"My encik said" : talking about national service with memes

Internet Memes have become an increasingly prevalent form of social communication, both on online social media platforms as well as through personal communication tools. This study involves an analysis of memes pertaining to the National Service (NS) experience in Singapore to uncover what the discourse of NS memes could tell us about the NS experience as well as the functions of NS memes to the NS community. National Service is a 2-year mandatory military training service that all Singaporean males are required to attend at 18 years old. Online data collection from the Facebook NS meme page “Memedef” and an online questionnaire were conducted. The results collected have indicated the ways in which NS memes are used by members of the NS community as a coping mechanism and a means of expression. The discourse embedded in the NS memes analysed further revealed subversive ideology and an overall negative perception of the NS experience.Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Multilingual Studie