s views signify a general discontentment youths feel.

“Based on my experience of talking to fellow classmates who are more westernised, I think most youths agree that the education system stifles Singaporeans’ creativity,” said Michelle Neo, 20, a first-year student from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“There are very few outlets for people to express themselves. For example, SKL0’s street art attempt that was seen as an act of vandalism,” she added.

Others felt like she did not speak for the majority.

Lim Yin Ru, 21, a second-year student from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering felt that there are avenues for the arts in Singapore. “Singaporeans in general may not be that creative, but the government is also trying to promote the arts. Artists are not ‘thrown away’ in Singapore, there are many opportunities, but only if they see these opened doors,” she said.

Then I tried seeking professional help as a tiebreaker, consulting Associate Professor Kwok Kian Woon from NTU’s Sociology Division.

The Assistant Provost for Student Life cautioned me not to generalise the Singaporean youth population based on one person’s expression.

He said: “When comments are provocatively expressed, they tend to yield more reactions. Also, the online medium, allowing for easy access to the post, helps generate more attention.

“I don’t see this as the barometer of the majority youth sentiment. Online ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’ are not necessarily a polling mechanism.”

Instead, Prof Kwok chose to focus on the outcome of the discussion.

So, as Miss Koh herself says, let’s “agree to disagree”.

Let’s keep such discussions going, but seek for change. Speak up at the upcoming Ministerial Forum. Talk about what national pride means and if we can even build it.

National pride cannot be constructed overnight. Pride can only be developed when the object of pride — our country, in this case — has the potential to grow or be moulded for change. It is the collective experience of seeing our country’s past, present and the envisioning of our future that makes us proud.

For me, life will go on as usual, but my life as a Singaporean is starting to get a little more colourful.

I see expressive debates all over social media. While some have missed the point by attacking or blindly supporting a dissatisfied youth, others have considered the points raised and engage in meaningful discourse.

It is fun to watch how this has provoked a surge of nationalism among supposedly apathetic Singaporeans.

While her rants might be overhyped, I have Miss Koh and a sea of expressive netizens to thank for making Singaporeans a little less boring lately.