Linguists and twin sisters Kelsi and Keri Matwick were so intrigued they decided to analyse its use of humour.SINGAPORE - When American linguists Keri Matwick and Kelsi Matwick came to Singapore in 2018, one thing that caught their eye was toilet etiquette posters featuring the use of comics.
The study notes that "the choice of the comic genre as the medium of the message allows for a made-up world", helping to make taboo topics more relatable and memorable to the public. Most people in Singapore would have seen these posters, which are found in public toilets in places such as libraries, train stations and hawker centres, and feature comics drawn by cartoonist Lee Chee Chew of The Straits Times.
Adds Dr Kelsi Matwick: "The lesson of the comic is explicit, with the line saying, for example, 'Clean public toilets are possible.' These include the "Get Your Shot, Steady Pom Pi Pi" campaign video from May last year, to encourage members of the public to get their Covid-19 vaccination shots. The video features local star Gurmit Singh as Phua Chu Kang, a character in a well-loved home-grown sitcom, and holding up two fingers to allude to the catchphrase, "V is for victory over Covid".