[NEW] Exploring Hidden Anusia - Episode 1: Friendly Peepur, Authentic Cultural Food

HEY GUYS! Check out our latest video series titled Exploring Hidden aNUSia! Join us as we explore the hidden and uncover the less-known! Get set and follow our beautiful host as he explores the wonderful country aNUSia, well-known for its friendliness, hospitality, forgiveness and not to mention it being the first country known for its supportive stance of LGBT (Leisure Gone, Breaktime Trivial) rights and camp orientation games.

Srsly tho,

[please watch before continuing]

Many travel blogs/vlogs, people and popular media tend to essentialize an entire population and culture so blatantly. By summarising an entire population according to traits like “polite”, “friendly”, or “helpful”, we assume that individual differences can be explained by inherent, biological, "natural" characteristics and are homogenous. Essentializing may result in a differential way in thinking, speaking and acting in ways that promote stereotypical and inaccurate interpretations of the essentialized group. How do you feel when people think of Singaporeans as uncreative, rigid or unsociable (and hence our inability to develop our creative sectors)? There are plenty of articles that claim this. Google it.

Secondly, we see how many travel guides or blogs proudly claim that the places they visit are hidden, or little-known (we’re not naming names). Often times these places are misrepresented (if not how do these travel guides know about them in the first place?) and romanticized with notions of authenticity, or eventually become mass tourist sites due to the publicity, resulting in a vicious cycle where the undesired effects of mass tourism transfers from one place to another. Which is not to say that it’s wrong for travel blogs to promote less-known places. But there has to be an increased mindfulness on how these places are portrayed to avoid stereotypical or romanticized imageries.