TIONG

BAHRU
SOCIAL
CLUB

& Platos
The
Parker Hemmingsen
Republic PHI240-N882
 THEME
I will be using the trailer for TIONG
BAHRU SOCIAL CLUB.

I will use the concept of

supererogation to demonstrate how
social media, pushes people to
perform their lives, to pursue
perceived happiness rather than
sincere happiness.
HISTORY
Plato was a philosopher most known
for his dialogues, academy, and
mentor. Plato began his life as a
philosopher writing the ideas of his
mentor Socrates, who famously
believed an idea died as soon as it
was written down. After Socrates
passed away Plato began his
academy, hoping to teach the The Republic can be seen as a response the the
Athenian youth. He also began writing Execution of Socrates, who was democratically p
some of his best known dialogues, to death because he allegedly didn't worship
typically using Socrates as a Athenian gods. The Republic covers a variety of
mouthpiece for his ideas, including the topics, but its two main ideas are to design a
subject of this presentation, The
theoretically perfect society, and to lay bare the
Republic.
problems with Athenian democracy.
ARGUMENT
Plato critique of democracy states
among many other things, that people
tend to act as a mob rather than use
their critical thinking when presented
with majority wins style decision
making. It also states that mass appeal
becomes more valued then practical
or creative skill, when the only
requirement for success is popularity.
Plato also writes that true morality is of a world underneath what we can perceive,
called the world of forms. It's pure because its separate from the reductions and
dramatics of morality taught through storytelling. This is also relevant both performing
and consuming social media involves blending and flattening entertainment, news,
gossip, social movements and education together to fit the medium of any given social
media.
 COUNTERARGUMENT
“He equated the (demos) with the lowest, emotional,
unthinking part of man's three level soul. The city
should be run by the ‘guardians’, the ‘philosopher –
kings’, who have perfected the highest, rational level
of the soul.” (Taplin, 1989, p.207)

Plato's theoretical perfect society was an oligarchy

with a senate of philosophers, part of his reasoning
for this is that ruling is a skill, and ‘the people’ are not
experts in this field. The people, however, do
generally know what's best for themselves, even if
its short sighted and influenced by populaisim.
Democracy also allows for diverse viewpoints and
most importantly presents a flexible and evolving
system of governance rather then the static ideal of
Plato's Republic.
In regards to democratic social media, Its the most powerful
communication tool ever invented, its provided community and
connection to millions while also allowing the rapid dissemination of
Diverse perspectives and grassroots movements. It's also a fact of life
at this point, it's already ingrained itself into our everyday lives, and
could host more helpful and substantial content once its matured
further. According to Statistica, in 2021 22% of internet users were
18-24 years old, it's not a stretch to claim that most internet users are
children. Therefore it makes sense that the content of the internet
would cater to children, and once the demographics of the internet
balance out, some of the social tensions it causes will be easeed.
THEME CONNECTION
TIONG BAHRU SOCIAL CLUB Is the story of Ah Bee an
almost 30 year old service employee, who finds himself
the latest ‘happiness agent’ at the Tiong Bahru Social
Club, a community-living experiment where decisions
are driven by an algorithm that measures happiness, all
in service of the communities overall happiness index.

The trailer has very heavily theming around the ideas of

algorithm mandated happiness, and especially
performance, there are several shots of people forcing
smiles and laughs. The community also has a ranking
system among its individuals, we see Ah Bee at number
one despite the clear indication through film language
and his lines that he not only struggles with his
happiness but also lies about his happiness.
Ah Bee narrates some lines throughout the trailer “modern society
presents us with too many options, but they are all an illusion.” as well
as “-Are you happy? How can you tell?”. The former is in reference to
the fact that once doesn't find happiness through social media or a
competition or any of the other ways we are told, but through self
reflection. The latter is a commentary on how difficult it can be to
distinguish between performing happiness in a social or online setting
and actually being happy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dunne, Luke. “What Is Plato’s Theory of Forms?” The Collector,
17 Jan. 2024,
www.thecollector.com/what-is-plato-theory-of-forms/.

Jones, Liam. “Why Plato Hated Democracy.” Medium, A

Philosopher’s Stone, 23 Feb. 2022,
medium.com/the-philosophers-stone/why-plato-hated-demo
cracy-3221e7dcd96e.

Taplin, Oliver. Greek Fire. Cape, 1989.

Windram, Dominic. Can Plato’s Argument against Democracy Be

Answered? By ...,
oxfordphilsoc.org/Documents/TalbotPrize/2021_T3a.pdf.
Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

“Tiong Bahru Social Club (Trailer) - in Cinemas 10 December.”

YouTube, YouTube, 3 Nov. 2020,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z18-VcO2me0.

Petrosyan, Ani. “Global Internet Users Age Distribution 2021.”

Statista, 23 Feb. 2023,
www.statista.com/statistics/272365/age-distribution-of-intern
et-users-worldwide/.