key: cord-0040399-vs4famsa
authors: Foley, M.; McPherson, G.; McGillivray, D.
title: Establishing Singapore as the Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia: Strategic Brand Diversification
date: 2009-11-16
journal: International Perspectives of Festivals and Events
DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-08-045100-8.00004-1
sha: 4c8257e5187294cf9867f52da941655dc3624777
doc_id: 40399
cord_uid: vs4famsa

nan

Contained within Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) vision for tourism 2015 is the stated intention to establish Singapore as the ' Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia ' . This strategy is part of wider economic development agency attempts to diversify Singapore's brand beyond its well established reputation as a leading business destination. The city wants to capture the attention of global tourism markets by redefining itself as a vibrant cultural hub with an events and entertainment offering to rival some of the world's most attractive cities. This strategy can be viewed as a response to the intensification of global place wars for attention which have increased the pressure on destinations the world over to create unique attractions to entice valuable mobile capital. This chapter provides a critical overview of the global context for inter-urban place wars before focusing on the value of an events-led strategy in delivering competitive advantage for Singapore. Methodologically, it draws on elite interviews with leading Singaporean cultural policy makers, observations at local, national and international events and documentary analysis of the recent strategic environment for Singapore tourism. We contend that the city branding and place-making strategies employed by the Singaporean state apparatus are designed to create cultural strategies which ensure the gentrification of space and place necessary for the reception of global tourism inflows. In essence, we suggest that Singapore has used its events-led strategies to extend its internal processes of cultural planning, regeneration and development at the same time as securing a global position in the increasingly competitive events (and place) bidding wars. events (or culture)-led strategies in establishing competitive advantage for cities within the global economy. Hall (2006) , reflecting on the growth of sports mega-events, argues that neoliberal entrepreneurial growth strategies are now regularly played out by cities around the world. In Zukin's (1995) words, culture is increasingly the ' business of cities ' , an ' instrument in the entrepreneurial strategies of local governments and business alliances ' (p. 12) . In urban environments across Europe, the Americas and Asia, public and private growth coalitions come together to utilise events and festivals as a means of gaining competitive advantage in increasingly aggressive place wars ( Haider, 1992 ; Short and Kim, 1999; Yeoh and Chang, 2001) with other aspiring global cities. These place wars are driven by the need to create a favourable image to tourism, migration and business marketplaces. Increasingly, sporting and other cultural festivals and events represent particularly attractive communication vehicles for cities as they interact with the globalised media complex and vie for the attention of policy makers, consumers and investors, alike. In the competition for attention ( Goldhaber, 1997 ) , places seek out means of differentiation and distinction; unique qualities which can attract valuable mobile capital to advance their economic standing. The decision to engage in city event branding of this sort is almost always politically motivated, rather than cultural or even economic. Today, cities are under pressure to be seen to be bidding for sporting mega-events or to create large scale festivals so that they maintain position in the rankings of top global cities (Shoval, 2002) .

However, exploiting the cultural cache of festivals and events is not the only (or even the most popular) means for cities to secure attention. Richards and Wilson (2004) suggest that branding the built urban environment with signature or iconic buildings and cultural quarters is perhaps the most frequently used means of altering perceptions of a locale. Yet, regenerative strategies based on the transformation of the builtscape ( Chang and Huang, 2005 ) suffer from the threat of homogeneity and serial monotony ( Harvey, 1989 ) which has afflicted other destinations. Moreover, in the fastpaced global economy, an over-reliance on inflexible, physical spaces of regeneration can leave destinations vulnerable to changing architectural fashions and ambitious competitors. In contrast, events and festivals ' provide a means of adding flexibility to fixed structures, supplying a source of spectacle which adds to the image value of a landmark ' ( Richards and Wilson, 2004 , pp. 1931 -1932 , or of a destination. Events are an attractive proposition for policy makers because they animate objects, they enliven the physical environment and, in their uniquely media-friendly form, they transcend geographical boundaries. Using Chang and Huang's (2005) terminology, the creation of ' eventscapes ' also allows places to produce new symbolic (often contrived) meanings, catering for ' new lifestyle needs ' (p. 276) . For example, reflecting on the regeneration of the Singapore River, they argue that a process of ' creative destruction ' has taken place whereby the neoliberal ideological policy of the city has transformed the environment into ' an image of leisure and entertainment at the waterfront, at the expense of landscapes of past economic and social ills ' (p. 279).

Investing in, and creating, festivals and events is doubly attractive to semi-peripheral cities and states ( Whitson and Horne, 2006 ) as they can use these spectacles to establish themselves on the world map. These events can also give others the impression that a city has an achievement and entrepreneurial orientation, informing potential suitors (e.g. investors) that political leaders are enterprising ( Whitson and Horne, 2006 ) . Festivals and events permit semi-peripheral, or regional powers, to showcase their offerings through the global media to a watching audience, influencing perceptions of place identity -both externally (to the possessors of circulating capital) and internally (to members of the host population).

The strategies discussed thus far only bear fruit because cities now operate in a fluid symbolic realm, where image enhancement carries a value; where the hosting of unique events helps cities express their ' personalities ' and advertise their position on the global stage ( Essex and Chalkley, 1998 ) . Sporting and cultural events also fit with the dominant logic of consumption, providing a ' point of identification ' ( Richards and Wilson, 2004, p. 1932 ) for consumers in a crowded marketplace. In discussing place images and their relationship with events, Richards and Wilson argue that ' events have become a particular valuable form of cultural currency ' (p. 1933) creating a favourable impression of the city or nation as a destination worth visiting. The proliferation of cultural and sporting festivals can be associated with, and supports, similar trends towards a cosmopolitan ethic which defines a neighbourhood or city as vibrant. When contrived or manufactured events are hosted, the façade of the city is invariably dressed is such a way as to communicate specific impressions to target audiences. Events are invariably located in gentrified spaces (or in places which are undergoing gentrification processes) and help choreograph forms of cultural consumption which fit with how the city wishes to be perceived, and with the values of those people it wishes to attract (principally the incoming visitor).

The visual representation of cities is particularly valuable in the dominant symbolic realm of inter-urban place marketing competition. Festivals and events provide city marketers with a plethora of suitable vibrant, colourful and multicultural images which are easily packaged for global circulation. Sydney has its Mardi Gras, Rio exploits the Carnival and London uses Notting Hill Carnival to represent the city in a suitably cosmopolitan way. The process often involves recreating a sanitised historical narrative ( Chang and Huang, 2005 ) , one that the governing agencies can utilise to secure the consent of the host population and which is also, crucially, exploitable as a tourism resource. Internationally renowned festivals, such as Notting Hill Carnival, were often created to address the threat posed by social unrest and riots and were targeted towards a particular ethnic minority group. Today, however, these events are invariably used as a clever marketing tool for civic leaders to showcase their destinations ' cultural diversity. Political decision makers in cities such as Rio and New Orleans have continually reinvented their festivals by globalising local celebrations and selling them as unique attractions via global media networks.

Behind many city event-led strategies sit entrepreneurial governments seeking to attract circulating capital ( Schimmel, 2006 ) which brings the ' footloose consumption ' (Short and Kim, 1999, p. 39) of tourists and conventions to their destinations. In the 1980s and early 1990s, US downtowns were transformed into packaged landscapes ( Boyer, 1992 ) with cultures of consumption being defined by spectacularised urban space ( Hannigan, 1998 ; Harvey, 1989 ) . This format for urban growth is now replicated across the world, with cultural consumption at its core. In developing major festival and events strategies, cities tend to work to a common denominator in respect of the markets being courted. These tend to be high spending tourists, middle-class professionals and potential investors. However, the beneficiaries of these event-led strategies are not always those people to whom the city leaders are democratically accountable. It is to the politics of event-led growth that we now turn.

Of course, in the competition for favourable city status there are invariably winners and losers. As Hall (2006) contends, pursuing a major events strategy may well produce lucrative short term gains for private interests (e.g. construction firms, advertisers or sponsors), but this can bring more negative long term consequences for other public stakeholders. This view is supported by the work of Smith (2002) , MacLeod (2002) and others who consider the changing urban policy landscape to be defined by a dominant neoliberal logic in central and local government towards urban entrepreneurialism subsidised by the public purse, which leaves some stakeholders disempowered from decisionmaking processes and from the promulgated economic rewards.

As control over content and promotion is handed over to multinational conglomerates -the driving force for many large scale events -cities and nations also risk alienating the citizens who are identified as the main beneficiaries. Once sponsors have a stake in an event, the presentation of place for target market consumption is more difficult to manage and control. Hall (2006) identifies the problem as being about a perceived democratic deficit, whereby local citizens are disempowered from their rights in the furtherance of a large scale events policy. Alongside Whitson and Horne (2006) , Zukin (1995) and Richards and Wilson (2004) , Hall (2006) asserts that the dominant discourse of capital accumulation provides an ' ideological justification for place-competitive re-imaging strategies ' (p. 64), and a ' competitiveness hegemony ' (p. 64), which places the logic of capital central to policy discussions and decisions. Gray (2007) labels this the commodification of cultural policy, where decisions on investment in forms of cultural expression are made with economic logic in mind.

In pursuing an events-led regeneration strategy as a means of escaping ' routine identities ' ( Richards and Wilson, 2004, p. 1932 ) , cities also face the threat of reinforcing sameness and cultural uniformity, in creating a ' homogenised uniqueness ' . Furthermore, in following a strategy of creating international (or global) events for touristic consumption, the sharp contrast between the host population and the affluent tourist tribes ( Schimmel, 2006 ) being targeted by city governments may also be thrown into view. For example, Judd (1999) , commenting on the fallout from an overemphasis on attracting tourist dollars in the United States, warns that the islands of affluence created often hide the real material deprivation and cultural exclusion faced by some host residents.

Cultural and sporting events have also been employed as a means of addressing the tensions associated with multiculturalism ( Zukin, 1995 ) expressed in the promotion of ' local ' ethnic uniqueness (Chang, 1999 ). Yet, this again can be understood as an intentional policy response to the threat posed by global (read standardised) culture, using cultural diversity as an instrumental tool to attain non-cultural aims and objectives ( Gray, 2007 ) . The symbolic realm ( Zukin, 1995 ) -a realm of images, signs and spaces in cities -permits the creation of collective identity forms, albeit one frequently mediated by the relationship between ' cultural symbols and entrepreneurial capital ' ( Zukin, 1995, p. 3 ) .

In implementing an events-led strategy with the discourse of enterprise at its core, debate over the appropriate use of contested public space is also brought to the fore. The loss of public space free from the logic of consumption is an issue which has attracted the attention of academic commentators and anti-globalisation prophets in recent years (see Klein, 2001 ; Zukin, 1995 ) . They argue that civic spaces are now colonised by private capital (e.g. sponsors), often at the bequest of the public authorities. There are a number of problems associated with this development when considered in relation to festivals and events and their projected tourism returns. First, as invented or contrived cultural events and festivities colonise civic space (e.g. squares, main avenues) the outcome can be the production of intensely regulated, or gated, communities identified by the presence of security barriers, security guards and the ubiquity of CCTV cameras. Regulatory control over licences, traffic management, environmental pollution and the like ensure that the civic authorities and their (growth) coalition partners can easily manage the cultural offering to produce ' safe ' spaces for tourist consumption. However, this can leave the impression of a public culture controlled and contained, managed and directed for the benefit of the footloose consumer. The implications of what Gray (2007) calls an acceptance of a commodified conception of public policy is that collective space is re-conceptualised as consumable space. In focusing on the Singaporean context for events and festivals over the last decade, the empirical component of this chapter will now review critically the implications of the nation's drive towards the title of ' Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia ' .

Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, the Singaporean government's main aim has been to maintain stability in the areas of economic and environmental development. At the same time, the government has also continued with its drive to reinforce a discourse of national identity through the development of cultural policies based on the promotion of Singapore's shared values. Politically, whilst the city-state is a democracy, the People's Action Party (PAP) has been the only ruling power since it took over the reigns from the colonial governor. Singapore does have a representative democracy and has official United Nations ' recognition as a parliamentary republic. Despite being small in physical size, Singapore has a high population density of approximately 4.5 million people which in the 2000 Census encompassed a multi-ethnic mix of Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9% and others 1. 4% ( www.singstat.com , 2007) .

As a post-colonial power, Singapore has invested heavily in creating a sense of national identity, often using the vehicle of cultural events as a means of integrating the diverse multi-ethnic population along the lines of shared Singaporean values (e.g. National Day celebrations). Indeed, in Singapore, the debate over the need for a strong sense of national identity started at independence from British colonial rule ( Kong, 1999 ) . This movement strengthened in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a larger nation building initiative. The PAP's authoritarian regime ( Tamney, 1996 ) , at least in the first three decades of independent rule, promoted a discourse of national survival and the protection of Asian values in the face of the challenge posed by perceived Western decadence. However, as Singapore rapidly industrialised, the focus of government policy shifted from ' protection ' and the cultivation of shared national values, to the promotion and encouragement of inward investment in entrepreneurial growth strategies. The success of this strategy is illustrated by Singapore's position as the most economically successful country in South East Asia ( Ooi, 2002 ) . Singapore's rapid industrialisation in the 1970s and 1980s was based on the authoritarian regimes ' tight regulation and exploitation of shared national values of hard work and nation before community. However, as strong economic returns were amassed, the attention of government and citizens alike turned from necessity to luxury; from work to leisure and consumption. Through the 1990s and into the new millennium, the government has had to re-evaluate its authoritarian approach as its working population reflect upon the sacrifices made in the name of economic growth. In policy terms the government has created heritage spaces and other ' places to play ' (Judd, 1999) whilst, at the same time, maintaining a ' hegemonic ' control over their population.

However, in recent years, Singapore has also sought to exploit its popularity as a travel destination, even in the face of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) crisis early in the new millennium. Despite this crisis, tourism has evolved into one of its largest industries, with around 9.7 million tourist visits in 2006. The Singaporean government has set a target of at least 17 million visitor arrivals by 2015. The Orchard Road district is the central retail hub in Singapore but, until recently, the city has suffered from a relatively low attractions base. However, this has been addressed by the tourism authorities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority over the past few years. These agencies have been involved in the development of two integrated resorts at Marina South and Sentosa Island, alongside the Singapore Flyer, the Gardens by the Bay, the Singapore River development and the construction of the Double Helix Bridge connecting tourist attractions in and around the packaged landscape of Marina Bay. Whilst the ' builtscapes ' ( Chang and Huang, 2005 ) have been markedly enhanced, this has gone hand-in-hand with the development of the accompanying ' eventscapes ' ( Chang and Huang, 2005 ) . The Great Singapore Sales, Singapore Food Festival, the Singapore River Hong Bao Festival, the Singapore Arts Festival and the Chingay Parade represent opportunities to promote Singapore to regional and international markets. Add to this sporting events, like the Singapore Masters, the Singapore Marathon and the F1 Grand Prix (due to visit Singapore in 2008 for the first time) , and it is clear that Singapore is following a well-trodden path towards the use of events and other cultural forms as valuable commodities worth packaging and selling to the rest of Asia and, increasingly, to wider tourism markets.

In many respects, Singapore has invested in its creative and cultural offering as much out of necessity as of choice. This need is driven by the fact that there are scant natural resources in this island nation, due to its small land mass and high population density. Unlike Korea and Taiwan, Singapore does not have ship building or agricultural activities on which to generate economic growth. However, the ruling party seized the opportunity to use ' cultural maintenance ' to both exercise power over the people and form new markets ( Miller and Yudice, 2002 ) . From the late 1990s onwards, the Singaporean state, through its vehicles of economic development (the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Singaporean Tourism Board), has pursued an ambitious strategy to attract global tourism spend by re-branding Singapore as more than a business travel destination. In recent campaigns, Singapore has been labelled a ' global arts city ' , ' uniquely Singapore ' , an ' eventful city ' and, most recently, the ' Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia ' . It is the final label, the Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia that will occupy our attention in the remainder of this chapter.

In the furtherance of this study on the event and festival strategies being utilised in the promotion of Singapore as a tourist destination, a mixed methods case study approach was employed as it ' allows an investigation to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events ' ( Yin, 1994, p. 3 ). Yin (1994) argues that the benefit of employing a case study approach in the contextual situation of the studied phenomena is integrated into the mode of enquiry, thereby permitting the relationship between context and phenomena to be delineated.

The research strategy underpinning this chapter took two main forms. The substantive phase of fieldwork was gathered by members of the research team during a field trip to Singapore in February 2004. Elite semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from statutory and non-statutory bodies drawn from the tourist sector, from cultural institutions and from enterprise organisations. Interviews were held with individuals from the National Arts Council (2), National Heritage Board (1), Singapore Tourism Board (1), Singapore Sports Council (1) and the International Festival and Events Association (1). The research team intentionally selected interviewees who were in a position to make meaningful comment on strategic issues pertaining to events and festival policy in Singapore, whether in the arts or in sport. Each interviewee was asked questions around key themes concerning the rationale for investment in festivals and events and the policy outcomes sought. Themes included:

• The perception of events and festivities in the tourism product of Singapore now and in the future. • The strategy to make Singapore the Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia.

• The sensitivity of multi-racial diversity issues in promoting events and festivals to tourist audiences. • Placing Singapore on a global map and the importance of local cultural heritage in that positioning. • The role of sports and arts events in making Singapore into a global player for the events sector.

• The marketing of Singapore as the bridge between the East and the West for international events. • The role of local events in forming Singaporean cultural identity and the promotion of this globally.

Given the three-year time lag since the completion of the elite interviews, an extensive desk-based research phase was also undertaken in 2007 to provide an update on the Singaporean context and to investigate the policy rationale behind a significant intensification in Singapore's pursuit of an eventsled strategy since 2004. Documentary analysis was carried out on a number of strategy documents pertaining to economic and tourism policy and on press coverage relating to several of Singapore's renowned cultural and sporting events. The documentary analysis eschewed content analysis techniques in favour of discourse analysis. The former is a quantitative and scientific approach which focuses on the ' direct, deterministic and unilinear link ' within documents, ' from sender to communication to recipient ' ( Jupp and Norris, 1993, p. 38 ) . However, in evaluating the contents of government policy and strategy, it is more meaningful to consider the status of ' official ' documents as socially constructed entities. That withstanding, documents are subject to multiple interpretations both temporally and spatially. For this chapter, a more qualitative, discourse analysis of strategy and policy documents was undertaken, taking into consideration the distinctive political and economic context of Singapore at the time of their publication. When considered alongside the views of the elite interviewees -the ' local interactional context ' ( Flick, 1999, p. 198 ) -a more thorough evaluation of strategic rhetoric and local realities can be accessed.

Leisure and tourism markets represent key strands in STB's strategy to create a unique Destination Singapore brand identity that complements its well established reputation as a leading business destination. The STB has a professed aspiration to establish Singapore as the ' Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia ' (STB, 2007) , attracting ' a big variety of the world's best events year round for visitors to enjoy ' . Working in tandem with the principal economic development agency, the Ministry for Trade and Industry (MITA), the STB provides public subsidy and expert support to incentivise cultural and sporting festivals and events to attract tourist expenditure.

This approach is in line with the city's long term goal of competing on a global level, and in presenting itself as safe Asia ( Foley et al., 2007 ) offering sanitised, hyper Asian experiences alongside dominant Western ideologies of consumption. Events and festivals have become a key plank of the city's global strategy to communicate, or present, an alternative Singaporean identity to the rest of the world. Chang and Huang (2005) suggest that the Singaporean authorities are pursuing a strategy of ' forgetting to remember ' , a ' strategic undertaking that streamlines the past in ways that are coherent to the present and profitable for the future ' (p. 267). Chang and Yeoh (1999) also suggest that Singapore's cultural landscapes are repackaged as marketable commodities. In the case of Singapore's events-led strategy, the ' profitable future ' is build around increasing tourism spend and in creating favourable impressions of Singapore as a distinctive destination to visit -a destination which is progressive and sophisticated, yet still an expression of the Asian soul (e.g. the New Asia marketing campaign). That it is a strategic undertaking that is evidenced in the level of g overnment support which some showcase events receive, whether that be in the arts and cultural area or in relation to large sports events. In many cities government support is forthcoming because of the projected international tourism returns accruable from events, but in recent years Singapore has deliberately altered its strategy to limit the number of events it invests in. As the Singapore Director of the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) acknowledges:

Our strategy is now to improve on developing quality in world class activities that have got tourism appeal (Wong, 4 February 2004, interview) .

In developing events with tourism appeal, the place marketers encourage the promotion of activities which Ooi (2002) argues falsify time and place; events without a past but with an exploitable future. These events overlook some elements of the rich cultural heritage of the city, in favour of marketable commodities. The promotion of what Chang and Yeoh (1999) call inauthentic products is apparent in Singapore's recent successful attempt to attract one of the world's most lucrative transportable sporting events the F1 Grand Prix to its streets in 2008. This event promises to be the first ever night race, designed specifically to exploit television audiences in Asia, Europe and the United States. The Singapore government expects tourism revenues of £33 million from the event (MTI, 2007) ; however, the direct economic benefits are only a small part of the overall strategic rationale for hosting the event in Singapore's recently redeveloped marina area. The principal strategic driver is to re-position Singapore as a leisure and tourism destination in the minds of existing and new markets.

In the intensely competitive Asian region, Singapore is adopting a strategy of urban entrepreneurialism, competitiveness and growth ( Hall, 2006 ) . Driven by its agencies of economic development, the Singaporean state has engaged in a place-competitive re-imaging strategy intended to produce a ' vibrant global city that is abuzz with high quality entertainment and events ' (MITA, 2007) . To further emphasise the strategic importance of this flagship event to the city, the STB has made a commitment to fund 60% of the costs from a Tourism Development Fund, complementing private investments. This represents an example of public and private growth coalitions working in tandem to showcase an area's unique facilities and attractions, as a means of gaining valuable coverage in the global media complex.

Singapore's events-related investment is not, however, restricted to the realm of mediasport events. The arts and cultural field is also following what Gray (2007) calls a commodified conception of public policy, the instrumental use of culture for non-cultural outcomes in its adoption of flagship arts events (e.g. Singapore Arts Festival) to promote Singapore to a watching global audience. As the Director of Programme Development at the National Arts Council suggests:

Our mission is to develop Singapore into a global arts city. So that's the way we are and so creating these events will help to put us on the world map … that sense of positioning ourselves and how we make strategic positioning of Singapore … how we can use the arts to give Singapore an identity and an image which I think reflects us (Lee, 4 February 2004, interview) .

Much of the strategic rhetoric in Singaporean policy is concerned with creating distinction within an increasingly competitive global marketplace, capitalising on a (constructed) shared heritage, unravelled cultural diversity and outstanding infrastructural hardware. As the Director of Special Projects at the STB indicates:

We would use events as a main hook, a main magnet -we have to differentiate ourselves … so what we look for as strategy for Singapore is events. It is events which actually leaven what you call the bread. The bread could be baking with shopping, with a lot of lifestyle activities, but it is events which have a fantastic pulling power (Khor, 6 February 2004, interview) .

Singapore is certainly using ' unique ' events to attract attention from key markets as a means of increasing its levels of tourist visitation towards its 2012 target of doubling visitor arrivals to 15 million a year (Tourism Working Group Report, 2005) . The government's investment in attracting large scale regional and international sports events (e.g. Singapore Open Golf, Lexus Cup Golf, Singapore Masters Golf, AVIVA Singapore Open Badminton, Singapore Marathon) has recently been supported by the construction of the Singapore Sports Hub, the ' hardware ' (Wong, 4 February 2004, interview) , which is described as ' A unique cluster development of integrated world-class sports facilities within the city … it will play a critical role in accelerating the development of the sports industry ' (Singapore Sports Council, 2007) . Singapore clearly wishes to enhance its level of status and prestige, giving visitors a reason to identify with the city. As the STB Chief Executive, Lim Neo Chian, illustrates with respect to the Grand Prix, Singapore wants to position itself as a place to ' be in and be seen in ' (STB press release, 2007) . This further reinforces Richards and Wilson's (2004) view of the cultural currency of events in creating a favourable impression of the city or nation as a desirable destination. In referring to the importance of the Chingay festival in promoting Singapore to external markets, the Director of IFEA emphasises the:

Marketing value of this event being broadcast in Portugal, for example, and the eyeballs that see Singapore as a happening and aspirational place -it is imprinted on this individual's mind -one day I would like to go to Singapore (Wong, 4 February 2004, interview) .

Using hallmark or special events to manage impressions of a destination can further enhance the existing product offering, whether cultural, sporting or business. Returning to the Singapore Grand Prix, the STB believes that its presence in Singapore will create ' positive energy ' , unrivalled ' exposure ' and an opportunity to showcase the city's physical, cultural, sporting, artistic and historical landmarks. Events provide an unparalleled immediacy of message which makes them attractive to place marketers:

Branding brings in immediate returns in terms of media attention, global media attention. So we are very conscious of the branding potential of ourselves as an eventful city. But now we are going to be more strategic and discriminating in picking up the ones (events) that will attract different markets (Khor, 6 February 2004, interview) .

What is apparent in this strategy is that the government agencies are now discriminating between those events which have local value and meaning and those which will bring exposure to new audiences and lucrative broadcasting revenues. At this time, the agencies responsible for economic development are concentrating on exploiting the potential of the latter, sometimes at the expense of events with significant national (and regional) appeal:

You have … events like table tennis and badminton which we are actually quite good at, in Asian culture we are quite good at. We have opportunities to win Gold medals at Olympics or Asian Games, but from the commercial infrastructure perspectives it is limited because the sports are not really sexy -there isn't enough appeal (Khoo, 4 February 2004, interview) .

In this example, decisions over the support for specific sports events are made on the basis of commercial appeal and not national participation targets. This reflects the dominance of neoliberal entrepreneurial strategies and their impact on other public stakeholders within the Singaporean context. The Singapore Sports Council interviewee (Khoo, 4 February, interview) indicated a tension between the needs of the sports development agenda and the economic imperatives underpinning the international events strategy. The logic of capital certainly informs sport and arts policy in Singapore, but with low levels of expressed discontent a feature of Singaporean society, the outcomes of the policy drive are perhaps less noticeable than in other cities (e.g. Toronto).

Another noticeable feature of Singapore's event-led strategy is the way in which the promotion of indigenous cultural events (e.g. Chingay, River Hong Bao Festival and Taipusam Festival) comes together with world-class sporting spectaculars to symbolise the notion of a ' New Asia ' brand, where ' East meets West, Asian heritage blends with modernity and sophistication, and old world charm combined with new world vision ' (MITA, 2002) . Chang and Huang (2005) argue that the creation of the New Asia brand in Singapore is tied up with re-fashioning the built environment (e.g. the river), the staging of events and activities (e.g. the F1 Grand Prix) and the establishment of public art installations. They also see this move as reflecting wider state attempts to create new memories and identities for Singaporememories befitting its aspiration to acquire and sustain global city status through Destination Singapore. Returning to MITA's version of the New Asia Brand, the F1 Grand Prix epitomises the ' West ' , ' modernity ' and the ' new world vision ' . The street circuit is designed specifically to open up key landmarks to media view, animating the city's wider cultural heritage attractions to the watching world. In the Singapore context, like elsewhere, events operate as brand vehicles employed to communicate visual and audio messages via the symbolic realm of inter-urban place marketing competition.

However, despite Singapore's apparent success in attracting the attention of the world's arts and sporting glitterati in the form of the Singapore Arts Festival and the F1 Grand Prix, there are clear dangers associated with a rapid rise to prominence. Given the earlier discussion of the dangers of serial monotony and homogenised uniqueness, it is important to subject Singapore's events-led strategy to further critical scrutiny on the basis of its ongoing sustainability. In interviews with key policy makers, it was apparent that there is some concern associated with a shift away from a mainly local or regional events policy, driven by the demands of national unity towards a more abstract, place branding strategy. Chang and Yeoh (1999) warn of the creation of inauthenticity and the Sports Council representative reinforces this view in the following commentary:

I think the first priority is to understand that events must be local first before you go outside. If you have a 50,000 seater and you can only fill it with 5,000 people even though it has got massive international appeal you are really losing out because international appeal takes time to build. I think for Singapore, six to eight major events probably is just right for us and you can underpin that with a whole group of different events that can bring the vibrancy of a community (Khoo, 4 February 2004, interview).

This response was also repeated in interviews with the cultural agencies and with representatives of the STB. However, whilst the global place wars continue apace, it is unlikely that Singapore's agents of economic development will alter their internationalisation strategies in the face of the inevitable global forces which require cities around the world to engage in interdependent transnational relationships with other aspiring contenders. Singapore is often described as a ' hub ' for a variety of business and travel processes, but it is now striving to exploit its events and entertainment offering to gain recognition as a tourism destination in its own right rather than as a stopover on the journey to Australia.

Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, the Singaporean government has undertaken a series of national unity projects designed to secure the active consent of its population around the values of hard work and thrift. However, with its rapid industrial and subsequent postindustrial growth, Singapore has had to embrace the challenge of securing the valuable mobile capital of investors and tourists in the face of increasingly competitive global place wars. Since the turn of the new millennium, Singapore has invested heavily in an events-led strategy designed to secure its position as the Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia. In its use of sporting and cultural events to re-brand itself as a vibrant destination, Singapore has sought to animate its existing attractions and landscapes to communicate positive cosmopolitan credentials to regional and international audiences. As part of this strategy, Singapore has invested significant public funds to support infrastructural developments and bids for internationally recognised sporting events which bring immediate symbolic returns, in terms of the communication of managed images through the global media complex. The forthcoming Singapore F1 Grand Prix is the vehicle on which Singapore hopes to build an international reputation as a leisure and entertainment hub -one worth visiting as a destination in its own right. The brand identity transmitted in the interface between traditional cultural events and manufactured sporting spectacles is inseparable from the notion of Singapore as New Asia -a city in which tradition and modernity sit as one alongside multi-ethnic diversity and globally recognisable products and services. The old and the new, the authentic and the contrived are immutable features of the Singaporean events offering. However, should the balance of power shift too far towards a reliance on disconnected and deterritorialised media events, then Singapore may be relying on an aspirational Event and Entertainment Capital of Asia brand built more on the pursuance of symbolic identity than on material logic.

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Deep play: Sports mega events and urban social conditions in the USA

Globalization and the City

A new phase in the competition for the Olympic gold: The London and New York bids for the 2012 Games

Singapore Tourism web site

Three Consortiums Short-listed for Singapore Sports Hub Project

New globalism, new urbanism: Gentrification as global urban strategy

The Struggle Over Singapore's Soul

Underestimated costs and overestimated benefits? Comparing the outcomes of sports mega-events in Canada and Japan

Globalising Singapore: Debating transnational flows in the city

Case Study Research: Design and Methods