The analysis presented in this paper forms part of a larger study on “Television as a Symbol System: Cultural Heritage in Modern Mass Communication”. The field phase of this project was conducted in 1982/83 at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies under the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk Southeast Asia Fellowship for German Scholars. I hope to be able to finish the manuscript of the research project as a whole in 1984.

The television programmes, on which the investigation is based, were telecast in September 1982. Since the quantitative analysis has already been conducted and offers some interesting insights in itself, it was decided to make this data available as soon as possible and not wait for the final manuscript.

In order, however, to preclude a misunderstanding of the scope and aim of the study, which might arise from the publication of only part of the project data, I shall use the introduction to outline the conceptual framework and the methodological approach of the project as a whole.

My thanks are due to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies for making this research possible through their Stiftung Volkswagenwerk Southeast Asia Fellowship and for all the technical, clerical, and personal assistance provided during my stay in Singapore.