Superheroes In The Age of Circuit Breaker: The Rise & Fall of The Virus Vanguard
Looks like the "COVID WARRIORS" I featured earlier turned out to be a precursor to yet another brand new superhero fighting team, that has gotten exceedingly bad-press locally, turning into a hot-button topic that continues to blur the line between "fiction" and "reality".
A team of fictional superheroes - each representing "Circuit Breaker"-measures - were created, to represent the fight Singaporeans had ahead with COVID-19 / Coronavirus. The reality instead, tuned out to be less inspiring that I imagined it was expected to have been.
For folks outside of Singapore (who have chosen to read this): WHAT IS "CIRCUIT BREAKER"?
In lieu of a full "lockdown" in our island state, the Singapore government had introduced the term "Circuit Breaker", which was implemented by the Singapore government "to pre-empt the trend of increasing local transmission of COVID-19. The aim is to reduce much more significantly movements and interactions in public and private places. To do this, we will move towards full home-based learning for our schools and close most physical workplace premises, save for those providing essential services and in selected economic sectors which are critical for our local and the global supply chains. Work and business activities that can be carried out via telecommuting from home should continue." (moh.gov.sg).
This implementation was first announced on April 3rd, and started on April 7th, and was to (tentatively) end on May 4th ... but as of this afternoon (April 21st), as announced by the Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minster of Singapore, has since been extended to June 1st, 2020.
Now back to the fictional superheroes...
All this started with Gov.sg revealing a new 5-member team - known as "The VIRUS VANGUARD" - first via a Facebook post on Sunday, before being launched on their official website on Monday April 20th.
Besides the individual characters and names, also featured were write-ups and back-stories to said individual characters, who were (above left-to-right) "Dr Disinfector", "Circuit Breaker", "MAWA Man", "Care-leh Dee" and "Fake News Buster" - All of whom possess specific super-powers - representing "Circuit Breaker" measures - against the dreaded COVID-19 / Coronavirus.
The page(s) no longer exist on the website, and I have no point of reference except for screen grabs posted and mocked on social media - in particular the "Dr Disinfector"-character, which apparently offered a "different" name and (Understandably "questionable") backstory, before it was altered. I have not posted them as I cannot authenticate the validity of the images.
What seemed to be a exceedingly tongue-in-cheek and a light-hearted slant to provide awareness and levity to the seriousness of the current situation, the feedback however, has largely not been positive - to say the least - with the more cyber-vocal folks saying "the budget could have gone to better usage", amongst assorted (personal) attacks.
One massive backlash came in the form of "MAWA MAN" ("Must Always Walk Alone" Man).
"Much of the vitriol was directed at Mawa Man, who is supposed to be a fanatical fan of the Manchester United football club and whose name is a jibe at rival club Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone" anthem. If it was all meant to be good-natured fun, the attempt has fallen flat. Still, it has caught the attention of international sporting news publications like ESPN which picked up the story." (Lester Wong for straitstimes.com)
It did not take more than 24hours, before the subsequent massive online commentary and "feedback" led to Gov.sg post the following on their Facebook page:
"The Virus Vanguard is undergoing a review.
We have received quite a lot of feedback on the characters and we will be reviewing them. We are sorry if we offended anyone. As this is the first time we are exploring this content format, we appreciate your patience.
The Virus Vanguard is a collaboration with the Band of Doodlers (BOD) to create a comic series to convey different aspects of the Circuit Breaker measures.
If you have an idea or suggestion on Virus Vanguard, do share with us." (@gov.sg)
"Band of Doodlers" was credited to be involved with the project, to which local artist Mas Shafreen - founder for BOD - had since commented in the FB-post, to clarify the situation in relation to BOD.
"I am the artist who created the characters. I apologise that the characters came across insensitive. Gov.sg did not ask me to make this comment. I am doing this to clarify things.
Band of Doodlers is a local art group and was founded by me, hence the association. It started because a group of us, including myself, wanted to create superhero characters to show appreciation for our frontliners, including healthcare workers, and how we can battle this together. It is also a way for us artists to collaborate together while practising social distancing. That was when I was approached to develop a comic series to help raise awareness on circuit breaker measures." shared Mas Shafreen (AKA "Wanton Doodle" - you see his sign on the image posted up top). "As for MAWA Man, I am a Man Utd fan and I will be the first to admit that Liverpool is doing well, unlike Man U. MAWA Man was more about how we should practice safe distancing but the aim is that he will realise that it takes all of us, regardless of which team we support, to pull through this together. And we cannot just do this alone.
The current situation has affected us all and I know as an artist myself, I am very appreciative of such opportunities given that jobs are hard to come by. I am sorry for the trouble caused and I hope local artists can still be supported with creative projects."
Best laid plans. I cannot comment on the "execution", as I am coming in late to this news, and will only share my unsolicited bare assumptions, and having had posted the art of BOD on my blog numerous times before, I can understand if no one started this off meant to offend anyone intentionally, but perhaps going up against folks on the frustrated-edge of WFH ("Work From Home"), and no doubt fearful of the current COVID-19 situation in Singapore (I certainly am) and the sensitivity of the subject intended to combat - would not the wisest of circumstance make, much less include "soccer" into the mix.
Has the project been cancelled? How will the team evolve next? Will the team continue to fight against COVID-19? Who will now help us through the extended Circuit Breaker period until June 1st?
As I am typing all these, having only just heard Prime Minister Lee announcing the extension of the "Circuit Breaker" period, this slice of news perhaps would be buried underneath the collective displeasure of the nation in reaction to said announcement, and where fellow Singaporeans would have something else to galvanise against.
And after all, I blog about designer toys and my experience with pop culture daily, and am hardly a barometer or spokesperson (Nor do I claim to be) for the masses that make up "Singapore", and all these are my own personal opinions and impressions, admittedly tossing about in my mind LOL
Thank you all for reading thus far, and for your patience and indulgence.
Andy TOYSREVIL
(Additional sources: todayonline.com / channelnewsasia.com / mothership.sg)
PERSONAL SHARE: I remembered back in school days (decades back OMG, before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made it "hip" to be a "comic-nerd"), of how I hid my love for comicbooks, least of all being ridiculed for loving something that not everyone is knowledgable about, or even considered a healthy respectable hobby ... and even when I did share with a small group of friends - whom were much more into martial arts manhwa ("Man Called Hero" et al) and looked down on Western comicbooks - I was ridiculed for reading Marvel and DC Comics too! And while I read both genres, I wised up and chose to keep my preference and hobby at bay too, only unleashing my geeklife at comic book shops, and even then it was not until much later in my adult life, did I opened up to make friends.
The vitriol heaped upon this situation just reminds me of those days, as much as I understand this is a very personal experience of mine, and may not be at all similar to the masses out there, whom this super-team was trying to connect with, in the first place.
Imagine if you will, since the posting of the X-COVID AVENGERS, and Mas of BOD being contacted to create a fictional super-team, and how short a turnaround that would have been, perhaps the timeline was too ambitious and ultimately short, to have created a collection of characters that could appeal to folks who either do not read comicbooks, or are connoisseurs and expect so much more than what was presented. I hesitate asking folks for their impressions on this, as we have far more pressing things to worry about these days (like "self-preservation", which the public might understandably equate to "budget spent on comicbooks")... but it is also after all, a livelihood for some, and a aspiring dream for others, who might now retreat back into the shadows. A pity, if that were the case. But perhaps all is not "lost", as there are other projects in play, dealing with a similar theme (as it were);
