“Good morning... Have a blessed day”!
If you didn’t wake up to this message today, are you even part of the Indian diaspora in Singapore?
The one thing that binds the Indian diaspora in Singapore tighter than prata binds to curry... it is not food, festivals, or cricket – it’s WhatsApp.
Welcome to the most powerful newsroom in the world: WhatsApp Aunties International, also known locally as Chachi News Network.
Available 24/7, free of charge, and delivered straight to your WhatsApp with an urgency that would make Bloomberg blink.
Breaking news doesn’t wait. At 6.32am, you may wake up to: “Major alert! MRT Circle Line delay!” followed immediately by “Forward this to 12 people to avoid bad luck.”
The diaspora doesn’t just consume information – we curate, edit, and distribute it with the passion of part-time journalists.
The galaxy of “WhatsApp aunties & uncles” has turned forwarding into a sacred daily duty. Who needs BBC or CNA when you have Chachi News Network – CNN 2.0, operating at lightning speed from Toa Payoh to Tampines?
Breaking news – The Forward Factory
Let’s face it – Indians are tuned into everything. We may not have time to finish the broccoli in our fridge, but we will be the first to forward a recipe of broccoli curing cancer.
Someone sneezes in Parliament, and within 15 minutes your condo WhatsApp group is alive with captions like “Pls take care, viral, spreading fast.”
The enthusiasm to share is unmatched. The motto is “Forward first, ask questions later,” or better still don’t ask questions at all. No one pauses to fact-check – because why let truth get in the way of winning the “first to forward” contest?
By the time tabla! confirms a story, the diaspora has already analysed it, debated it, and formed three subcommittees.
And the reactions! Every post, however mundane, is instantly met with “Awesome!” “Amazing!” “So beautiful!” – whether it’s a picture of your new car or just the sambar you had for lunch.
The diaspora thrives on superlatives. Mediocrity is not an option - even a half-burnt upma is “Wah, MasterChef level!” If adjectives had weight, ours would all be obese.
Singapore Edition: News You Can’t Miss
Unlike other countries, our diaspora WhatsApp thrives on uniquely Singaporean concerns. Which hawker centre has the longest thosai queue? Is parking free at Mustafa after midnight? Why did the ICA officer give me “that look” when I declared two kilos of murukku?
Every piece of micro-news deserves macro-circulation. Ah, when Ganesh Chaturthi was around the corner, the CNN is already in full swing. Every group is flooded with digital Ganpatis – glittering ones, animated ones, Ganpati emojis that dance when you click them.
Within 24 hours, WhatsApp is flooded with photos of “Eco-friendly Ganesha made with chocolate/clay/turmeric – pls share!”
Imagine, somewhere in Singapore, invisible to our eyes, there exists a secret newsroom. Its editors are not trained journalists, the “anchors” are our beloved uncles and aunties in their 50s and 60s, armed with reading glasses and two phones each.
The “Breaking News Desk” monitors everything from India, Singapore, and anywhere the diaspora has a cousin. The “Lifestyle Desk” specialises in forwarding wedding videos of people you’ve never met. The “Health Desk” is the busiest, dishing out a new cure every hour.
No claim is too strange. No source is too weak. As long as it comes with a blurry picture and a line saying “Doctors in America confirm”, it is gospel.
Singapore, of course, provides its own local flavour to the headlines. One morning, it’s “Huge sale of garam masala in Mustafa Centre – forwarding for everyone’s benefit.” The next is “NEA warning about haze levels – going downstairs to buy prata - wear mask.”
During election season, we get homegrown pundits: “I know someone who knows someone who heard this candidate is very strong in Tampines.”
The Psychology of Sharing
But why are we so tuned in, so eager to share everything? Maybe it’s our way of feeling connected. WhatsApp is not just a chat app, it’s a lifeline, a community hall, and a temple notice board rolled into one.
Sharing is caring. Forwarding is belonging. And yes, sometimes it’s also about status. The auntie who forwards first earns the unspoken respect of the group: “Wah, she knows before anyone else. Must have inside sources.”
In reality, her source is her cousin’s neighbour’s maid’s brother’s driver in Mumbai. But hey, news is news.
Of course, there are repercussions. Friendships were strained because someone didn’t “like” your kid’s photo in Bharatanatyam costume. Not to mention the occasional heart attack when a fake obituary circulates before the presumed dead has even finished breakfast.
When every minor misadventure is “shocking!” and every picture is “superb!”, how do we separate the genuinely big news from the meh?
But honestly, who cares?! This endless commentary, buzz, flurry is what keeps us alive and laughing in Singapore.
Behind every Chachi News Network broadcast is love, care, and a deep need to connect. Who knows – perhaps one day CNA will face real competition from them. After all, why settle for “live at the scene” when you can get “live at the screen”?
(Daisy Irani Subaiah is a media and theatre professional with work experience in Singapore and India.)
