Letter from the Editor
“You’re only as good as your last picture”, or so actress Marie Dressler declared back in 1934. Her words are oddly prescient to today’s cancel culture, where we are only too trigger happy to vilify those who do not share the same opinion as us or, god forbid, have made a cardinal sin of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
In Arthur C Brooks’ bestseller Love Your Enemies— released fortuitously during the Trump era—he argues that understanding and communicating with the other side (in the American context, the left and the right) can bridge that gap of contempt and contention that’s plaguing our world today. He asks, almost mournfully, “We tend to demonise people who think differently than us, without even spending time to say, ‘How did you get there? What did you have for breakfast? Do you have children?’”
He argues not that we should shut up, but instead, that we should use our voice constructively and respectfully to repair the chasms that are dividing us today.
His potent words resonated in my mind when
I met the cover subjects for this month’s issue: Nazhath Faheema, Eugene Soh and Tan Zi Xi, three of the honourees on the 2021 Gen.t list, Tatler Asia’s platform for connecting leaders of tomorrow. These young change-makers have been using different platforms—virtual reality, art, their own voice—to drive social conversations and engender dialogues that can potentially transform the fabric of our society (p.170).
You might remember seeing Faheema in the news in 2017, when images of her sharing a laugh with the UK’S Prince Harry during an iftar meal in Singapore went viral. Her royal banter might have put her in the limelight, but it’s her conversations about violence, radicalisation and hatred that have stirred public interest and have triggered uncomfortable conversations in parliament. Her stance towards racism is optimistic yet realistic, and she believes that genuine dialogue requires patience, time and good intentions. Case in point: her reaction to the infamous viral video of a lady banging a gong to drown out her Indian neighbour’s prayers. Instead of the backlash, Faheema argues, what if we simply reached out to the lady in question with love and patience, and tried to educate and change her attitude?
This is perhaps the greatest irony of social media— that despite being constantly connected, we have forgotten how to listen, especially to the other side. Instead, we’ve grown accustomed to a steady feed of information that confirms our biases, and further reinforces our beliefs of right or wrong, black or white, left or right. It’s easy for the angry, sanctimonious Twitter mob to “cancel” and brand the wrongdoer as “evil” (again depending on the side of the debate you’re on), but hatred simply engenders more hatred.
It’s an unending debate, and there’s not enough real estate on these pages to further this discussion, but at Tatler Singapore, these are some of the conversations that we want to be involved in today. We remain the “ultimate destination for the best of power, style and influence in Asia”, and we cannot do so without being part of the winds of change that are sweeping through our society today. To have any real influence means having uncomfortable conversations over and over again; going against the norm; and giving a voice to those at the forefront of social change.
Before I sign off, do check out our newly revamped digital platform, tatlerasia.com, for more potent conversations, and let us know what you think.