Zee TV and the Creation of Hindi Media Communities in Singapore
Access Provided by National University of Singapore at 11/02/11 1:28AM GMT
SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia Vol. 25, No. 2 (2010), pp. 262–80
DOI: 10.1355/sj25-2e
© 2010 ISEAS
ISSN 0217-9520 print / ISSN 1793-2858 electronic
Research Notes and Comments
Zee TV and the Creation of Hindi Media
Communities in Singapore
Arunajeet KAUR and Faizal YAHYA
Indian communities in Singapore, especially of non-Tamil sub-ethnicity, have received renewed impetus to replenish their cultural ties with India as a homeland with the advent of Hindi Cable channels such as Zee
TV, Sony Entertainment, and Star Plus. The availability of cable networks in the early 1990s and the proliferation of Hindi media channels have led to a renaissance of Hindi culture, fashion, cuisine, custom, and ritual among the Indian communities in Singapore. Timed against the background of India Rising, this has also fueled the impetus for Hindi speaking communities in Singapore to travel back to India to witness locations that have been included in the shooting of soaps, shop for specific fashion items introduced via the cable, participate in pilgrimage locations, and donate towards political and social causes that affect
India. The Hindi cable channels have created new diasporic spheres that facilitate a sense of belonging with the homeland which was previously unimaginable. Keywords: cable TV, diaspora, Hindi, India, India Rising.
Background to Local Broadcasting of Indian Programmes and
Hindi Speaking Indian Communities
Indians form the third significant ethnic community within the multiracial fabric of Singapore. They constitute 9.2 per cent of the Singaporean population out of which 75 per cent are Tamils.
Although Hindu influences have been evident in South East Asia since ancient times, Indians are not regarded as indigenous people of
05 Sojv25n2 RN&Comments.indd 262
9/27/10 7:44:57 PM
Zee TV and the Creation of Hindi Media Communities
SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia Vol. 25, No. 2 (2010), pp. 262–80
DOI: 10.1355/sj25-2e
© 2010 ISEAS
ISSN 0217-9520 print / ISSN 1793-2858 electronic
Research Notes and Comments
Zee TV and the Creation of Hindi Media
Communities in Singapore
Arunajeet KAUR and Faizal YAHYA
Indian communities in Singapore, especially of non-Tamil sub-ethnicity, have received renewed impetus to replenish their cultural ties with India as a homeland with the advent of Hindi Cable channels such as Zee
TV, Sony Entertainment, and Star Plus. The availability of cable networks in the early 1990s and the proliferation of Hindi media channels have led to a renaissance of Hindi culture, fashion, cuisine, custom, and ritual among the Indian communities in Singapore. Timed against the background of India Rising, this has also fueled the impetus for Hindi speaking communities in Singapore to travel back to India to witness locations that have been included in the shooting of soaps, shop for specific fashion items introduced via the cable, participate in pilgrimage locations, and donate towards political and social causes that affect
India. The Hindi cable channels have created new diasporic spheres that facilitate a sense of belonging with the homeland which was previously unimaginable. Keywords: cable TV, diaspora, Hindi, India, India Rising.
Background to Local Broadcasting of Indian Programmes and
Hindi Speaking Indian Communities
Indians form the third significant ethnic community within the multiracial fabric of Singapore. They constitute 9.2 per cent of the Singaporean population out of which 75 per cent are Tamils.
Although Hindu influences have been evident in South East Asia since ancient times, Indians are not regarded as indigenous people of
05 Sojv25n2 RN&Comments.indd 262
9/27/10 7:44:57 PM
Zee TV and the Creation of Hindi Media Communities
References: Steven Vertoves and Robin Cohen. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 1999. Dudrah, Rajinder. “ZEE TV ”. South Asian Popular Culture 3, no. 1 (April 2005): 33–47. Gillispie, Marie. Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change. London: Routledge, 1994.