i want to know what heavy drugs were they on?
also, we're not laughing with them, we're laughing
at them
ST – 24 Nov 2007, pH5
Yo, check it out, MDA's bringin' down the house!By Alfred Siew YES, yes, y'all, they don't stop!
The top brass in the Media Development Authority (MDA) have pulled in 20,000 views on the video-sharing website YouTube in just two days.
It is a feat few local acts manage. A video of opposition leader Chiam See Tong during the last general election - considered well watched - has been viewed only about 11,000 times.
The MDA video, classified under 'comedy' on YouTube, features the agency's senior people jabbing their fingers in the air and rapping about a vibrant Singapore. It was produced to showcase the agency's work on the media scene.
The brainchild of MDA communications director Cassandra Tay, the four-minute clip was first shown at a staff conference in April. It was also screened at the reception areas of offices and to new staff.
The rap video was so well received that it was later sent to those in the industry in a memory drive together with the agency's annual report. A version was also put on its website.
The public cottoned on after newspaper reports this week and so far, at least six copies of the video have been put up on YouTube.
Viewers have been lapping up the surprise of seeing senior civil servants rapping in rhyme, addressing viewers with 'yo' and telling them to 'get creative'.
Some Internet users praised the officers for daring to be different, but others thought parts of it silly and felt that the civil servants were trying too hard to be cool.
Sales manager Iris Goh, 30, who watched the clip twice, said: 'The rap's okay if you don't see them moving...because they can't dance!'
Senior public relations consultant Steven Ng, 33, was not sure the the video's popularity guaranteed that its core message would hit home.
'If the video interests people to read MDA's annual report, that's great,' he said. 'But if months from now, all they remember is this funny rap, then the video has failed.'
The agency's Ms Tay told The Straits Times last night how the MDA Senior Management Rap had come about and said: 'The rap video was meant to show a lighter side of management, without taking anything away from the annual report.'
Of all the attention it has received she said: 'We are pleased that much discussion has been generated and hope that it will raise greater awareness of the media sector.'
Aware that some liked it while others did not, she said their reaction reflected what communication, creativity and breaking new ground were all about.
'When you try new ways to communicate, it is understandable that there will be people who appreciate your efforts and those who do not,' she said.
The main intention was to try a different approach - and this, she said, was important for an agency championing creativity.
She also passed to The Straits Times an e-mail from a British lawyer clearly delighted at receiving the MDA rap video.
'It has to be the most unexpected presentation by a government department that I've ever seen and I do hope other recipients were as entertained by it as I was,' said Mr Hugh Mason, partner of a law firm.
He added: 'It takes guts to try something new and when you do, it makes people question their prejudices.'
