Get Creative. Can Do. Rock On. Hahahaha

For good or bad, all the Asian tigers are rocking and rolling:

Hong Kong Will Rock You

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2Ksr8mvh68

wow. that video may be even more entertaining.

i must move to singapore immediately!

I think rhymes are thing of the past as was clearly demonstrated in this video.

I love it!!!
Now I need to “copy” this idea and make a similar video for my company… :p

That was teh great3st th1ng I have evar s33n in my h0le life.

I can die now happy.

Wow. That’s… incredible? They really pushed some of that rapping to the limit… of my patience… and rhyme-ability. At least they’re trying hard, I suppose. But I’ll stick to real rappers from the US of A for now. Thanks for posting, Michael. That was pretty awesome. *grin*

I come from Singapore. The video’s disgraceful, but somehow it’s kind of addictive… painfully addictive.

Excellent video !

When will we see it in Europe ?

This just makes me cry… USA must follow, maybe with Bush has the president.

Is it just me, or does everyone else wanna get with the “numbers girl” too?

Wow. That tune is going to be running through my head all night. I still hear it and it isn’t playing.

1.) are they even singing?

2.) the clip is too long to be funny

3.) there’s only a few seconds of the heads dancing, it looks like their same dance is just repeated throughout (boring)

They seem desperate BUT I bet that video is seen by thousands of people (at least in Singapore).

One of the dumbest things I have seen. Only major league dorks will like this crap. Embarrassing that company had to sink that low….DORKS!

i’ve been laughing my ass off. my 11 year old daughter came in and told me “lame ol’, i’m not wasting my time on that movie.

i did.

i think I’ll do a version for my daugher’s class of me and my mates.

I liked that, it was fun, what rap used to be!

http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

Cheap idea - and way too long to hold my attention. I agree with ed - it is pretty embarrassing. It looks to me like these guys got sold an expensive, crappy idea by a bunch of over-creative video producers.

Mike - Sweet, I’m all over it.

Welcome to HK..

The Singapore video way too looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.

The HK one could be better… (well, anything could be better..)

It is too long, would have been better if they kept it shorter. The only reason it will do well virally is because of who’s behind it, not the video itself.
My two cents.
Sahar

The amount of videos that generate traffic spikes is growing. I found that if I make 3 a week, I can get over 2900 people to my websites.

you know, it’s hard to appreciate how painful this video is unless you are Singaporean. You’ll realize that the video ISN’T meant to be funny.

That said, perhaps it is the saving grace that you guys find it hilarious and some little bit of sick dignity is saved.

By the way, the Media Development Authority is the Singapore government agency that bans things left and right. Their privacy practices are also questionable, in my personal opinion. So whatever they say in the video… I find wholly ironic.

After seeing Michael Yap’s performance, I’m not sure if my 1st action item tomorrow isn’t changing the name of our Company. Not that I could sing any better…

Just when I thought it would end… it didn’t.

Very cool!

I’m Singaporean. Seeing the government folks doing this, it’s definitely funny and nice. It brings the government closer to the people - i think that’s what all governments should do. In this age, doing this video and having it posted at youtube, etc is definitely the way to do it.

The original video box did not come out when seeing this post via
firefox (firefox 2.0.0.9).. tried many times.. I’d wonder if anyone’s
seeing a blank post other than the text that begins with “I couldn’t
not post this”… another reason why i’ve been bitching about the
this firefox rubbish.. /ac.

stupid

Works fine in my firefox browser. You might be running an add-on that is causing issues.

…and who says public servants and executives can’t dance?

Jon

All very strange

Reasons this video will go viral:

1) It’s on TechCrunch
2) It so laughably bad that people will want to forward it so that we can all have a good laugh.

Viral or not, I doubt this video will aid the world in seeing Singapore as a media hub, which from my inference was the original intention.

@30 - no, zero add-on.. and very clean os (purposefully kept that way)… well, lost cause… /ac.

This continues the fine tradition of the 2005 Microsoft South Korea Video for Visual Studio.

http://web.archive.org/web/200.....s_song.asp

dude! where’s my techcrunch???

from a HK’er angle –

1) SG is not a media hub and highly unlikely to be
2) HK is not a place to be for the tech geeks — don’t come, it kills your soul…

now go make this viral… /ac.

Does anyone other than me find it odd that one of the most socially oppressive governments in the world would put out propaganda claiming to “give the people a voice” ?

@37 — what would you expect, if chewing gum in SG is illegal…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C....._Singapore

There’s only one thing worse than watching white people dance and that’s Asian executives trying to get their groove…lol

Awww… come on… they’re as good as me in dancing… give them some credit. They have no regrets.

Michael, I’m sure that if you contacted them and asked for a cameo in their next video, they would gladly include you in at no charge.

I think they did great…
As Ah Meng said, they did let people feel they are getting closer to the people. As for the government, it is very cool to do it… as least, it is relevant to what their focus is-media.
HK & Singapore are great… instead of competing… they should work with each other… anyway, both has their unique attractions… Singapore people speak better English I have to say…
We have many students from NUS at SV to learn entrepreneurship. I am one of them just left the Bay Area.

For those of you who speak Spanish check this nice rap, performed by veteran artists, Les Luthiers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PULB4MjXCPg

by the way, the HK one seems more entertaining… short and sweet…
but it is not original… the MDA rap is original…
one is info video… not a song..
the other one is of both - info & a song. =p
my two cents

@44 — I think it’s called a remix… and originality no value if bland..

I’m from Singapore, and to say that the video is bad is an understatement. It’s uber lame, corny and very wannabe. I think I speak on behalf of most Singaporeans. I’m embarrassed this actually made it to Techcrunch.

you know it’s the lowest of lows when there is english subtitle provided for an english rap. .. sigh and i study in singapore.

TechCrunch = pre-screening services for the next American Idol

I’m a Singaporean. And I can’t say enough how embarrassed I am about this video. It’s painful to watch.

Innovative Event Marketing/

http://tekno-world.blogspot.com

It’s lacking creativity.

if we lose the youth olympics bid its because of this

Oh man, that was painful to watch. I felt embarrassed just watching them.

Wow. Memo to the rappers of tomorrow, Singaporean or otherwise: acronyms do not belong in lyrics. (Okay, unless you’re Allan Sherman, though “Harvey and Sheila” isn’t rap.)

This is the same agency which banned the Mass Effect game and later lifted it. It’s not that bad after all, they can be open minded too. Do they really have to ‘dance’?

quick show of hands - who has watched this at least three times all the way through like I have? I can’t stop watching it.

this serves as a good morale booster for screwing up exams…

to know that more people screwed up worse than you . . .

@56 Yes. I admit it. I can’t stop watching. Michael, if you do appear in a video make sure you’re not the one to wear the tights & cape.

I really don’t get how everyone panned the Nokia video and then give this one props. Kids thing adults trying to be cool are quite the opposite, at least Nokia didn’t make that fatal mistake.

This has just made my day! I gotta get all the peeps on board.

Tham Wai Kin at 3:14 has got the best moves. Absolutely love it.

One time is all I can bear, boss. But thanks for this post! This is really incredible considering the uptight and heavy-handed image the government of Singapore continues to have. In fact, we didn’t launch in S’pore because the government continues to control all real estate, leaving no space for a listings engine like ours.

Guys, why is it so hard to see that this video is tongue-in-cheek (and in that sense quite funny)?

I find performances like the weekly video podcast of Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel (http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/Webs/BK/DE/Aktuelles/VideoPodcast/video-podcast.html) much more lame in their wannabe-seriousness than such an appearance.

I like it, and it at least alters my view of the sometimes stiff Asian manner a little bit.

Hilarious! I was constantly laughing for four minutes. But the fact that this is crafted by the government of a totalitarian state clouds the happiness quite a bit

I made this viral

Too funny. I think if Casandra Tay had a longer spot - it would have been even better - she has the looks and the moves compared to the others.

On a business side - listen to what they are saying about building a global economy. They are not just focused on Singapore - but more about bringing business from the rest of the world to Singapore.

Now that made me wonder - if all countries are looking at a global market as a source of revenue - then just who is the market? Every country seems to assume that other markets have the greater $$.

Funny enough! I bet Taiwan administration might try something like this later, but never for Beijing.

Damn that was bad. Would it make me stand up listen because they rapped? no.

I highly doubt this is a tongue in cheek video considering its on the homepage of the MDA as well as its “Interactive Annual Report”

http://www.mda.gov.sg

And I was thinking only Duncan had trouble in finding the right titles for the posts

ok… could we get Mike, Duncan, Erick, and the whole gang to PLEEEEEASE go to gizmoz and get your 3d avatars to do a parody of this video??

I would pay money for such a thing.

and #71… leave duncan alone… who are you to talk? what kind a title is “statement.setMaxrows in JDBC vs Oracle rownum in SQL”? yeah… that title just yanks me right in to read your damn graph!! grrrrr. what’s that you say? there was no graph? oh… well i would have known that had i actually gave enough pellets of crap to actually read your entry. (which i didn’t). (i suppose you’ll lay off of Duncan in future episodes….)

p.s. if you can’t tell i’m a reformed duncan-slammer… his recent troll post really opened my eyes dammit! (and i’m not being sarcastic, in case you were wondering. i really feel compelled to stand up for duncan now as opposed to just joining the herd and taking the easy cuts.) We need another Figueroa to get people off of Duncan’s ass already.

p.p.s. ok… so i couldn’t stand another Figueroa either… bad idea.

Yes yes y’all please please stop.

cassandra tay - Director ( The lady in full black out fit ) — is really cool

That is 4.5 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Damn you TechCrunch! Damn you Singapore MDA Execs!

Mike, that’s what MDA will like to do to get into Techcrunch ! Look like MDA make it at last. Now MDA will be world famous and very capable of censoring Techcrunch in notime.
Mike, it’s time for you to come out your own video so that it can be put into MDA’s site. YoYo YO, come on.

Mike, thank you for helping Singapore to identify William Hung of Singapore. You realize that it is not just a individual but a whole bunch of expensive gahmen who will censor anything except themselves.

The proposed name for MDA

MDA = WHC = William Hung Corporation

This video is biased, SG is multi cultural society and this video has only chinese dance to the music. Why can’t they show malay, indian, arab and others in the video??

I am embarrassed to tell you I am Singaporean!

That was just a sad sad video. I’m so glad I’m Malaysian!

Media Hub?!? Time to lose the old plans thats proven unworkable. Move on with the times. Look at South Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc. There are many contries out there which are taking serious initiatives and they’ll be ahead of us in 20 to 30 years time.

As a Malaysian Kiwi, we’re always looking ahead and changing with the times. No point in beating an old drum, or in this case, an old rap

WTH?! this is some scary movie.. song.. whatever

haha no doubt its not cool, but it shows the government’s initiative/seriousness about spicing media/tech scene up, which is more than I can say abt a lot of others…

Mikey is obviously a dork! Big surprise!

VERY STUPID.

This… is amazing in all kinds of ways.

The sad part is, that beat isn’t too bad. It could have been used for more pleasant purposes.

Cassandra Tay is smokin’ hot, though. She could rule me in a totalitarian manner any day.

I’m Singaporean too, and I must say, the fact that it’s on TechCrunch with 84 comments is a resounding success in itself, as ‘bad’ as some of the rapping might be.. “yes yes y’all, we don’t stop, get connected worlwide rock on” ;>

i could had sworn i saw william hung in the video

And I’m embarrassed coz Kuala Lumpur is a few hours drive from where this masterpiece was made.

Isn’t William Hung dead?

So I’ve lived in Singapore for the last couple of years. Here’s the deal - people here are motivated, generally optimistic, and they trust the government. The government takes its responsibilities to the people very seriously even though they have a pretty harsh controls in place on certain stuff. Basically, just don’t break the law. And interestingly, cynicism is pretty rare - the video is honest, if lame!

What most people who don’t live here don’t get is that Singapore has created all kinds of industries right up from scratch - from petrochemicals to biotech to tourism - and they actually ARE succeeding at creating a regional media hub.

My two bits.

Thanks, Fernando.

As much as such cringe-worthy things do emerge every now and then, which country doesn’t have its fair share of wannabe-mistakes? And think about it this way — give our Confucian culture-ed, square and straight-laced generation some credit for breaking out of their shells. It probably wouldn’t be half as bad if some teens who had more rhythmic sense did the rap. Honest, albeit over optimistic…

P.S. A response to the chewing gum mention @39: This wouldn’t have happened if inconsiderate jokers could stop stuffing their gum on lift doors and buttons, seats, train doors and everything you can put a finger on. This topic included, from now.

This is one video that as the appointed censor board, the MDA should have self-censored as so many Singaporeans find it so cringe-worthy. And because it’s gone so totally over the edge, it falls into the “so-bad it’s good” category hence the thru-the-roof global audience.

And though the occasional positive comments have focused on the fact that a bunch of civil servants were willing to break out of the bureaucrat strait-jacket mould, the harsh reality is that on the execution front, the creative/ production team should have done much, much better. It’s produced lyrically and visually as a relic from the 80’s, and since the message is that Singapore is going to be “No.1 in content” and as they are the organization promoting creative content, they should have drawn on better producers.

And objectively speaking, it is that disconnect between the message and the execution that is extremely jarring and serves to undermine the message. Sure it has raised awareness of Singapore’s media industry but more likely along the lines of “Creative media hub? - you must be having a laugh!”….which is unfortunate, especially as there are pockets of great creativity in Singapore especially the advertising agencies which are constantly winners at the global award shows.

It’s interesting to note that one article in Singapore’s Straits Times tried to put a positive spin on it without even mentioning that the majority of the comments on YouTube are derisory- “MDA video on global high list” (http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20071127-38663.html ) . But thankfully, another Straits Times article balanced it out “Corporate rap videos cool or fools?” (http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/Features/Story/A1Story20071125-38245.html )

“I know good directors like the back of my hand” awwww jeah!!!

This is a lame video. But full marks for coming up with the idea and get the world talking about it. As for propagating the MDA message, it will still take other avenues. The critical mass for ideas are required in the media scene. It does not happen. Relax the censorship and the only needed guideline is to treasure religious diversity.
IT should not be part of MDA. Seems like this is one re-organization too many. Creativity and the delivery mechanism do not mix.