Starting off the PSFK Asia Conference was a panel discussion about creativity in Singapore. The panel was made up of Graham Perkins from Elasticity, Chris Lee from Asylum, Jackson Tan from Phunk Studio and Tad Leckman from LucasArts Singapore.

When asked what it was about Singapore that inspired their creativity, Chris cited Singapore’s proximity to her neighbouring countries. Tad answered that he found inspiration in Singapore, mainly because it wasn’t San Francisco; that the difference in environment was a catalyst in itself. Jackson brought out an extremely interesting point that Singapore, being such a young nation, was a “blank canvas”.

It was apt to see a creative person find opportunity where many others couldn’t. Where most people viewed Singapore’s absence of a mature culture as a lack in inspiration, Jackson saw it as freedom for expression. He elaborated further that Singapore artists are able to design for the future unencumbered by their past.

While a blank canvas provides artistic freedom, Chris emphasised a need for Singaporeans to be confident in who they were as a person in order to solidify the idea of Singaporean design. Singaporeans are always trying to do things correctly, comparing themselves to standards set by other people, and this prohibited the development of a national identity. Jackson agreed and added that somewhere in our collective history, the Singapore brand became international before she could be national.

While Singapore’s diverse populace provided a rich source of inspiration, Tad commented that having too much input made it hard to solidify a culture, and that the attribute of one’s race was too explicit in Singapore. Graham raised the example of how our race was printed on our identity cards.

It is time perhaps, for Singapore to think about not holding on so tight to the cultures of our forebears and forge a way for ourselves. It may not win design awards; people may take a while to understand the English we speak; but we’d be creating an identity we own.