Literature question: why did the infantryman stood silent?
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Universities should woo with PR, not advertising
I REFER to the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School's television commercial in which a student in the United States chose NUS over top US universities.
As an alumnus of one of the three main business schools in Singapore, I have followed with interest the promotional efforts of each business school since competition for the best and the brightest intensified with the incorporation of the third business school in 2000.
All of a sudden, lecturers and school administrators are talking about 'building a brand' to strengthen their image and attract prospective applicants.
While the intention behind the NUS advertisement is laudable, it is a timely marketing lesson for any university aspiring to build a world-class brand. Universities should ask themselves what is their key selling point to their target audience. To be 'different'? To be 'preferred around the world by tomorrow's elite'? Brand-building has to start with the fundamentals.
Faced with more choices, applicants now have to cut through the hype and they are savvy enough to judge for themselves with today's proliferation of information through Internet mediums such as online forums and blogs.
Public relations, such as publicity and word-of-mouth from employers and the marketplace, is a whole lot more credible and believable than any advertising. For example, graduates from my alma mater are typically associated by employers with traits such as 'diligent', 'technically stronger' and 'better work ethics'.
While terms like these may not find their way into advertising messages, such testimonials affirm what employers truly value.
In the book, The Fall Of Advertising And The Rise Of PR, Al and Laura Ries made references to how universities like Harvard, Princeton and Yale have become educational brands. These universities became brands not by advertising but 'by massive publicity even if the publicity efforts were not self-directed'.
The book cited examples of universities using advertising in brand-building, the most noteworthy being Long Island's Adelphi University. Adelphi ran campaigns consisting of full-page newspaper ads with headlines like these:
# Harvard: The Adelphi of Massachusetts.
# Does anybody need an education this good?
# There are three things everyone should read before entering college: Plato's Republic, the complete works of Aristotle, and this ad.
Adelphi didn't become the Harvard of Long Island but what did happen was that its president got fired.
Even when I was serving national service, there was competition for talents. Recruitment ads were posted around the camp and officers from different combat arms would make the rounds to talk about the critical role their unit plays in the Army. Yet what left the deepest impression on me was not what the recruitment ads or the officers said. It was a modern version of a poem quoted from General Sir Archibald Wavell.
'When it was victory,' remarked Field Marshal Wavell (1883-1950), 'the Cavalier claimed it outright, the Gunner boasted of his calibre, the Engineer and Signalman publicised their worth, but the Infantryman stood silent with victory at his feet.'
Needless to say, I was an infantryman.
Su Yuxiong
Shanghai, China -
and second question: why did the poem leave a deep impression on the author?
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no literature students here?
why did the infantryman stood silent? -
Because in silence, the resounding victory is allowed to show and be heard.Originally posted by Icemoon:no literature students here?
why did the infantryman stood silent?
More yakking produces useless chatter.
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Originally posted by LazerLordz:Because in silence, the resounding victory is allowed to show and be heard.
More yakking produces useless chatter.
I begin to like you, i mean, your views. -
I tot is they have nothing to boast that's why.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Because in silence, the resounding victory is allowed to show and be heard.
More yakking produces useless chatter. 
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This PRC seems to have more sense than Singaporeans...
Singaporeans, wake up your bloody idea!!! -
He PRC meh? He served NS one leh.Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:This PRC seems to have more sense than Singaporeans...
Singaporeans, wake up your bloody idea!!! -
wait a minute....Originally posted by Icemoon:He PRC meh? He served NS one leh.
I see 'Shanghai, China' then switch off already.... oops.. -
Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:wait a minute....
I see 'Shanghai, China' then switch off already.... oops.. -
The infantrymen have nothing to cheer for since every victory comes at a great cost to them. How can they cheer when they have lost their friends and brothers?
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More importantly how in the world does this relate to his point about the way in which current uni's self-advertise? Its a tad...redundant.
'When it was victory,' remarked Field Marshal Wavell (1883-1950), 'the Cavalier claimed it outright, the Gunner boasted of his calibre, the Engineer and Signalman publicised their worth, but the Infantryman stood silent with victory at his feet.'
Needless to say, I was an infantryman. -
this is my second question which I hope literature students can help.Originally posted by DracZ:More importantly how in the world does this relate to his point about the way in which current uni's self-advertise? Its a tad...redundant. -
why literature? I think that should be more relevant to people who study human psychology.Originally posted by Icemoon:this is my second question which I hope literature students can help. -
Cheem. Cheem.
But i'd fathom a guess:
The infantrymen are the ones who 'take' the ground and they, as well as everyone else, know their worth. They're not pretenders. Therefore there's no need for them to trumpet their achievements since everyone acknowledges their importance.
In other words, they have true substance which needs no embellishment.
Harvard, Stanford, and other top unis are in the same vein as the infantrymen. They have true substance. They are top class institutions and their contributions to society are indelible. Employers, from experience and word of mouth, know graduates from Harvard sure got some standard there, hence everyone recognises the quality of a Harvard education. No need to sell koyok like a certain singapore uni. -
where is Ged then?Originally posted by LazerLordz:why literature? I think that should be more relevant to people who study human psychology. -
But there is one big difference in the analogy. Infantryman where got as prestigious as Harvard or Stanford?Originally posted by le cruz:Cheem. Cheem.
But i'd fathom a guess:
The infantrymen are the ones who 'take' the ground and they, as well as everyone else, know their worth. They're not pretenders. Therefore there's no need for them to trumpet their achievements since everyone acknowledges their importance.
In other words, they have true substance which needs no embellishment.
Harvard, Stanford, and other top unis are in the same vein as the infantrymen. They have true substance. They are top class institutions and their contributions to society are indelible. Employers, from experience and word of mouth, know graduates from Harvard sure got some standard there, hence everyone recognises the quality of a Harvard education. No need to sell koyok like a certain singapore uni. -
I think this letter writer's just trying to show that he's heard of archibald wavell ... -
I didn't know Wavell could compose poem.Originally posted by Fatum:I think this letter writer's just trying to show that he's heard of archibald wavell ...
From Singapore history, I thought he only came to Singapore to "eye power" only. -
Cos they've run out of ammo and when you're empty, you don't want the enemy to know - just keep still, shut up and wait for them to pass....then jump them from behind.
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all the infantry died??
they were mourning their losses?
they knew the truth that it was not a victory?
they were not allowed to cheer cos of being overly regimental?
they knew that a the victory had no onus on them since they wont be the ones who would benefit greatly from it? -
give him some credit lah ... he's quite a big fark, and a successful one at that, in the middle east before he was sent to our shithole ...Originally posted by Icemoon:I didn't know Wavell could compose poem.
From Singapore history, I thought he only came to Singapore to "eye power" only. -
cos the infantrymen have just chionged up the hill to over-run the position and are still breatheless ? ....
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Wavell was a a staff officer who could not lay his thumb on the pulse of the battle.Originally posted by Icemoon:I didn't know Wavell could compose poem.
From Singapore history, I thought he only came to Singapore to "eye power" only.