Singaporean Identity Through Singaporean Eyes: A Cultural Study of the Instagram Account Humans of Singapore

摘要

Singapore has always been a hot spot for studies of multiracialism. Singapore's multiculturalism is so significant to the city that multiculturalism is the bedrock of government rules and policies defining what it is to be a Singaporean. However, cultural studies of representations of multiracialism as an aspect of Singaporean identity in social media, especially Instagram, are relatively rare. This study examines representations of Singaporean identity through the lens of multiracialism from a cultural studies perspective. This research analyzes six posts taken from the Instagram account Humans of Singapore (HoS). Contextual analysis was used to explore different viewpoints expressed in the six posts based on two categories: how the people featured in HoS experience or think about defying or debunking ethnic stereotypes and how the people of Singapore today react to government policies concerning national identity while also exploring the sense of belonging in the Singaporean community. This paper shows that popular representations of Singaporeans today: (1) blend cultures and emphasize the sense of belonging shared across different ethnicities in Singapore to counter ethnic stereotypes, (2) resist or work around government policies by narrating a sense of belonging to Singapore as a nation and Singaporean identity.