{Bibliotherapy}: The Many Faces of “Wah!” in Media
It was a big moment for Singapore when Oxford English Dictionary added 19 Singlish terms in its 2016 update. Among them was the term “wah”, defined as an expression of surprise. But as native Singlish speakers, we know “wah” is not just used to convey delight!
In this month’s {Bibliotherapy}, we are going to look at the various ways “wah!” can be used in different situations.
Wah, Awesome SIA!
Sticking to his roots proved fruitful
One of the best feelings in the world is achieving something that was otherwise thought to be impossible. Take the case of former SIA Managing Director Lim Chin Beng’s push for the Singapore Girl campaign on American soil.
Also known as ‘Mr SIA’, Lim Chin Beng — a pioneer in civil aviation — started
as an administrative trainee with SIA. He then became a managing director of
the company, which he nurtured and transformed into one of the world’s
leading airline carriers.
When SIA planned to start operations in the US, it wanted to promote its services to the country using the original soft-sell of the Singapore Girl brand. However, many of its staff were against this, saying: “No, no, no — American advertisements — short, punchy and right to the point!”
SIA took the gamble and went ahead; the branding campaign was an instant success. Wah, seh!
Today, the Singapore Girl brand remains an iconic visual advertising element within SIA’s marketing strategy.
“You have to think big, you have to be broadminded, you have to have a sense of class.” — Lim Chin Beng
Listen to the story told by Mr SIA himself, in the full interview here.
Wah Lau!
You have goat to be kidding me!
This article appeared in The Straits Times in 1953, where a man found himself on the wrong side of the law for trespassing on protected property, as he followed his goat that had escaped. Such baaaad luck!
NCPG “Failed Ad” from 2014
In 2014, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) launched an problem gambling ad before the FIFA World Cup. It featured Andy, a boy whose dad had bet all his savings on Germany. The ad backfired humorously when Germany made it all the way to the finals, eventually scoring 1–0 in a remarkable victory against Argentina. So Andy’s dad had become rich because of his gamble. Wah lau!
NCPG was quick to prepare a response to the unexpected results, highlighting that gambling harms individuals and their loved ones in the long run. Heng ah.
Read the full article on NewspaperSG below.
Wah, Can Liddat One Ah?
Beer was once marketed as a healthy drink. Wah, you sure or not?
This might come as a surprise to some, but beer was actually advertised as a drink with health benefits in the 1930s. Take a look at this 1935 ad, promoting the benefits — “for Health, Strength and Conviviality” — of drinking Tiger beer. Similarly, Guinness beer was widely advertised to enhance one’s “strength” (below). However, if you told anyone today that beer is a healthy drink, they’d probably think you were drunk!
Wah, what day and age is this? — Camera Quiz
Given the modern times we live in now, it’s hard to not cringe at this misogynistic column title from 1961. “Camera Quiz” was a weekly column run by The Singapore Free Press. The top three responses to the “quiz” each week were featured and a total of $55 awarded to the writers. This particular column from 15 September 1961 would definitely not fly today, especially when the three winners, who shared their opinions on whether a woman should be a good cook, are what?! — Wah piang, how can?
Thankfully, we live in different times now. Check out the full page with the rest of the responses below, or search NewspaperSG to read other controversial Camera Quiz questions from other weeks.
Wah, Shiong!
Wah, shiong! concludes this article perfectly for those who are exhausted from trying to get the right resources and information while juggling work and family.
Researching with no leads can often leave you spent. You can spend hours searching for the information and resources for your report, but nothing relevant turns up. Search engines with their massive results can either lead you to effective research glory or drag you to the depths of information overload.
Don’t despair and let our librarians and resources guide point you to credible and sound information and research. What better way than to seek a clear path of enlightenment with recommendations from our librarians who are constantly and literally surrounded by mounds and mounds of text.
Open the door to academic freedom here: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/. There, you’ll have access to courses, eJournals, databases and more! To top it all off, our archive range on NewspaperSG has
expanded to include newspapers dating from 1868 to 2017.
Last but not least, we have put together a list of free digitised books below, and hopefully they’ll help to keep the cabin fever at bay.
For Kids
English books
Tamil Books
Malay Books
Chinese Books
For your productive time
Thanks for stopping by for another {Bibliotherapy} session! Remember that this Circuit Breaker can be a tough time for many. Let’s be compassionate and kind to those around us, as we all do our part towards becoming a COVID-19-free community.
Brought to you by the marketing folks at the National Library, slowly losing their sanity working from home.
