Due to globalization and the widespread growth of mass communications around the world, most countries are becoming increasingly interconnected. Through mass media, such as films and television programs, societies have in one way or another influenced each other, resulting in gradual convergence of culture. In Singapore, people are generally more pragmatic and conservative in terms of their conduct and values, and Singaporeans are largely reliant on the government. Also, one unique feature of Singapore’s culture is that we are a multi-racial and multi-religious society. In my opinion, the omnipresence of foreign films and television programs in our daily lives has greatly influenced our lifestyles, heritage and values more negatively than positively. However, they have indirectly positively affected our convention of having high tolerance towards other various cultures.
Firstly, foreign films and television programs have a large influence over our definition of the latest fashion and thus have a great impact on the way we dress. Whenever we see how appealing the stars look in the foreign films and television programs, most people would do anything to look just as appealing or even go through great lengths just to dress up like their idol. For example, two years ago when the eighth season of American Idol was being aired in Singapore, Adam Lambert was sensational and was idolized by the majority of Singaporeans who watched the famous American variety show. Being dubbed as “Glambert”, Adam Lambert was “glam” in all his performances, having a unique dressing style of his own, which includes wearing black eyeliner and black nail polish. Since that season, a substantial number of Singaporean teens and young adults of both genders started to hit the streets with black eyeliner and black nail polish. This is quite a significant sign of the impact of foreign films and