Fabricated Happiness: A smokey delusion of freedom in a nanny state

Jessica Jolin Ho / A0127409E Design Thesis Journal Masters of Architecture / National University of Singapore

Design Thesis Journal submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE at the National University of Singapore, Academic Year 2018/2019, Semester 1&2.

Under the supervision of Dr Zhang Ye

Table of contents

I

Introduction 6 Problem statement 6 Thesis question 6 Hypothesis

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Social stability and top-down governance 7 Social stability in Singapore 12 Top-down governance as a fool-proof approach

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Drugs 15 Drugs in society 24 Negative impacts of drugs

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Design Intent 27 The ulterior motive: Pacification, reprogramming, and preoccupation 29 Drug consumption as a solution for Singapore’s declining global competitiveness 33 Drugs as a tool of governance

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VI

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Controlled consumption References Appendices

52 Drugs of study

Table of contents

VII

Setting the context 61 Introduction

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Spectulating the future 63 Drug effects

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Situating the critique 65 Mediacorp

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Site Consequences

71 Competition 75 Mass production of people 77 Surveillance 79 Class distinction 81 Veiled public perception

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Delusion

I Introduction INTRODCUTION

"The view that 'the Government knows best'... is increasingly challenged in today's world� said Peter Ho, former head of the civil service in Singapore (Yong 2017).

Singapore’s one-party top-down governance structure has allowed for the nation to enjoy substantial levels of social stability for the past half decade since its independence from Malaysia in 1965. This could be attributed to their earlier ruthless efforts at enforcing policies and introducing systems in order to regulate and shape society into one of order. However, as social values shift with increasing westernization and liberalization of the younger generation, the role and power of the governing party becomes increasingly challenged. With increasing education levels of the people, the new generation now demands more transparency and more of their leaders.

The ease and possibility of anonymity with technology and social media, coupled with increasing liberal views amongst the youths, people are beginning to find fault in the government and are no longer afraid of expressing their views. Due to the potential reach of social media and the Internet, the voices of a few eventually resonate with the majority, causing widespread discontent amongst the people. If the state were to tighten its grip on society, one could draw parallels to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union respectively, such in which led to their ultimate demise. If control were to be loosened, unpredictability and volatility would result. How then can the Singapore government effectively reinstate social stability in the country? Perhaps the answer would lie in pharmacology.

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I Introduction

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Problem statement

With rising levels of discontent amongst the people, how can the Singapore government reinstate social stability in the country.

Thesis question

How will architecture be transformed by its adoption of new roles in order to aid the use of drugs as a tool of governance, which will serve to reinstate social stability in the country?

Hypothesis

The controlled consumption of drugs can assist the government in fabricating happiness, allowing them to establish control over the people, and thus being able to reinstate social stability.

II Social stability & top-down governance SOCIAL STABILITY IN SINGAPORE A result of top-down governance

Singapore — a nanny state

Since independence, the strong arm of the state has been instrumental in shaping modern Singapore — an economic powerhouse and a well organized cosmopolitan city, boasting low crime rates as well as a business friendly and a vibrant cultural environment. Such has been made possible with the state’s high investments in its population — where citizens possess high rates of literacy and obedience. The Singapore government with its proactive and hands-on approach, is widely known to the global world as the “nanny state”, being involved in all aspects of the life of its citizenry (Kuah 2018).

After World War 2 and the separation from Malaysia in 1965, unemployment was widespread, population growth rate topped global charts (NLB 2007), and the Singapore’s economy was suffering as trade with Indonesia, a key trading partner, was significantly reduced as a result of the Indonesian- Malaysian Konfrontasi from 1963 to 1966. In addition, the withdrawal of British military forces from Singapore between 1968 and 1971 (Muazy & Milne 2002, 102) removed 10 percent of existing employment opportunities, and resulted in the loss of 20 percent of Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) which was previously generated by British military expenditure (Leong 2011, 22-31). Thus, in order to spur economic development, the government saw the need for a stable society and low crime which would in turn give confidence to foreign investors, who would generate employment and prosperity in the country (Public Service Division 2015).

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Happiness and social stability

In theory, the happier people are, the less likely they are to complain and find fault in their government, and the less likely conflict and social instability will arise. The affective theory of happiness holds that happiness is a reflection of how well we generally feel. In this view one does not ‘calculate’ happiness, but rather ‘infers’ it — the typical heuristic being “I feel good most of the time, hence I must be happy” (Schwartz & Strack 1991).

The level of happiness one feels could be a direct reflection of how well one perceives themselves to be doing. Affects are an integral part of one’s adaptive repertoire and seem to be linked to the gratification of human needs, which are vital requirements for survival, such as eating, bonding and exercise. As such, a positive mood signals that all needs are sufficiently met at the moment (Veenhoven 2006). This draws parallels with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. As such, if one is struggling to meet their physiological needs, then they are unlikely to intrinsically peruse safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. This means that in order for motivation to occur at the next level, each level must be satisfied within the individual themselves. Each of these individual levels contains a certain amount of internal sensation that must be met in order for an individual to complete their hierarchy (Deckers 2018).

II Social stability & top-down governance

Physiological needs are considered the main physical requirements for human survival i.e. universal human needs.

Thus, humans are compelled to fulfill these physiological needs first in order to peruse intrinsic satisfaction on a higher level. If these needs are not achieved, it leads to an increase in displeasure within an individual. In return, when individuals feel this increase in displeasure, the motivation to decrease these discrepancies increases (Deckers 2018).

“There seems to be a certain sourness on the ground, with more grumbling than usual about issues especially to do with the government,” - Han Fook Kwang, Straits Times editor-at-large Straits Times, August 26, 2018.

Mr Han attributes these rising levels of discontent to “the clash between longstanding views and shifting norms”. Many believe that this discontentment is a result of the increasing disconnection between governors and the governed — an “elitist government out of touch”. Mr Han also notes that currently, various groups in the population fail to demonstrate the same respect that earlier generations of leaders enjoyed, ultimately “making it difficult for the government to win hearts and minds” (Han 2018).

So far, despite Singapore being consistently ranked amongst the lowest in studies and surveys of global and regional happiness levels (Zolkifi 2014; Chua 2016), the Singapore government has been able to establish a reasonable level of social stability in the country through policies and more deterrent means (see section 3.1.2) made possible with their top-down structure. However, if such measures intensify past a certain level of tolerance, the people will begin to revolt, resulting in social instability and a loss of control for the ruling party. As Singapore follows a democratic system, according to the constitution of Singapore, the parliament has to be reelected every 5 years. Thus, for the ruling party to sustain power in the long run, unhappiness amongst the governed needs to be addressed, and deterrent measures re-looked.

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Current policies

The government currently has implemented policies and schemes which seek to help Singaporeans meet the first 2 tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (i.e. basic needs). These schemes which are explored under the headings of housing, work, and safety, are also used to help the government drive other social agendas.

Housing: Public housing in Singapore has been deemed unprecedentedly successful in both efficiency of providing mass housing, but also in continuing to house over 82% of the nation’s resident population since the 1960s (HDB 2015: 6). As such, every housing block may be said to contain a microcosm of the nation (Goh 2003). The ultimate goal of the Housing Development Board (HDB) was to build affordable public housing for the majority of the population in a bid to resolve the perennial problem of housing shortage. Thus, the flats utilize cheaper and more cost efficient construction techniques such as prefabrication and modular building components in order to maintain low prices, keeping affordability high. Over time, there has also been an increasing emphasis on community building and integration3. This has manifested itself in various policies including prerequisites to buy new flats and the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).

Work: Singapore adopts meritocracy which is often seen as the country’s main principle of governance4. This provides everyone the opportunity to succeed based on the same tests, where talent is recognized based on nondiscriminatory challenges. This system produced a large middle class by facilitating upward social mobility for most. Singapore is also noted for having a lack of minimum wage policy, which serves as a broader strategy to improve productivity. This issue to the state having the view that such a policy would compromise the principles of preserving Singapore’s strong work ethic and culture of self-reliance (MOM 2011).

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Safety and security: As part of Singapore’s Smart Nation Sensor Platform project, 110,000 lamp posts are fitted with a network of wireless sensors, monitors, cameras, and facial recognition technology in order to improve services and and safety levels across the country. In addition to harsh laws and the use of capital punishment, Singapore has been deemed a ‘fine’ city i.e. where fines are often imposed on even the smallest of offenses, all in which serve to deter the people for committing criminal or socially irresponsible acts, thus allowing Singapore to enjoy overall low crime rates.

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14 TOP-DOWN GOVERNANCE A fool-proof approach

A closer look at current policies

Despite efforts to meet the basic needs of Singaporeans, unintended by-products generated by the policies have at times created discontentment amongst the people.

Housing: Throughout history, the HDB has evolved from an architectural provision into a more sophisticated ideological instrument of the state. (Chee 2017; Chua 1997; Clancey 2003; Goh 2003; Kong and Yeoh 2003; Tremewan 1994). Efforts to modernize Singapore ultimately involved the development of a complex and fine-tuned state-sponsored apparatus — the public housing flat as a technology of governance — that enmeshed architecture and urban planning with public policy, finance, legalities and the reinforcement of societal norms around marriage and procreation. (Chee 2017).

Currently, legal ownership and tenancy rules of a new HDB flat are structured around ‘eligibility’ requirements, such as the establishment of a traditional nuclear family. Such is said to reinforce social stability by strengthening the family unit which is deemed the basic building block of society (Kuah 2018; Straits Times 1989). However, despite multiple permitted combinations of what constitutes a ‘nuclear family’ under the HDB’s rules, geographer Natalie Oswin notes that the HDB’s pro-family arrangements ultimately causes many others to fall through the cracks of policy making. Such include unmarried persons, widowed/divorced persons without children, and single parents who have never been married (Oswin 2010, 257).

Reinforcing the importance of social stability, the government introduced the Ethnic Integration Policy (see appendix 7.3.1. for details) in light of concerns over the formation of racial enclaves within public housing estates following the 1988 general elections (Parliamentary Debates Singapore, 1989a, col. 652).

While the EIP has a laudable policy objective of ensuring people of various races live together, meaningful interaction cannot be purposively effected by legislative or policy fiat. Although 75% of public housing neighborhoods are racially balanced, the quality of interracial ties and the lack of interracial interaction are matters of concern. This was vividly demonstrated in the

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heightened mutual suspicion and distrust between Malay Muslims and non- Malays (especially the ethnic Chinese) over the arrests of Muslim Singaporean members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an alleged Al-Qaeda-affiliated radical Islamist terrorist network, in Singapore in 2002. (Ministry of Home Affairs 2003) Work: Despite having the intention of promoting social mobility and hard work, the meritocratic system in Singapore seems to have created structural and cultural conditions that reproduce inequality, perpetuating existing class divides (see Tan 2018 for details). A lack of minimum wage in Singapore has also resulted in approximately 30,000 workers in Singapore who continue to earn less than $1000 a month in Singapore in other industries such as F&B, retail, hospitality and logistics (Tan 2014).

Safety and security: With the ubiquity of surveillance cameras possessing facial recognition technology, issues on privacy are sure to arise. Also, with the perception that the state literally ‘always watching’, personal freedom is being suppressed.

The unhappiness generated as a consequence of loopholes in the above policies have been suppressed using ‘deterrent’ policies and laws in order to maintain social stability. Such include the Public Entertainments Act and the Public Order Act which make it illegal to hold public demonstrations and cause-related events without a valid license. If such license is granted, one would still have to confine their demonstrations to the Speaker’s Corner in Hong Lim Park. Even without a license, one is required to register their demonstration with the National Parks Board before proceeding. In addition, Singapore’s Defamation Act allows one to sue another party for writing or saying things that cause ‘harm’ to you, especially when those words have been read or heard by many right0thinking people. Even though this can be used to protect one’s personal interest, it also puts limits on what the public can say about the government especially on online platforms. In 2015, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sued blogger Roy Ngerng under the Defamation Act for ‘cynical defamation’ on his blog (Sim 2015).

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These policies even though effective in reducing the amount of publicly expressed criticism towards the government, could be said to further stir negative sentiments towards the state for limiting one’s freedom of speech. Intensifying control over the people would only serve to heighten this, which may even escalate to a revolt, threatening social stability in Singapore.

The fall of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany respectively are testament to this. However, relaxing control to give the people more space to express their thoughts would yield highly unpredictable results even though such efforts could be applauded by the public as a step towards a more free society. As such, this thesis proposes the use of drugs to deal with the negative emotions incurred, which were a result of the shortcomings of policies that attempted to increase happiness by providing for the basic needs of the people.

III Drugs DRUGS IN SOCIETY

Since antiquity, drugs have been tightly woven into the fabric of society (Gray 2015). Over the course of history, people living among other people in society have used drugs for a variety of reasons including medicinal or therapeutic purposes (Chou et al. 2009; Kalso & Vainio 1990; Mather 1995; Reisman 2011; World Health Organization 2007) or self-centered purposes of comfort, contentment, and pleasure (Goode 2012; Huxley 1954; Marlatt 1996; O’Malley & Valverde 2004; Weil 1972).

This thesis takes an interest in psychotropic drugs, specifically Cannabis (see appendix 7.4.1) and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (see appendix 7.4.2).

Cannabis is a psychoactive drug existing as a fast-growing, flowering plant native to Asia and the Indian subcontinent (The Third Wave 2018). It is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, with the highest rates of usage occurring in Iceland, the United States and Nigeria, and is currently classified as a schedule 1 drug under US federal law, albeit being legal for recreation use in 9 states and many more for medical use. It is also classified as a schedule 1 drug in Singapore. Throughout history, Cannabis has been used as medicine, for spiritual purposes, as rope, nets, canvas sails, and cloth. Currently, it is mainly known for its pain-relieving, therapeutic, and mind-altering properties (drugsand.me n.d.). It is not possible to lethally overdose on cannabis (Wing 2018).

LSD is a psychoactive and psychedelic drug uthat was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann. It was most popular in the 1960s to 1980s and is widely associated with the countercultural revolution. It is currently classified as a schedule 1 drug under US federal law, but classified as a schedule 3 drug in Singapore. LSD was mainly used as a recreational drug, but was also used in psychiatry to enhance psychotherapy known as psychedelic therapy in the 1960s and 60s. It is most known for its euphoric and hallucinatory properties, and is said to take the user on a ‘trip’ to the deepest parts of human consciousness (drugsand.me n.d.). It is not possible to lethally overdose on LSD (see Fig.1 in 'Negative impacts of drugs').

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Drugs & creativity

The use of drugs as a means to facilitate creativity can be traced back to antiquity. In Central America, stone sculptures from 1500 B.C. have been found that portray hallucinogenic mushrooms from whose stems emerge the heads of gods. Much of the case and rock art of southwestern United States has been attributed to medicine men working under the influenced of psychedelic plants (Krippner 1985). Creativity can be defined as the ability to generate novel actions or ideas, and is a precursor to innovation (Bateson & Martin 2013). Creativity is an abstract concept that is difficult to quantify, making it difficult to empirically and statistically justify ‘increased creativity’. Since renaissance times, creativity has often been measured in terms of examining the output of ‘creators’ (Sessa 2008). However, it is difficult to define objective measures for the process of creativity – especially when taking into account the subjective nature of an individual’s aesthetic appreciation of a particular creation.

Zinkhan (1993) argues that creativity by definition defies measurement as all tests have predetermined correct answers, and originality is a requirement of creativity – therefore, any ‘correct’ answer in a creativity test could not be creative. Thus, results often merely suggest an implied increase in creativity felt by the user, or through specifically designed response tests.

The relationship between drugs and increased creativity can be drawn from three bases of literature — studies on divergent and convergent thinking, anecdotal evidence, and neurological research.

Divergent and convergent thinking: Creativity is not a unitary function but consists of a number of subcomponents (Wallas 1926) that provide different, to some degree opposing cognitive challenges. J. P. Guilford’s (1956) distinguishes between two styles of thought which he described as diverging and converging.

Convergent thinking requires identification of a single solution to a well-defined problem (Mednick 1962), and divergent thinking requires the collection of many possible solutions to a loosely defined problem (Guilford 1967). It has been argued that convergent thinking draws more on the ability to focus exclusively on a given problem (persistence), while divergent

III Drugs

thinking draws more on cognitive flexibility (Lippelt et al. 2014).

However, it is important to point out that all available creativity tasks require the integration of both of these abilities to some degree (Prochazkova 2018). In a recent study by Prochazkova (2018) which sought to explore the effects of microdosing psychedelics on creative problem-solving, it was found that through the alternate uses task (AUT) test, the drugs increased one’s divergent idea generation as evidenced by increased fluency, flexibility and originality scores. The results also saw an increase in convergent thinking through the picture concept task (PCT) test. Thus, the paper concludes that taking microdoses (a mere fraction of normal doses) of psychedelic substances, can help improve creativity and problem-solving performance, potentially through targeting serotonergic 5- HT2A receptors (Vollenweider and Kometer 2010) and promoting cognitive flexibility, crucial to creative thinking (for more details see Prochazkova 2018).

Anecdotal evidence: During the 1960s and 1970s, the creativeness of a substantial body of Western art and music was attributed to psychedelic drugs such as LSD. In the realm of science, Nobel prize winning chemist Kary Mullis attributed his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to the usage of LSD and was quoted saying “would I have invented PCR if I hadn’t taken LSD? I seriously doubt it” (Sessa 2008). Between 1954 and 1962, American psychiatrist Oscar Janiger organized many experiments to examine the effects of LSD on creatives. In one particular experiment, he gave the drug to a mixed group of 60 visual artists. Their outputs were later analyzed by a professor of art history. It was then concluded via qualitative reports from the artists, who without exception, reported the LSD experience to be artistically and personally profound (Bateson & Martin 2013). In another study involving 27 individuals working in professions which required some degree of creativity, the participants were required to submit a written account of their experience within a week of the drug session. In further interviews 8 weeks later, all the participants reported that their performance had improved and how the drug had enhanced their creative process (Harman, McKim & Mogar, 1966).

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Neurological research: One of the most famous recent studies into psychedelics (Carhart-Harris 2016) examined the effects LSD had on the brains of volunteers, using high-resolution brain imaging. One of the findings of this study was that LSD (and by extension, other classic psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms) have a dramatic effect on the default mode network, or DMN. This is a system in the brain that is responsible for self-reflection, holding an important role in our everyday consciousness. When we take high doses of psychedelics, the control of the DMN on consciousness is released, allowing us to break free from typical thought patterns. It is likely that it is this disruption of the DMN that causes typical feelings of ‘ego dissolution’ when one takes high doses of psychedelics, as studies suggest that it is the DMN that controls our sense of self and identity.

Growing scientific evidence suggests that the DMN may have a role in various mental health conditions, and may also suppress our natural creativity. Psychedelics can release our minds from the rigorous control of the DMN, offering us an opportunity for therapy and creativity. Releasing the control of the DMN allows our brain to have more entropy (Lebedev 2016) — where more unusual connections can be made between areas of the brain that are normally kept separate. According to the ‘entropic brain’ theory, psychedelics allow us to reach states of consciousness more similar to dreaming and creative thinking. From existing research available, it is concluded that the DMN is partly responsible for restraining creativity during daily life, enabling one to focus on important ‘follow-the- rules’ tasks. Previous studies suggest the positive relationship between psychedelics and increased divergent thinking. Such in which is catalyzed by the release of the DMN control on the mind upon consuming psychedelics (Smith 2017).

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Drugs & mind control

In the 1950s, LSD was used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Project MKULTRA to experiment with mind control.

The project which continued for more than a decade, was originally intended to enable the United States government to be on par with presumed Soviet advances in mind-control technology. It ballooned in scope and its ultimate result was illegal drug testing on thousands of Americans (Eschner 2017).

"Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?”

- CIA interdepartmental memo, Project Artichoke, January 1952 LSD was mainly used to aid interrogation especially during the Cold War. As the peak effect of LSD was achieved, one’s altered mental and emotional state and lowered inhibitions would be subjected to increasingly harsh interrogation techniques. Such included verbal degradation, bodily discomfort, and threats against the subject’s life. The aim was to cause maximum anxiety and fear in the subjects, causing them to mentally break down and reveal valuable information.

Carhart-Harris (2012) argued that psychedelic drugs temporarily produce an “unconstrained style of cognition” due to alterations in normal brain activity, explaining why LSD can produce a temporary increase in suggestibility. Suggestibility reflects one’s susceptibility and responsiveness to the induction of thoughts or actions by others. It uses cues to distort recollection i.e. when a person has been persistently told something about a past event, his or her memory of the event conforms to the repeated message (Psychlopedia n.d.). This temporary state of unconstrained style of cognition can lead to long-term increases in openness to experience (MacLean et al. 2011), and thus as a consequence, people become more willing to entertain unusual ideas about the nature of reality. Subsequently, the power of suggestion can be employed to alter the contents of a person’s consciousness,

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and can produce changes in perception, thought, emotion, and behavior.

The potential of LSD to heighten one’s suggestibility was first recognized by scientists in the 1950s. Such include the psychiatrist Mortimer Hartman who noted that “the patient under LSD, from a therapeutic point of view, is quite definitely hypersuggestible” (Abramson 1960). Studies (see CarhartHarris 2012; Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard 1959; Middlefell 1967) that sought to uncover the effects of LSD on suggestibility were mainly conducted to explore psychedelic drugs as a potential tool in psychology and therapeutic aids in psychiatry (Griffiths & Grob 2010; Nutt et al. 2013; Sessa 2005). Results of the studies showed a positive effect of LSD on suggestibility.

According to Carhart-Harris (2012), suggestibility can be measured through a subject’s behavior — by performance of suggested behaviors, or subjectively via the reported vividness or realism of suggested subjective experiences. Typically, strong responses to suggestion are followed by feelings of ‘involuntariness’ (Weitzenhoffer 1980), and suggestions have been demonstrated, thus allowing subjects to break out of typically automatic responses, such as word comprehension in the Stroop effect (Raz et al. 2002). Current literature proposes various types of suggestibility i.e. primary, secondary, and interrogative (Eysenck and Furneaux 1945; Gudjonsson 2003).

Primary suggestibility involves the induction of thoughts and actions via suggestion (Eysenck and Furneaux 1945). Such includes ‘imaginative suggestibility’ (Braffman and Kirsch 1999; Hull 1933) reflecting the individual’s ability to engage in fantasies that have the potential to alter his/her behaviour and/ or subjective experience.(Carhart-Harris 2012).

Currently, the most common scale used to measure one’s level of suggestibility is the creative imagination scale (CIS; Wilson and Barber 1978) which does not require the induction of an initial trance state nor involves authoritarian suggestion style (see ‘Stanford Hypnotic Suggestibility Scales’ Wilson and Barber 1978; Barber 1995; Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard 1959). The CIS

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requires participants to imagine scenarios such as their outstretched arm becoming heavier, that they are drinking cool water, that time is becoming distorted etc. The tests assess the subjective intensity of these suggested effects and as such, measures imaginative suggestibility (Braffman and Kirsch 1999). Such tests are typically used to assess the effectiveness of hypnotism in heightening suggestibility and are used to further studies in hypnotic therapy, where there exists an association between the suggestibility and magnitude of clinical effect (Patterson and Jensen 2003). Another test used to aid such research includes a modified version of the Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMIl; Sheehan 1967). The QMI uses items and cues to elicit imagined experiences through different sensory modalities. Such involves instructing participants to imagine with eyes closed, a succession of sensory experiences i.e. the taste of honey or the smell of freshly cut grass (Carhart-Harris 2012).

It has been used previously in a psychopharmacology study investigating the effects of nitrous oxide on suggestibility and imagination (Whalley and Brooks 2009).

Furthermore, upon consumption of psychotropic drugs, one enters an altered state of consciousness for the entire duration of time in which the drugs have been chemically produced to take effect. This is because psychotropic drugs such as LSD dissociates exceptionally slow from both 5-HT2BR and 5HT2AR—a major target for its psychoactivity (see Wacker et al. 2017 for more details). This would ensure heightened suggestibility as well as any other effects for the entire duration.

Even though certain sedative drugs have been said to reduce the intensity of the effects of psychotropic drugs during the ‘trip’, such sedatives will only decrease fear and anxiety, but will not subdue hallucinations nor prevent the other effects (such as feelings of euphoria etc.) from occurring. Thus, the mind will be preoccupied in this alternative state upon ingestion, for as long as the drugs are in effect.

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Side effects & concerns

Side effects / concerns

Proposed solutions

A.

Tolerance towards LSD can be developed

Take prolonged breaks (at least 3 days) between each dose

B.

The effects of mixing LSD & Cannabis are highly unpredictable

Control the dispensing of the drugs to ensure a user only uses 1 type a day

C.

Consuming psychotropic drugs at above recommended dosages increases the likelihood of experiencing its negative effects

Control the dosage dispensed to each person

D. Unintentionally doing undesirable things while high on drugs

Have a sober ‘sitter’ watch over the user

E.

Likelihood of a bad trip which could be a traumatizing experience

Have a sober ‘sitter’ ‘walk through’ trips with beginners / guide people out of a bad trip

F.

Current drugs on the market may be fake / impure, which have adverse effects on health

Allow for the state to produce and regulate all of such drugs to ensure quality and safety

G. Different people want different experiences (i.e. not everyone wants to hallucinate, but want to enjoy the ‘creative benefits’)

Provide different means of consumption (i.e. microdosing for LSD)

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26 NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF DRUGS

Addiction

Drug addiction may be defined as a strong craving to take a substance that results in a loss of control, where usage continues even in the face of harm to oneself and others. Psychotropic drugs such as marijuana and LSD are said to possess anti-addictive properties (Bogenschutz et al. 2015; Johnson et al. 2014; Krebs & Johansen 2012; Santos et al. 2016). This is due to the fact that such serotonergic hallucinogens (where the key brain target is the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor) do not have direct effects on brain dopaminergic systems, a pharmacology that appears essential for nearly all drugs that can engender dependence (Nichols 2016).

This is because addiction is a compulsion for rewarding stimuli that is mediated through positive reinforcement i.e. engaging dopaminergic systems (Malenka et al. 2009; Nestler 2013).

Saibal Das (2016) notes that it is difficult to abuse psychotropic drugs like LSD as the drug produces such an ‘absurd high’ that daily ingestion is virtually impossible, thus suggesting that such use does not lead to physical dependence. On the other hand, he suggests that dependence is often psychological rather than physical (Gable 1993; Bogenschutz et al. 2015). However, one should note that psychological dependence can occur for any activity or habit that has been engrained into one's routine and habit such as ‘exercise addiction’.

Gateway drug theory

The gateway drug theory suggests that the use of a psychoactive drug such as marijuana or LSD can be coupled to an increased probability of the use of further drugs. Such is often based on observations that the sequence of first-time use of different drugs is not random but shows trends. The basis for this classification was that the desire for increasing euphoria would lead marijuana users to eventually become dissatisfied with the level of intoxication offered by marijuana (Golub & Johnson 1994), and thus look towards hard drugs in order to satisfy their desires (Golub & Johnson 1994; DEA 2014). Although this progression can be accurate for a subset of individual drug‐use narratives, for most drug users, marijuana is not their first drug (Morral, McCaffery, & Paddock 2002). It is thus important to note that correlation does not mean causation. Another argument involves the association of those obtaining marijuana coming into contact with other drugs through their marijuana

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dealer (Hogan 2011) as individuals in sales occupations often seek to expand their repertoire of commodities offered. While it is false that most marijuana users take a formal gateway path to harder drug use, it remains that most users of hard drugs also partake in marijuana.1 The mistake of attributing this process to psychoactive drugs is that this process is not inherent to marijuana or LSD, but is instead a product of the legal status of such drugs being equivalent to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, which thus forces marijuana users to obtain marijuana from an illegal source (Brownstein 2015). This association characteristic could be attributed to alcohol or tobacco if these substances were placed under legal restrictions similar to marijuana (Brownstein 2015).

Lethal overdosing

Recreational users who have consumed massive doses of LSD have survived. For example, eight individuals who believed they had cocaine accidentally insufflated an extremely high dose of LSD. Their plasma LSD levels were reported as between 1000 and 7000 mg/100 ml (a typical total oral dose of LSD is 100–200 mg). These individuals all became comatose, with hyperthermia, vomiting, light gastric bleeding, and respiratory problems. With hospital treatment, however, all eight survived and without apparent residual effects (Klock et al. 1974). This is because the lethal dosage required for marijuana and LSD would be more than 1000 times that of a regular dosage, which is virtually impossible to to physically consume in one sitting.

Lethal Dose Ratio & Dependence Potential of Psychoactive Drugs (Gable, R. S. 2006)

Fig 1. The chart shows the dependency potential on the y-axis and the safety ratio on the x-axis: the lower the ratio, the safer the drug. A value of 0.1 means that consuming ten times the active dose of a drug is lethal. A value of 0.01 would require a consumption of 100 times the active dose for it to be lethal.

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IV Design intent PACIFICATION, REPROGRAMMING, & PREOCCUPATION The ulterior motive

Despite attempting to meet Singaporeans’ basic needs through various policies mentioned in ‘3.1.1. Social stability in Singapore’, unhappiness and discontentment still arise due to the shortcomings of the policies. Coupled with the ease and possibility of anonymity with technology and social media, people are no longer afraid to voice their discontentment with the government, often taking their opinions to online public platforms (Yeo 2015). Due to the potential reach of social media and the Internet, the voices of a few eventually resonate with the majority, spreading negative sentiments towards the government across the people. This poses threats to the social stability that the government has painstakingly tried to maintain over the years. Furthermore, as Peter Ho former head of the civil service in Singapore notes, ”the view that 'the Government knows best'... is increasingly challenged in today's world” (Yong 2017).

As such, there is a need for the state to maintain their power over the people in order to control the population, allowing the government to reinstate order and stability in the nation.

This can be done by capitalizing on their existing top-down organizational structure and their role as a ‘nanny state’ (see 'Social stability in singapore').

Learning from the ultimate demise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, as well as Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, it can be said that traditional totalitarian regimes are ineffective in sustaining order in the long run. This could be due to the fact that such oppressive states ultimately spur even more negative sentiments amongst the people, fueling a rebellion, resulting in social instability and a subsequent lost of control for the government. Thus, a less oppressive multi-pronged approach is proposed, utilizing psychotropic drugs and its effects. As mentioned in section 3.2.1, these drugs have the ability to induce happiness (Dolder 2016; Schmid et al. 2015), heighten suggestibility (Carhart-Harris 2012), and preoccupy the mind (Wacker et al. 2017). As such, they can be used to pacify people, reprogram their minds, and maintain the effects of the former two, in which would ensure sustained power, control, and order in society.

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However, it is especially out of character for the Singapore government to employ such a scheme and would thus raise suspicions given its long standing anti-drug stance and well established ‘zero tolerance approach’ to drugs (Cheong 2016).

This draws parallels to the introduction of legalized casino gambling in Singapore. Gambling in Singapore has been mostly illegal with exceptions to a few authorized activities such as lotteries managed by the Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Pools. For many years, the government resisted calls to set up casinos in Singapore. However in April 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the Cabinet’s decision to develop two integrated resorts at Marina Bayfront and Sentosa.

Besides casinos, these integrated resorts would also have hotels, shopping malls, convention spaces and other amenities. In his speech, PM Lee explained the government’s long standing policy with regard to casinos had changed due to concern over losing competitiveness in the economy and in areas such as tourism to other cosmopolitan cities (Lee 2005). Thus, in order for psychotropic drugs to be introduced into society, a logical (such as raising productivity or national revenue) and socially accepted rationale needs to be introduced in order to mask the underlying agenda (i.e. to allow for the government to drive their social agenda of reinstating stability), thus serving as a smoke screen.

IV Design intent DRUG CONSUMPTION A solution for Singapore’s declining global competitiveness

Creativity in Singapore

It is often misconceived that the need for creativity is purely confined to persons in the ‘creative sector’ i.e. the Arts, entertainment, and innovation. However, creativity actually serves as a precursor to problem-solving performance and product innovation which is paramount to any industry and sector looking to remain competitive in the global market.

“Our economic growth as a nation depends very much on our ability to generate new ideas and translate those novel ideas into concrete, worthwhile innovations... Singapore’s education system has consistently topped international educational rankings... However, these are not clear indicators that Singapore will maintain her global competitive edge.

What will set us apart from other countries with similar levels of knowledge and skills... are creativity and innovation” - Viva Sinniah, PSB Academy, Chairman A survey of over 100 U.S. businesses in the city by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saw the local workforce score well on technical skills, but fare worst among Southeast Asian nations on creativity and innovation. This could be largely attributed to the fact that one’s creativity and problem solving performance is largely limited by their knowledge, past experiences, their environment, as well as existing practices that have been embedded into society. In Singapore, such could be attributed to its post-independence social engineering and promotion of confucian ideology, which ultimately resulted in a risk averse population.

Post-independence social engineering

Since its independence in 1965, the ruling government dominated by the People’s Action Party (PAP), steadfastly embarked and adhered to a guided policy of development in all areas. The structures and policies aimed to elicit political allegiance from its citizens where regulating the social behavior of its citizens was seen as imperative to the formation of a

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modern and civilized Singapore nation. The state also implemented policies and legislation, and social culturally engineered and shaped the city-state into what it considered to be desirable for the citizens that would top the world chart in all aspects (Kuah 2018). From the mid-1980s to early 1990s, the state rigorously promoted Confucianism which acted as an ideological tool for social engineering, in a bid to spur economic development and nation building. The government saw a need to instill “a clear set of values, strongly held and shared by Singaporeans (which) can help us to develop an identity, bond ourselves together and determine our own future” (Straits Times 1989). These values which took after Confucian ethics stressed the importance of harmony and placing society above the self, ultimately promoting conformity over individuality which was deemed a threat to social order.

Individuality perpetuates freedom of thought and expression, where the individual is able to act on his own desires and opinions without regard for another. Yale economist and sociologist William Graham Sumner posits that individualism as a derivative of rationalism can be a socially destructive force, where the rationalist and by extension the individualist, is characterized as “one who tears off from himself the restraints of tradition and custom and asserts his absolute independence” (Sumner 1992, 5). He continues to write that individualism is inimical to the cohesiveness demanded of community, as society and order can only exist when individuals realize that they cannot demand an unfettered liberty or pursue with abandon their personal interests (McCann 2004). Individuality encourages the formulation of one’s own definition of what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

Inevitably, amidst varying and even contradicting definitions across individuals and the state, tensions arise and social order disrupted.

IV Design intent

Rise averseness

“Even as Singapore makes a push to modernize its economy, the country's fear of failure which locals might recognize as the ‘kiasu’ mindset - may be holding it back, a new study has found.”

- Straits Times, 8 Nov, 2017 Singapore ranked 14th out of 45 cities in a report by the Economic Intelligence Unit studying business confidence of a city environment’s support for digital transformation, faring most poorly in innovation and entrepreneurship (ranked 21st), followed by people and skills (ranked 18th) (Assomull 2017).

Innovation often requires creativity to repeatedly come up with many new and different ideas to test, such in which involves a willingness to fail before achieving success. Singaporeans’ fear of failure could be said to stem from the nation’s long standing emphasis on grades and ‘tangible’ results, and could be a result of the nanny state. With every aspect of life intervened and planned for by the government, the system paves a ‘fool-proof ’ path for Singaporeans to follow to achieve success, with many safety nets to fall back on. With early emphasis on conformity people are unlikely to deviate from such paths.

A need for external stimulants

Post-independence social engineering and its subsequent effects have been heavily embedded into society, insofar as to have effect on one’s creative and problem solving capacity. Our inherent ability to conceive truly ‘new’ ideas or to problem solve draws from our understanding of past and existing practices and solutions and our individual encounters and experiences i.e. reformulating what we know to deduce new conclusions and ideas. Thus, one’s creativity can be said to be capped, ultimately resulting in stagnation of productivity and hence an overall declining competitiveness. Thus, in order to break stagnation, one would need to transcend their ‘creativity ceiling’, which can only be made possible through an external stimulation such as psychotropic drugs, which have the ability to increase one’s brain entropy (see 'Drugs & creativity — Neurological research') (Lebedev 2016). Hence, the need to use an external stimulant to

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34

address Singapore’s impending struggle to remain competitive globally serves as an opportunity for the government to introduce drug consumption into society. Through an increase in individual creativity, Singapore’s workforce would be increasingly competitive in the global market, eventually boosting the economy which would produce trickle-down effects of increased purchasing power and material wealth of the people, and thus an increased social welfare and happiness.

Furthermore, the improvement of creativity and problem solving abilities would allow for better individual work performance, leading to a higher sense of accomplishment for the self (and hence the satisfaction of one’s self-fulfillment needs), resulting in greater happiness.

Cosmetic pharmacology

In his 2002 book ‘Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution’, Francis Fukuyama introduces the difference in drug use for therapy and that of enhancement — or what he calls ‘cosmetic pharmacology’. The latter involves the enhancement of otherwise normal behavior, or to exchange one normal behavior in favor of another that someone thinks is socially preferable — such as being more creative, or performing better at work (Fukuyama 2007, 56). He argues that if a pharmaceutical company were to invent an“honest-toGod Huxleyan soma tablet that made you happy and socially bonded, without any harmful side effects”, there is no objective reason as to why one would oppose society to embrace it, as “there are many libertarians on both the Right and the Left who argue that we should stop worrying about other people’s souls or internal states altogether, and let people enjoy whatever drugs they choose as long as they don’t harm anyone else”. This draws references to the widespread use of Pervitin (a brand of methamphetamine i.e. ‘crystal meth’) by the population in Nazi Germany who quickly picked up the drug due to promises of joy, fatigue suppression, and accelerated work productivity (Snelders & Pieters 2011). Thus the Germans were self-motivated actors and not merely victims of ‘drug pushers’ (see Snelders & Pieters 2011 for details).

IV Design intent DRUGS AS A TOOL OF GOVERNANCE

As mentioned in section 'Drugs in socety', drugs can increase creativity (Prochazkova 2018; Carhart-Harris 2016), induce happiness (Dolder 2016; Schmid et al. 2015), enable preoccupation of the mind (Wacker et al. 2017), as well as heighten one’s suggestibility (Carhart-Harris 2016). Capitalizing on these effects, drugs can be marketed as a tool to raise the productivity and global competitiveness of the Singapore population by increasing one’s level of creativity. Raising one’s productivity could eventually translate into an increase in one’s sense of accomplishment and material wealth as one performs better at work. This then further induces happiness on top of the euphoria inherently induced through drug consumption. A rise in productivity would also motivate one to increase their working hours upon seeing high returns. Such would serve to further preoccupy one’s mind, reinforcing this inherent effect of drugs.

An induced state of happiness would allow for the pacification of the people as one is less likely to complain and find fault in society and the government when they are happy. A preoccupied mind would reduce the time and capacity for one to generate free thoughts and opinions on society’s problems. Heightened suggestibility would allow for the reprogramming of the mind as people would be more susceptible to believing in the propaganda disseminated to them. In turn, values of solidarity, productivity, and stability can be fed to the people while their suggestibility levels are the highest, such in which would facilitate the government in driving their underlying agenda. Through these strategies, the state would be able to sustain control and power over the people, thus allowing them to reinstate social stability in the country. (Refer to Fig.2 in appendix)

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V Design brief

36 CONTROLLED CONSUMPTION

Consumption of drugs should be controlled due to their inherent side effects and unpredictable outcomes as mentioned in the sections 'Drugs in society' and 'Negative impacts of drugs'. Controlling consumption can also be done in a manner to maximize its desirable effects for the purpose of reinstating social stability i.e. controlling when people consume them by creating specific scenarios for consumption. Taking reference from existing institutions in Singapore such as the workplace, the hospital, the school, the shopping mall, as well as the hawker center, the thesis explores how drugs can be introduced into society via these existing channels, reimagining their roles as tools which facilitate the consumption of drugs in society. For example, the existing role of the hospital in society is to treat illnesses and diseases. Under the new initiative of encouraging drug consumption, the hospital could adopt a new role such as the producer and provider of welfare to the people, by acting as a dispenser and producer of drugs. The changes in the main roles of the various institutions would then transform their built forms, which would serve to further drive the underlying social agenda of the government.

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VII Appendix

54 DRUGS OF STUDY

Cannabis

The hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) probably originated in Central Asia but has been distributed widely around the world through man’s activities. Marijuana itself has more than 100 active components. Two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think have medicinal applications: cannabidiol (CBD) – which seems to impact the brain without a highand tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – which has pain relieving properties and is largely responsible for the high.

Dosage (smkoing | eating)

Light (0.05g | 2-4mg) / Common (0.15g | 3-8mg) / Strong (0.25g | 4-15mg)

Effect duration (smkoing | eating)

To start (2-10min | 20-120min) / Duration (2-8hrs | 3-9hrs)

Consumption methods

• Smoking: joints, blunts, bongs, pipes — includes combustion toxins, comes on quickly but lasts for a short period of time (is one of the most efficient ways of ingesting cannabis and rapidly experiencing its effects on the brain) • Vaping: Vaporizing releases a lower proportion of carbon monoxide and other toxic chemicals than does smoking (active ingredients, whether oil or flower, are heated instead of burned.

The resulting vapor or gas leaves patients with an immediate, potent dosage) • Ingestion: eating delays the onset of effect but the duration of effect is typically longer • Topicals: excellent for chronic pain patients due to their relationship with the endocannabinoid system.

Today, topical medical marijuana users range from the elderly, MS patients to everyday pain including joint pain, inflammation and other dermal medical conditions.

• Transdermal patches: work similarly to other straight to the bloodstream solutions, like lotion. However, transdermal patches are meant for providing a healing effect across the body, not to a central location like a topical would.

VII Appendix

Key events

• Medicinal preparations of cannabis became available in American pharmacies in the 1850s following an introduction to its use in Western medicine by William O'Shaughnessy a decade earlier in 1839 • The cannabis plant was introduced to Latin America and the Caribbean as early as the first half of the fifteenth century by slaves brought from Africa • After a brief vogue in the mid nineteenth century, the popularity of marijuana waned, and it was only regularly used in the United States in a few large cities by local groups of Mexicans and by African American jazz musicians • Marijuana Tax Act 1937 which outlawed the possession or sale of marijuana • in 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, which established categories, or schedules, into which individual drugs were placed depending on their perceived medical usefulness and potential for abuse. Schedule 1, the most restrictive category, contained drugs that the federal government deemed as having no valid medical uses and a high potential for abuse.

Marijuana Tax Act 1937

The wave of immigrants who entered the Southern United States from Mexico in the early decades of the twentieth century bringing marijuana with them that first brought the drug into prominence in America. With growing xenophobia, there were colorful accusations that marijuana use provoked violent crime and corrupted the young. The head of the Federal Narcotics Bureau, Harry Anslinger, waged an impassioned campaign to outlaw the drug. In 1937 the U.S. Congress, almost by default, passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which effectively banned any further use of the drug in medicine and outlawed it as a dangerous narcotic, criminalizing the possession or sale of marijuana. By demonizing marijuana, they were demonizing the Mexican immigrants because they were associated with the drug. The “demonization” of cannabis in the United States soon after its arrival from Latin America has

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56

colored attitudes to the drug ever since—not only in North America, but also worldwide. Use of the drug continued to grow, however, and by the late 1930s newspapers in many large cities were filled with alarming stories about this new “killer drug.” American pharmaceutical companies had begun to take an active interest in research on cannabis-based medicines. The hastily approved Cannabis Tax Act of 1937 put a stop to all further medical use and essentially terminated all research in the field for another 25 to 30 years.

Medical benefits

• Eases the pain of multiple sclerosis, and nerve pain in general.

This is an area where few other options exist, and those that do, such as Neurontin, Lyrica, or opiates are highly sedating.

• Patients claim that marijuana allows them to resume their previous activities without feeling completely out of it and disengaged.

• Muscle relaxant, and people swear by its ability to lessen tremors in Parkinson’s disease.

• Used to manage nausea and weight loss, and can be used to treat glaucoma • Use for PTSD in veterans who are returning from combat zones • Report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reports effective treatment for chronic pain • Control epileptic seizures • Decreases the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet’s Syndrome • A chemical found in marijuana stops cancer from spreading, at least in cell cultures • THC may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease • Reduces some of the pain and nausea from chemotherapy and stimulates appetite.

VII Appendix

• While there are a number of factors behind the current opioid epidemic, many experts agree that the use of opioid painkillers to treat chronic pain has played a major role. It’s very risky to take powerful drugs that have a high risk of causing overdose and high addiction rates.

Marijuana, which can also treat chronic pain, is far less risky.

• No known severe side-effects VS prescriptions ( liver spots, severe headaches, and bleeding gums, Opioid painkillers can lead to chronic constipation, which can lead to colon cancer down the line + sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression • Medical cannabis is non-addictive, and there is no evidence that you need to constantly up your dosage due to developing a tolerance to it) • Medical cannabis has never been responsible for causing a fatal overdose. There are no cannabinoid receptors found in the brainstem, which means that no matter how much is consumed, there’s no way that they cause a stoppage in breathing Penalties under the Singapore law

• Possession or consumption of Cannabis > Up to 10 years of imprisonment or S$20,000 fine or both • Illegal traffic, import or export of: Cannabis of more than 500 grams Cannabis resin of more than 200 grams Cannabis mixture of more than 1,000 grams > death penalty

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LSD

Penalties under the Singapore law

Dosage: Low (25–100μg) / Medium-common (65–175μg) / High (175–250μg) / Heavy (>250μg) Effect duration: To start (30–90 min) / Peak (2–3 hrs) / Duration (9–14 hrs)

• Possession or consumption of LSD > Up to 10 years of imprisonment or S$20,000 fine or BOTH • Illegal traffic of LSD >Up to 20 years of imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane • Illegal import or export of LSD > Up to 30 years of imprisonment or imprisonment for life and 15 strokes of the cane

VI Appendix

• While there are a number of factors behind the current opioid epidemic, many experts agree that the use of opioid painkillers to treat chronic pain has played a major role. It’s very risky to take powerful drugs that have a high risk of causing overdose and high addiction rates.

Marijuana, which can also treat chronic pain, is far less risky.

• No known severe side-effects VS prescriptions ( liver spots, severe headaches, and bleeding gums, Opioid painkillers can lead to chronic constipation, which can lead to colon cancer down the line + sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression • Medical cannabis is non-addictive, and there is no evidence that you need to constantly up your dosage due to developing a tolerance to it) • Medical cannabis has never been responsible for causing a fatal overdose. There are no cannabinoid receptors found in the brainstem, which means that no matter how much is consumed, there’s no way that they cause a stoppage in breathing Penalties under the Singapore law

• Possession or consumption of Cannabis > Up to 10 years of imprisonment or S$20,000 fine or both • Illegal traffic, import or export of: Cannabis of more than 500 grams Cannabis resin of more than 200 grams Cannabis mixture of more than 1,000 grams > death penalty

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VII Setting the context INTRODCUTION

"The view that 'the Government knows best'... is increasingly challenged in today's world” said Peter Ho, former head of the civil service in Singapore (Yong 2017).

Singapore’s one-party top-down governance structure has allowed for the nation to enjoy substantial levels of social stability for the past half decade since its independence from Malaysia in 1965. This could be attributed to their earlier ruthless efforts at enforcing policies and introducing systems in order to regulate and shape society into one of order.

However, due to factors such as shortcomings in policy, shifting social values and increasing liberalization of the younger generation, as well as the anonymity of technology, people are beginning to find fault in the quote ‘elitist government’ and are no longer afraid of expressing their views, eventually causing widespread discontent amongst the people.

Currently, the state uses several deterrent measures in order to address this rising unhappiness, which include the Public order act, the defamation act, and the most recent ‘protection from online falsehoods and manipulation bill’. However, such could only serve to further escalate negative sentiments and lead to an eventual revolt and social instability. On the other hand, if control were to be loosened, unpredictability and volatility would result.

Thus, the thesis starts by looking at the government’s possible use of drugs or specifically Marijuana with its inherent properties, as a plausible tool to achieve its goal of order and control, in the name of social stability.

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62 Cannabis is a psychoactive drug existing as a fast-growing, flowering plant native to Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

It is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world and mainly known for its painrelieving, therapeutic, and mindaltering properties (drugsand. me n.d.). It is not possible to lethally overdose on cannabis (Wing 2018).

VIII Speculating the future

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DRUG EFFECTS Marijuana as a tool of governance

Such properties of Marijuana include its ability to induce happiness through heightening emotions and euphoria (Dolder 2016; Schmid et al. 2015), enable preoccupation because the duration of effects are chemically predetermined (Wacker et al. 2017), heighten one’s suggestibility making them more susceptible and responsive to the induction of thoughts or actions by others (Carhart-Harris 2012), as well as increasing creativity and productivity in the context of work (Carhart Harris 2016; Prochaskova 2018).

Other effects

Key events

Previous uses

Medicine

Religious rituals

Rope

Nets

Canvas sails

Cloth

Consumption methods

Smoking

Vaping

Ingestion

Topicals

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IX Situating the critique MEDIACORP Live streaming industry as a vehicle

In order to explore how this works together in a more specific context to serve the government agenda, the live streaming industry monopolized by state-owned mediacorp is used as a vehicle to do so.

Similar to how many people find joy in watching vlogs of people doing everyday things, where if you watch a vlogger who's is constantly cheery, it will make you feel happy as well, this live streaming industry serves the same purpose — to make people feel happy while watching the streams.

The use of Marijuana at the workplace to increase productivity will allow the streamers to work longer and harder allowing for preoccupation, and allow them to receive more validation, fame, and money, which will induce happiness in them. This also means that more ‘happy content’ which is essentially propaganda, is generated for the public. While the public tunes in to the streams, they may recreationally consume Marijuana as well to enhance the entertainment value, which together with the over saturation of the media, will enable preoccupation and induce happiness. Marijuana’s ability to heighten suggestibility is also capitalized here, allowing them to receive propaganda more effectively, ultimately allowing for the reprograming of the mind. An induced state of happiness would allow for the pacification of the people as one is less likely to complain and find fault in society and the government when they are happy. A preoccupied mind would reduce the time and capacity for one to generate free thoughts and opinions on society’s problems.

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II Social stability & top-down governance

IX Situating the critique

All of this come together to allow sustained control and power, for the government to then reinstate social stability.

Although this appears to be an effective strategy for the government and hence the plausibility of the nanny state to employ it, social consequences emerge and these will be explored spatially through the design of mediacorp’s live streaming and training facility, ultimately painting a dystopia.

The project identifies 3 user groups in the facility: the new trainees who are training to be live streamers, the regular live streamers, as well as the premium streamers who are the more popular and established streamers.

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II Social stability & top-down governance

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Third floor plan

Basement floor plan

Ground floor plan

X Site SITE Prima Tower @ Keppel Port

For the design, the decision was made to repurpose the existing Prima Tower revolving restaurant building next to the keppel port.

This site was chosen because allows for the facility to be seen as it is near the CBD, Vivo, and Sentosa, versus a site in tuas, allowing mediacorp to establish a kind of dominance, similar to the CCTV tower in beijing.

Furthermore, Keppel port will be shifted in the future and turned into a mixed residential commercial area, rendering the current grain silos ineffective as it currently located conveniently next to the port so that grains can be readily exported.

Also, the existing revolving restaurant and verticality of the silos creates interesting opportunities for design intervention.

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XI Consequences COMPETITION

Based on a report on a joint workshop titled ‘human enhancement and the future of work’ hosted by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the most worrying consequence that results from the use of performance enhancing drugs in the workplace is the normalization of the intensification of work due to increasing expectations and pressure to take the drugs.

This would firstly mean a surge in competition, which the design will seek to manifest spatially.

Visual connectivity Atrium

The first design principle employed is fostering visual connectivity. The strategies include firstly the creation of an atrium, linking the streaming towers to the training area below, as well as between streamers *points to model*. This creates pressure on the streamers coming from both other streamers as well as the trainees who could quickly replace them.

Continuous void

Secondly, the carving of a continuous void through the masses, allows for continued connectivity across the programs from the dormitories to the streaming towers, to the premium streaming area, so that you feel pressured even at rest.

Interlocking programs

Third is the interlocking of different programs, this is used between the training terraces dormitories.

Interior glass treatment

Fourth is the use of glass in the interior which is applied to the streaming towers and the dormitories.

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XI Consequences

Smoke channeling:

The second principle involves capitalizing on the visibility of marijuana smoke in order to create a competitive environment, where the more people smoke, the more opaque it is. The amount of smoke produced is thus used as a visual indicator to constantly remind streamers of how hard their competitors are working as they enhance themselves by smoking marijuana.

Glass chimneys

The design strategy thus involves the curated channeling of smoke throughout the entire facility, through the use of glass chimneys and pipes. Smoke emitted from the training area will be channeled through the chimney surrounding the lift cores, towards the rooftop. The curved surfaces at the streaming towers allows for the redirecting of smoke into the chimney. On the roof, the pipes weave amongst the accessible spaces, following the streamers from one part of the building to another.

Cruved surfaces

Breeding isolation: Point block

The third design principle is creating isolation in order to minimize interaction, to breed competition. Thus the point block typology is adopted rather than a common corridor. This is applied to the training, streaming, premium streaming, and dormitory areas.

This whole competitive environment enabled and manifested in the architecture together with the smoking of marijuana thus causes the streamers to sell themselves for rewards, unknowingly and passively subjecting themselves to mediacorp’s control, where their freedoms are lost. The consequences that also result include the mass production of people, surveillance, class distinction, and a veiled public perception.

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XI Consequences MASS PRODUCTION OF PEOPLE

Factory floor

For the mass production of people, how this is represented spatially is first through the use of the factory floor layout with the regularly stacked floor plates and circulation cores in the interior.

Restricted circulation

The design principle of restricted circulation is also employed to ensure that all streamers and trainees are conditioned the same way by exposing them to the same things everyday. All trainees will pass through the streaming towers first before entering the training area, there are no alternatives.

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XI Consequences SURVEILLANCE

Atrium

For surveillance, the atrium typology is adopted for panopticonlike monitoring .

Curved walls

Curved walls rather than angled walls are used to reduce hidden corners, increasing visibility of the interior from the outside — this is applied to the dormitories

Single-point access

A single-point access ensures that movement from one section of the facility to another can be tracked and monitored easily.

Translated into the design, this manifests as the rooftop gardens located directly below the mediacorp disk which retains its original rotating feature which also contributes to surveillance.

Controlled circulation

In order to move from one part of the facility to the other, users will have to go up to this rooftop garden in order to cross over before going proceeding down into the there sections.

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XI Consequences CLASS DISTINCTION

Datum

Class distinction results from the divide between the controller and the controlled and this is exemplified through the use of a rooftop datum. This datum indicates the highest point a streamer can ever go as they will never be able to go beyond the datum to where the corporates are. This circulation pattern resembles that of the original Prima Tower where grains are being transported up before the silos are being filled from the top.

One-way mirror

The second design strategy is the use of a one-way mirror where the other side is see through glass — this was much used by the CIA in Operation midnight climax to test the effects of lsd on unconsenting individuals. Here, the streamer looks into the mirror and sees the self projected against the masses, while the corporates are able to look outwards and and monitor the entire facility.

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XI Consequences VEILED PUBLIC PERCEPTION

The public’s veiled perception of the facility in part is to hide the lost freedoms within the facility, projecting a glamorous image to the public who visit the adjacent public spaces.

Vertical expansion of space / Chamfered silos

The floor is sunken to create a vertical expansion of space, and the silos are cut to reveal the more glamorous premium streamers, all in which add to the spectacle of streaming.

Controlled smoke stack

The second feature is the controlled smoke stack — the smoke that was channeled through the chimneys and pipes are collected in a container above the rooftop, making if visible to everyone, and when a certain amount of smoke is collected, it is released as a concentric ring into the atmosphere, creating a spectacle.

This references the steam ring emitter created by BIG architects.

Exterior gardens

The outdoor gardens involves the greening of all exterior spaces to create serene exterior, distinguishing between the seen and unseen.

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IV Design intent

XII Delusion DELUSION

In reality, if the lost freedoms were made so apparent, the state would not be able to have a hold on its people for long. Thus, there is an added layer of delusion.

For the streamers, the harder they work the more fame and rewards they get, inducing happiness. This happiness they experience however, is fabricated by mediacorp who deliberately enhanced competition to make them work harder to generate this happiness, making the streamers think that this is what they want, thus unknowingly submitting themselves to mediacorp’s control.

As mentioned, they produce more content which is the happy propaganda that is broadcasted to society and thus literally fabricating the happiness.

Upon dissemination, society becomes happy watching it but all of this is deliberately planned and intended by the state who can thereafter use marijuana and the fabricated happiness in order to control the people in the name of achieving social stability.

Thus, all these fabricated happiness is the delusion that masks the lost freedoms in this possible dystopia.

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