Artists are number one on the list of non-essential workers

@tzehern on Twitter, via Sunday Times

The Singapore Sunday Times conducted a survey to determine the jobs that people perceive to be essential. As an interesting side effect they got a list of non-essential jobs. Surprisingly(?), artists topped the list with 71% of non-essentialness. Heck, according to the article, artists are even less essential than telemarketers. Ironically, it was a graphic artist who created the infographic to represent the results. An insult to the artist, but funny nonetheless.

Obviously, social media was not happy. The backlash was so big, that The Sunday Times published a piece challenging their initial article.

Imagine living in lockdown without music or Netflix. The people behind these, and many other forms of entertainment, fall into the category of ‘art worker.’ Rishi Budhrani, a comedian from Singapore, dropped the mic in this debate:

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A post shared by Rishi Budhrani (@rishibudhrani)

But it didn’t stop there. The backlash from the article was severe enough to prompt another article. This time, the Sunday Times published a follow-up article to ~~explain~~ apologize for their methodology. They explain that they commissioned the survey early in the month when COVID19 exploded. Obviously, the spotlight turned on the role that essential workers play. That, and the discrepancy between their value and their salaries.

Here at DIYP we salute the front line workers who have kept us safe. These front line workers have no doubt relaxed with a form of art. We also take our berets off to those who have creatively kept us entertained and brought us together in this time of need. The arts, including photography, play an important part in our lives and our communities. We need doctors, but we also need artists.

Here is the full infographic, published by The Strait Times.