The Relationship of Batik Design and the Singapore National Identity

Running Head: THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Singapore gained full sovereignty and celebrated its independence from Malaya in 1965, after ending its 144-year reign of the crown colony of Britain in 1963 (Bolton & Ng, 2014). As a relatively new independent democratic nation, it is a multicultural society of immigrants comprising of mainly Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Others (mainly Eurasians and European) (Berthelsen & Nirmala, 2011). As a newly appointed island state, there was a need to create a sense of identity for the country in a post-colonial era (Wicks, 1998). For this source review, a combination of visual and written sources will be critiqued for its viability in addressing the aims of the research which is to discuss the relationship of batik design and the Singapore national identity through the lens of a decolonised perspective. For the purpose of this research, the Singapore Girl, an air stewardess of Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the persona she is associated with will form the introduction to which the research is based on. The Singapore Girl is chosen as she is arguably recognised as one of the icons of Singapore’s identity and wears a uniform that bears resemblance of batik designs. Thus, reinforcing the topics of discussion in this study.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 2 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Figure 1. A photographic image of the Singapore Girl, 2017 The design of the batik motifs can be seen and studied on the sarong kebaya of the Singapore Girl in Figure 1. The uniform is “a modified sarong kebaya rendered in batik cloth [which] was the standard for Malayan Airways, with their flight attendants laying the groundwork for the service that Singapore Airlines would become known for” (Allen & Roy, 1999). It portrays an inspired sarong kebaya dress that was designed by the Parisian couturier Pierre Balmain in 1968, to epitomise Singapore Airlines tradition of friendly service and Asian hospitality (Singapore Airlines, 2017). This is clearly depicted in this photographic image where the Singapore Girl is serving a male passenger of assumed western descent based on his Caucasian features.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 3 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. The Singapore Girl is recognised globally as a feminised symbol for the nation (Hudson, 2013) and SIA has displayed Singapore to the eyes of the world as a welcoming Asian state for being efficient, comfortable, and safe (Hickson, 2015). It can then be argued that the Singapore Girl is a poster child of Singapore and is responsible for presenting a part of the country’s identity. This reflection of the Singapore Girl wearing batik design as one of the symbols of Singapore’s identity is one that is of a manufactured emblem which this research aims to discuss. Figure 1 also presents a high-quality photograph posted on the Singapore Airline’s Sustainability Report for 2017/2018 which makes this is a reliable primary source rich in visual information as it is relatively new and reflect the current state. The image also presents the form and design of batik motifs. However, it does not explain nor reveal the possible presence of colonial influences in which a part of this study will be discussing on. Therefore, written accounts are needed for textual information to explain how the Singapore Girl identity was formed. There exist multiple written sources on the history of SIA and the Singapore Girl. Ken Hickson wrote Mr SIA Fly Past which is a biography of Lim Chin Beng, according to his life and times in international aviation. Chris Hudson’s Beyond the Singapore Girl - Discourses of Gender and Nation in Singapore includes a chapter on rethinking the Singapore Girl and what she represents in the 21st Century. Although these sources are valuable in this research, they will not be the main focus as they offer a secondary perspective on the subject.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 4 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. For this, I will refer to Figure 2, Ian Batey’s, Asian branding - A Great Way to Fly. Ian Batey a British born, Australian bred man behind the Singapore Girl and has worked alongside with SIA for 35 years. He writes about branding in Asia and discussed his observations and findings on how to succeed in an Asian Market. The book is his take on Asian branding to serve as a route map for brand owners based in Asia. As he was responsible for the idea behind the Singapore Girl identity, there exist a chapter in which he discusses the whole process from inception. He reveals excerpts from the 1970s agency- produced document called How We Play The Game as the SIA creative template and a guide for everyone in the agency to adhere to (Batey, 2002). Hence, this serves as an effective source in understanding the emergence of the Singapore Girl identity through written explanation aided with excerpts from a historical documentation. Figure 2. Asian Branding - A Great Way to Fly (cover design), 2002

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 5 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Western ideologies reminiscent of colonial views are evident throughout the book. An example would be a statement Batey made about SIA and that it, “represented a country which, in 1972, was seen in the west as a Third World city-state with creaky trishaws and flooded streets rather than a place that could produce a highly competent international airline. (Traditionally, the image of a national airline is only as strong as the image of its country)” (Batey, 2002). This shows that the perceived pressure SIA had of conforming to western ideals of a First World nation were present during the beginning years of SIA as a global airline brand. Drawing on the writings of Ian Batey himself offers a primary source of direct information which is effective in understanding the creation of one of Singapore’s icons. Although the period was after colonial times, the ideologies that Ian Batey possesses, as an Englishman, could form a basis of argument on the western influences he brought upon into creating the Singapore Girl which is reflective in the national identity she displays. Thus, making this book an essential source to refer to when addressing the aims of the research. A substantial part of this research focuses on studying and understanding the designs of batik. This refers to the motifs and patterns that are decorated on the fabric. Ian Batey offers minimal information on batik and mentioned briefly about his observations on Indonesian exports in his book. However, he did not include any visual references and depth in his research to be considered as a viable source for a comprehensive analysis of batik design. To fulfil this requirement of the study, there are numerous written sources addressing batik design with textual explanation and visual representation. Fiona Kerlogue’s Batik -

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 6 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Design, Style & History discusses topics ranging from the origins, traditions, motifs and meaning, modern influences, batik as costume, and batik in art. Ila Keller’s Batik: The Art and Craft also examines batik’s history and focuses heavily on the craft and methods of production. Figure 3. Batik – Creating an Identity (cover design), 1991 These sources are relevant but for the purpose of this study, Figure 3, Batik - Creating an identity by Lee Chor Lin provides a more comprehensive written information together with photographic examples to address batik in relation to identity which allows for a focus on the topic of discussion. Lee included visual artefacts of batik from the collection of the National Museum of Singapore and question the notion of creating a national identity through Batik by urging readers to use the book as, “a source of inspiration for those who are creating a Singapore

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 7 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Style” (Lee, 1991). The historical batik samples are illustrated alongside detailed descriptions of its origins, design elements and the cultures that owned them. These cultures included the Javanese, Indians, Chinese, Peranakans, Arabs, Dutch, and the Europeans that had influenced the design of the batik motifs and embedded them with symbolic or spiritual meanings. The relationship of batik design and Singapore national identity should consider that Singapore was built as a nation of immigrants and of multicultural descent (Berthelsen & Karuppiah, 2011). The book examines the role of batik in the social and cultural context of modern Indonesia and Singapore. Hence, by providing accurate documentation of historical batik fabrics, it is considered as a fundamental source for this study. Although Figure 3 offers a glimpse of references made of batik in relation to identity, it does not demonstrate a thorough research on Singapore’s identity. As Singapore National identity is a pertinent topic of discussion in this project, it requires scholarly sources to examine how the nation’s identities are formed. A number of written sources discusses the national identity of Singapore such as Multicultural Identity of Singapore as Ex-British Settlement and New Asian Global City by Saiful Anwar Matondang which focusses mostly on the generated multicultural Singaporean society based on ethnic categories of a postcolonial state and the elites in the ruling party. This implementation of a single identity which refuses to acknowledge the rights of its citizens ignores the construction of a fair multicultural identity. Thus, Matondong offers one valuable perspective on Singapore’s identity but it is insufficient in providing a holistic approach to the topic.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 8 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Figure 4. Singapore: Identity, Brand, Power (cover design), 2018 An extensive critical study can be found in Figure 4, Kenneth Paul Tan’s book titled Singapore: Identity, Brand, Power. Published in 2018, it delivers a current and compelling view on the country’s identity. He discusses the tensions of contemporary Singapore as being a small postcolonial multicultural nation and a cosmopolitan global state in which the ruling party, People’s Action Party (PAP) holds the authority to create a national narrative. Tan’s focus on Singapore’s ideology and cultural aspects is simple, concise and jargon-free. His attempts to be broad-based yet critical is reflected in the eight subtopics. He describes the relationship between Singapore’s ruling class, PAP, and the society should be viewed through Gramscian’s theory of cultural hegemony. In capitalist society, the ruling party can maintain its powers by negotiating with the cultural institutions (Gramscian, 1971).

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 9 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Therefore, this written source provides a cogent argument as it covers a wide area of research in Singapore’s National identity. Hence, this source offers a possible theoretical framework on national identity for which this research can utilise. Another important area of discussion in this research examines decolonisation and the scope of this project aims to explore through a decolonised perspective. Decolonisation appears on numerous discursive literature of anti-coloniality and scholarly articles such as Bert Olivier’s Decolonisation, Identity, Neo-Colonialism and Power which explores the implications of decolonisation and questions the concept of identity in previously colonized South Africa (Olivier, 2019). George J. Sefa Dei’s and Meredith Lordon’s Anti-colonial Theory and Decolonial Praxis explains that anti-colonialism and post-colonialism are two separate entity not to be viewed as a conflating framework (Dei & Lordan,2020). It demonstrates anti-colonialism as a continuous process and examines case studies from around the world to address issues and concepts relating to education.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 10 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Figure 5. Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous Peoples (cover design), 1999 The points discussed in these sources are useful in understanding decolonisation, however, in Figure 5, Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous Peoples offers a more in-depth research on decolonisation with an additional research element of decolonising methodologies as a comprehensive research guide. It redefines the western academic methods by articulating a new indigenous research agenda to replace common research practices. As an indigenous woman, Smith questions the value of academic research which is based on the western principles of classification and representation. She presents plausible

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 11 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. arguments that the implications of research were the premise of western methodologies grounded in positivism and that the data gathered of the colonised world is steeped in western ideologies of gender, race and class (Smith, 1999). Resulting in cultural realities of the colonised indigenous people that were reflected inaccurately. Thus, debating that the accuracy of research methods depended on western principles which is biased in establishing definitions, categorisations and labelling, which ultimately isolates the indigenous people. She claims to oppose research methodologies which history portrays as a reflection of western ideologies about the pursuit of knowledge and suggests the disruption of existing methods of research. She also included various theories such as those presented by Hegel and Foucault that depicts western theoretical framework as a basis for research (Smith, 1999). Studies on indigenous people should be viewed from their perspective and not be biased against them. The counter-practices within research methodologies demonstrated in her work will then allow studies to be highly sensitive towards indigenous people preventing assumptive and exploitative outcomes. However, it is worth noting that the aims of this research do not deny the relevant western theories as it could be essential to the study. Reviewing western theories of research methodology allows for heighten awareness of the limitations that may arise during research. Smith’s ideas and findings are essential as it explores the concept of decolonisation and discusses the benefits of decolonising methodologies if a research is based on postcolonial cultures. An awareness of the decolonised methodologies considers the topics of discussion in this research holistically from the researcher’s point of view but also takes into account the cultures in which the research is about, in this case, the people of Singapore. Therefore, an examination of Smith’s decolonising methodology could be adapted to suit the

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 12 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. direction of this research preventing biasness and creating stronger arguments from a decolonised perspective. The purpose of this study aims to examine batik as design and its relationship with Singapore’s national identity from a decolonised perspective. This source review has stated 5 key sources that are viable in this project: The Figure 1 image of the Singapore Girl donning her sarong kebaya in batik motif offers a visual reference and allows for a clear understanding at the beginning of the research as an introduction to the topics that would be discussed; Ian Batey’s Asian Branding - A Great Way to Fly offers first-hand account in the creation of the Singapore Girl identity where she represents a part of the country’s identity but also reveals the possibility of western influences; Lee Chor Lim’s Batik - Creating an identity demonstrates batik as design and explains the identities it is associated with; Kenneth Paul Tan’s Singapore: Identity, Brand, Power introduces critical and thorough research with a theoretical framework on the formation of Singapore’s identity; and finally, Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous Peoples identifies the issue with western influenced research processes and provided a guideline to decolonising methodology. The combination of these sources supports a possible connection of batik design and Singapore’s national identity through visual references, textual information, theoretical framework and decolonised methodology.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 13 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Bibliography Allen, R., & Rubinstein, B. (1990). SIA. Singapore: Singapore Airlines Ltd. Batey, I. (2002). Asian Branding - A Great Way To Fly. Singapore: Pearson Education Asia. Berthelsen, D., & Karuppiah, N. (2011). Multicultural education: The understandings of preschool teachers in Singapore. Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 36(4), 38-42. Bolton, K., & Ng, B. (2014). The dynamics of multilingualism in contemporary Singapore. World Englishes, 33(3), 307-318. Dei, G., & Lordan, M. (2020). Anti-Colonial Theory and Decolonial Praxis. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. New York: International Publishers. Hickson, K. (2015). Mr. SIA. Singapore: World Scientific. Hudson, C. (2020). Beyond the Singapore Girl Discourses of Gender and Nation in Singapore. Copenhagen: NIAS Press. Keller, I. (1989). Batik: The Art and Craft. Vermont: Tuttle Publishing. Kerlogue, F. (2004). Batik: Design, Style, & History. London: Thames & Hudson. Lee, C. (2007). Batik, creating an identity. Singapore: Editions Didier Miller.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 14 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Matondang, S. (2017). Multicultural Identity of Singapore as Ex-British Settlement and New Asian Global City. International Journal Of Humanities Social Development Research, 1(1). Olivier, B. (2019). Decolonisation, Identity, Neo-Colonialism and Power. Phronimon, 20. doi: 10.25159/2413-3086/3065 Smith, L. (1999). Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous People. London: Zed Books Ltd. Sustainability Report. (2017). Retrieved 20 March 2020, from https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pdf/Investor-Relations/Annual- Report/sustainabilityreport1718.pdf Tan, K. (2018). Singapore. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Wicks, P. (1998). Singapore, literature and identity. Asian Culture Quarterly, 26(1), 1-8.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF BATIK DESIGN AND THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL 15 IDENTITY: A DECOLONISED PERSPECTIVE. Visual Image Bibliography List Batey, I. (2002). Asian Branding - A Great Way To Fly. Singapore: Pearson Education Asia. Lee, C. (2007). Batik, creating an identity. Singapore: Editions Didier Miller. Smith, L. (1999). Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous People. London: Zed Books Ltd. Sustainability Report. (2017). Retrieved 20 March 2020, from https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pdf/Investor-Relations/Annual- Report/sustainabilityreport1718.pdf Tan, K. (2018). Singapore. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.