SMP Newsletter #1 (July 2013)

Issue 01

e-newsletter 2013

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The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

So what has the SMP been up to since its launch?

The SMP has been working with numerous and varied organisations, collaborating to engage the community and encourage them to contribute their memories. We have worked with Toa Payoh and Yuhua Community Centres on their community events. Many residents living in these estates have lived there for decades and have seen how their neighbourhoods have transformed. The SMP showcases relevant memories at these events and encourages residents to pen down or record (video or audio) their own memories, which are then uploaded onto the SMP online portal.

The Singapore Memory Project (SMP) is proud to announce that “Moving Forward”, an original comic that Andrew Tan, aka Drewscape, was commissioned to create has been nominated for an Eisner award in the “Best Short Story” category. Andrew Tan, a freelance self-taught artist, is one of Singapore’s foremost talents in the local comic world. The prestigious US-based Eisner awards are the Oscar equivalent in the comic book industry, and results will be announced at Comic-Con International on 19 July. Everyone at SMP is crossing their fingers for Andrew!

Check out the comic at www.singaporememory.sg/ showcases/40/contents, or find out more about Andrew from our interview with him on our iremember.sg blog.

The Singapore Memory Project

SMP also worked with Google to organise a Google Photo Walk where participants embarked on an urban trail around a designated area, taking photos of old and new buildings alike. Participants attended a photography workshop before the event. The focus of the walk was on schools and participants went to selected schools in Singapore and its surrounding area to photograph them.

Stephanie Pee

What do you remember about Singapore? Do you remember bus tickets and transit-link cards; playing zero point, five stones, or playgrounds with sand; shopping in Yaohan or Daimaru? We have rich personal histories— not just in the games we played or shows we watched, but in our shared experiences—when wanton mee was five cents, when cinemas were open-air, when bathing suits covered a lot more.

The SMP also runs programmes with schools, like Nanyang Girls’ High School, to collect memories from Singaporeans. The SMP trains students how to conduct interviews and the students are then linked up with individuals in a community and interviewed about what they remember about Singapore. The SMP also runs competitions for schools, such as the iremember School Days competition where students collect memories and then present them in creative ways.

Residents waiting to contribute their memories at the SMP booth at “iremember goes to Punggol”.

Launched in 2011, the Singapore Memory Project (SMP) aims to collect personal memories from Singaporeans, document the heart of a nation and curate shared experiences.

The Singapore Memory Project is more than just about events, programmes and an ambitious collection of memories—it’s a reminder for people to slow down a little, look back and remember that each memory, each personal history that we have is a part of Singapore.

Memories being collected via video recording.

A Yuhua resident with a photo of herself in younger days.

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The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

Tapping on Singapore’s great love of food, the SMP organised a Food Trail with three of Singapore’s most prominent bloggers: Dr Leslie Tay (of ieatishootipost), Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi. Paying no heed to bloating tummies, the intrepid trio traversed the island from dawn to midnight in search of the best of Singapore food. The public tweeted their recommendations and suggestions, taking the ballooning bloggers on a real-time food trail. The food trail videos can be viewed on the SMP FaceBook page or you can read about it on our irememberSG blog.

The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

Iremember Roadshows in 2012

Intrepid bloggers, Dr Leslie Tay, Mr Brown and Miyagi take on the heart-stopping and waistline-expanding task of eating Singapore’s most popular foods.

The SMP also works with local artists and talents by commissioning efforts to document and present the memories of people and places in a creative way. One such work that resonated strongly with the public and garnered about 860 likes on FaceBook was a free e-book about old mosaic playgrounds in Singapore. Following on the back of that was the bittersweet comic Once Upon a Dragon by Dominique Fam—a look at changes in Singapore and his life vis-a-vis the dragon playground that he grew up with. These works serve as talking points for the public and something that they can share with others.

A map of Singapore’s remaining old playgrounds in Mosaic Memories by Justin Zhuang, Wee Ho Gai and Zakaria Zainal.

Throughout 2012, the Singapore Memory Project hosted a series of roadshows to reach out to all Singaporeans, especially in the heartlands. On Friday, 30 March, the first-ever “iremember” carnival was unveiled in Toa Payoh. As an initiative to bring Singapore Memory Project to the heartlands, “iremember goes to Toa Payoh” created awareness about SMP while showcasing existing memory contributions. Launched by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence and Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, the carnival also featured premieres from two prominent local filmmakers, Tan Pin Pin and Wee Li Lin.

Commissioned work, Once Upon a Dragon by Dominique Fam.

The fun-filled carnival enticed residents of Toa Payoh to a night out of movies and games, complete with kacang puteh, candy floss and

popcorn! The carnival featured various platforms for residents to contribute their memories, namely, Memory-online, Studio memory, Scan-a-Memory and Post-amemory booths, as well as phototriggers of Toa Payoh’s past. The residents of Toa Payoh responded enthusiastically with photographs, stories and live interviews (captured via video recording).

Among the interesting contributions was a photo taken in the 1960s by a UK-based family, of the very site where the carnival stood. There was also an eagerlyawaited quiz on Toa Payoh to test the residents’ knowledge about the places they know. The highlight of the event was the lucky draw with a top prize of $200 worth of NTUC vouchers.

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The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

A resident who has just contributed her Punggol memory to SMP.

Ms Grace Fu sharing her personal memory at our memory booth.

After the first Singapore Memory Project (SMP) heartland initiative at Toa Payoh, the SMP headed down to Yuhua on 20 May 2012. Jointly organised with the Yuhua Grassroots Organisations, “iremember goes to Yuhua” was held in conjunction with the Yuhua Community Club’s Open House.

Launched by Ms Grace Fu (Advisor to Yuhua Grassroots Organisations and Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts) the event captured and documented the memories of Yuhua residents. It was a fun-filled

day for the whole family with performances, games, food and freebies. Memory booths were set up to help residents record their Yuhua memories on the spot, especially for the older residents with a wealth of memories to share.

There were also performances

by Ann Husieen (lead singer of “Gingerbread”) and Vernon Cornelius (member of “The Quests”) that brought the audiences down memory lane with golden oldies.

Close to 1,000 residents attended the meaningful event.

“iremember goes to Punggol” is the third instalment in the series of Singapore Memory Project’s island-wide outreach initiatives to the heartlands. This time, it was held in conjunction with the Punggol North Racial Harmony Street Parade cum Carnival on 15 July 2012. Mr Chan Chun Sing (Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports & Minister of State, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts) was the Guest-of-Honour.

As part of the Yuhua Memory Project, some 440 Nanyang Girls’ High School students interviewed 200 Yuhua residents over the past few weekends to document their personal memories of Singapore.

Selected stories were showcased at the “Memories of Yuhua” exhibition.

An estimated 10,000 residents attended the event and more than 2,000 memories on Punggol were collected. Stories and video interviews of Punggol were showcased to raise awareness and facilitate memory contributions by heartlanders. One of the main stories featured was “The Singapore Zoo at Punggol” contributed by Mr Lawrence Basapa.

Residents submitted their memories of Punggol in exchange for freebies and balloon sculptures. SMP balloons were also handed out to dress up the street parade. On top of that, SMP staff also roved around the parade ground with an iPad to take photos of residents with the recently launched SG Memory app.

Prizes were also given to winners of an online photography contest, “Yuhua through my Lens”, organised by SMP. The 1,172 entries reflected how the Yuhua neighbourhood has transformed over the years.

Among the contributions by residents were memories of “the kampong houses where each house had its own padi field, keeping of poultry and pigs… a special bonding between the neighbours” (by Christina Chang) and “the long and undulating slopes when travelling along the old Punggol Road towards the end of the road to Punggol Point” (by Jason Ho).

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The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

Iremember my school days

“iremember goes to Kolam Ayer”, the fourth instalment of Singapore Memory Project’s island-wide outreach initiatives to the heartlands was held in conjunction with the Kolam Ayer Mid-Autumn Festival-cum-Speak Mandarin Campaign on 29 September 2012.

​The iremembermySchoolDays School Competition, a joint effort between the Singapore Memory Project and the Ministry of Education, came to a close on Wednesday, 18 September 2012 with an Awards Ceremony at National Library Building, The Plaza. Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower, was the Guest-of-Honour.

The competition challenged students from primary and secondary schools, as well as junior colleges, to create their version of The Daily Prophet, a newspaper mentioned in the popular novel series – Harry Potter.

More than 500 residents attended the event and over 1,000 memories were collected onsite. Stories and interviews of residents were showcased to raise awareness and facilitate memory contributions by heartlanders. As part of the memory collection efforts, SMP also collaborated with Bendemeer Secondary School students to conduct oral interviews with Kolam Ayer residents. Some of these memories collected were also showcased at the event.

Residents submitted their memories in exchange for freebies such as glow sticks and old time games (glider aeroplanes and snakes and ladders). The glow sticks were a major hit with the younger

The difference? Instead of the latest news in the world of wizardry, the students’ versions were filled with memories of school days and presented in a multimedia format.

Playing with glow sticks

generation; many kids used these in place of the traditional lanterns, adding on a lot of colour and vibrancy to the mid-autumn festivities. On top of that, residents

also enjoyed other activities such as performances, lantern procession, story-telling sessions, an awards ceremony for the lantern-making competition and a flea market.

The team is made up of students from Primary 1, making them the youngest participants in the competition.

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The Singapore Memory Project Issue 01

Primary School Category CHAMPIONS

Out of the 87 concept submissions received, eight finalists were selected to bring their concepts into fruition. The winners are:

secondary School & junior college Category CHAMPIONS

Raffles Girls’ Primary School and Yishun Primary School

Victoria Junior College

1st runner-up

1st runner-up

Xingnan Primary School

Crescent Girls’ School

2nd runner-up

2nd runner-up

Yu Neng Primary School

Yishun Town Secondary School 3rd runner-up Evergreen Secondary School

Here are some of the finalists’ experiences during the competition:

“They were very grateful to us because our interviews had allowed them to reminisce about their school days and had brought back special memories for most of them. One of our team mates got to know her neighbour – an ex-pupil of RGPS

– in the process!”

– Team from Raffles Girls’ Primary School

The Singapore Memory Project has also commissioned newsletters to honour the students’ works, as well as bringing to life the interactive pdfs of the winners.

“Our teachers and family members who were interviewed were very encouraging and helpful. Memories were recollected; photos were removed from yellowing albums and voices were recorded. They were equally excited to share with us!”

– Team from Yu Neng Primary School

“We learned the importance of working together as a team, the art of approaching and selecting people to agree for an interview, newspaper writing format and the use of software for animation.”

– Team from Evergreen Primary School

For updates on the Singapore Memory Project, please visit: