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Just bumped into this Info on the internet, I was flabbergasted by this amazing innovation in democratic leadership displayed by the Korean Government. I wish my excellencies will read this and hopefully Nigerians will see replica of this in major cities in Nigeria like Abuja, Lagos, Kano, etc.
In a true democracy every citizen has a voice, but many don’t feel like politicians actually listen to them.
In order to promote itself as open to what the public has to say, the Seoul
government (Korea) has installed Yobosayo
– a large, ear-shaped sculpture symbolizing the Mayor and his administration's
openness to public opinion and feedback. That records the opinions of passersby
and relays it over speakers in City Hall.
Designed by artist Yang Soo-in, who creates participatory public art. The sculpture’s title means ‘Hello?’ in Korean and is situated outside City Hall, where dissatisfied citizens normally go to lodge a formal civic complaint by filling out a form. Instead, the big ear sounds a message when someone walks past, inviting people to leave a message for government officials. Passersby can lean into the sculpture to offer criticism, question ,complain or praise of the government’s services, their opinions on current political events or even just air their thoughts. Whatever they have to say is recorded by a microphone located inside the ear and each message is then broadcast through speakers located around City Hall. Sensors on each speaker detect how many officials are listening at the time and the soundbites that attract the biggest audience are saved for posterity – hopefully for authorities to take into consideration.
A previous installation was a box made of one way mirrors in which people could record a message. When people were not recording, previous messages were relayed for passing pedestrians.
“It's a positive and addictive social game, where if you do not like the message you're hearing from the box, then the only thing you can do is for yourself to participate and leave your version of the story to diminish the density or the importance of other messages,” explained Yang Soo-in in a TED talk.
Just bumped into this Info on the internet, I was flabbergasted by this amazing innovation in democratic leadership displayed by the Korean Government. I wish my excellencies will read this and hopefully Nigerians will see replica of this in major cities in Nigeria like Abuja, Lagos, Kano, etc.
In a true democracy every citizen has a voice, but many don’t feel like politicians actually listen to them.
There's something unsatisfying about making a traditional
complaint. As you're filling out the form, you can almost see the government
bureaucrat crumpling it up and throwing it away a few days later. Wouldn't it
be great if you could just yell at the pencil pushers directly? In Seoul, you
can.
Designed by artist Yang Soo-in, who creates participatory public art. The sculpture’s title means ‘Hello?’ in Korean and is situated outside City Hall, where dissatisfied citizens normally go to lodge a formal civic complaint by filling out a form. Instead, the big ear sounds a message when someone walks past, inviting people to leave a message for government officials. Passersby can lean into the sculpture to offer criticism, question ,complain or praise of the government’s services, their opinions on current political events or even just air their thoughts. Whatever they have to say is recorded by a microphone located inside the ear and each message is then broadcast through speakers located around City Hall. Sensors on each speaker detect how many officials are listening at the time and the soundbites that attract the biggest audience are saved for posterity – hopefully for authorities to take into consideration.
A previous installation was a box made of one way mirrors in which people could record a message. When people were not recording, previous messages were relayed for passing pedestrians.
“It's a positive and addictive social game, where if you do not like the message you're hearing from the box, then the only thing you can do is for yourself to participate and leave your version of the story to diminish the density or the importance of other messages,” explained Yang Soo-in in a TED talk.
