Literary Arts, Film, Visual Arts, Talk/Workshop, Festival

National Day Celebrations with the National Museum of Singapore

Organised by: National Museum of Singapore
  • Date:
    7 - 10 Aug 2020
  • Time:
    10:00am - 7:00pm
  • Duration:
    Various durations
  • Venue:
    National Museum of Singapore
    National Museum of SingaporeNational Museum of Singapore
  • Language:
    English

Synopsis:

Join us this August to make your celebration of Singapore's 55th birthday a special one! There will be a variety of programmes for you to celebrate National Day, either from the comforts of your home or at the museum.

Please check the National Museum of Singapore's website and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) for updates, especially for those who plan to visit the museum on National Day. We look forward to an enjoyable and safe celebration with you!

Onsite experience

The Hunt@NMS
Date and Time: 7 – 10 August 2020, 10.30am – 6pm
Location: Various Galleries

Complement your museum visit with an exploration of our galleries with The Hunt@NMS! Discover clues that will lead you to exciting artefacts in our museum, and be inspired to view history through a fresh perspective. Solve puzzles, accomplish tasks, share your reflections with us and complete your journey with a special souvenir from the museum.

All you need is a mobile device or tablet with a Facebook account and the Facebook Messenger app. Register online (link will be available towards the end of the month) if you would like to go on The Hunt@NMS. Please remember to take note of safe-distancing guidelines while you are exploring our galleries!

Time Capsule Wall and Artworks by Students
Date and Time: 7 August 2020 onwards, 10am – 7pm

Location: Outside Stamford Gallery and Longer Concourse, Level 1

Look out for this special installation featuring 55,000 pledges contributed by youth from all over Singapore, expressing their well wishes, words of encouragement and visions for our nation. There will also be a display of artworks by our young students, encapsulating what they have learnt about Singapore from their interactions with seniors.

This is presented in collaboration with Art For Cause SG.

About Art For Cause Singapore
Art For Cause Singapore is a youth ground-up movement which uses art as a medium to raise awareness for and inspire Singaporeans to care about the current and future issues that affect our country, in order to build a more integrated, united and resilient Singapore together.

Writings on the Wall
Date and Time: 7 – 10 August 2020, 10am – 7pm
Location: LED Wall, Level 1

What are your hopes and wishes for Singapore, and how we can make a difference? Share them with us and watch as your wishes, along with a selection of the students' pledges from the Time Capsule, appear on the museum's LED wall!

United Through Culture − National Day 2020 Façade Projection at NMS
Date and Time: 1-30 August 2020, 7.30pm-11pm daily

Catch the façade projection at the National Museum of Singapore as it comes alight in celebration of Singapore's 55th birthday with the theme "Together, a Stronger Singapore".

National Day Set Menu by Food for Thought
Enjoy a delicious selection of National Day dishes with your family and friends at our F&B outlet:

Nasi Lemak Risotto
grilled barramundi, coconut risotto, sambal ikan bilis & nuts, sunny egg

Lemongrass Pandan Cooler
ginger syrup, soda water

Bandung Panna Cotta
pistachio crumble, coconut flakes

Online experience

National Day Colouring Competition 2020: The Padang of Singapore
Date and Time: 20 July – 1 August 2020 (11.59pm)

Do you know what the Padang was like in the 1800s? Who went there, and what kind of activities took place in the area? How would you like the Padang to look like in the future?

Drawing inspiration from the museum's artefact, The Padang in Singapore (1851) by John Turnbull Thomson, we invite our young audiences up to the age of 13 to share how they would turn the Padang into a place for people to enjoy!

Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfUuV46mca8&feature=youtu.be) to find out more!

To participate
1. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions
2. Download the template here (https://www.nhb.gov.sg/nationalmuseum/NMSND2020):
a. For participants 9 years and below
b. For participants 10−13 years old
3. Please submit your completed artwork here (https://www.nhb.gov.sg/nationalmuseum/NMSND2020)! All submissions must be received by 11.59pm on 1 August 2020.

The programme and prizes are supported by STAEDTLER and ArtWorks.

Digital version of Home, Truly: Growing up with Singapore, 1950s to the Present special exhibition

Date: 3 August 2020

What makes Singapore Singapore? And what makes Singapore home? Journey with us through the At Home, Truly digital experience, which relives the highs, lows, and moments in-between of Singapore's journey from its beginnings as a nation to today, through the eyes of Nadine, a curious nine- year-old, and Hock Seng, her beloved grandfather. Each chapter of our characters' story has been illustrated by a different artist, in their own inimitable style.

At Home, Truly is a digital experience that complements and serves as a teaser to the physical exhibition, Home, Truly: Growing Up with Singapore, 1950s to the Present, which will open at a later date. The digital experience features a series of posts on Roots.sg about artefacts, photographs, oral histories and video clips related to Singapore's rich history.

Lighter Side of History: Tasting the Trade Winds with Christopher Tan
Date: 7 August 2020
Which of your favourite dishes adapted ingredients and flavours from different cultures? How were spices, particularly the ones featured in our William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, incorporated into our cuisines?

Join award-winning chef and cookbook author Christopher Tan to learn more about the spices and ingredients upon which trading empires were built. These have also become irreplaceable ingredients in many of the fusion foods we enjoy today.

The kueh rose is one such fusion dish eaten during different festivals. Watch this video to learn how to make the lesser-known savoury-spicy kueh rose!

Keen to try some of Christopher's handmade kueh rose? All you have to do is to submit the correct answers to the quiz at the end of the video. The first 20 viewers with the correct answers will get to taste this dish from the comforts of their homes!*

*Item contains no pork or lard and will be made fresh on delivery day. Limited to one kueh set per mailing address. Details of delivery will be provided closer to the date. Terms and conditions apply.

National Day Music Performances
Date and Time: 8 and 9 August 2020, 2pm

In this special edition, we bring the performances to you – streamed live from the museum! Sit back and sing along to familiar tunes from the comfort of your homes.

Live stream: Performance on 9 August by The Purple Symphony
The Purple Symphony, Singapore's largest inclusive orchestra, will present a rousing set comprising "We Will Get There", "Bunga Sayang", "Singai Naadu" and "Voices from the People's Hearts".

About The Purple Symphony
Facilitated by the Central Singapore Community Development Council, The Purple Symphony is Singapore's largest inclusive orchestra comprising musicians with and without special needs. The orchestra is made up of more than 100 members in five key musical sections: Percussion, Strings (Plucked), Strings (Bow), Winds and Choir.

The Purple Symphony is a platform for musicians to learn and share music with one another, support inclusion, celebrate their abilities, and serve the community as one. Since its debut, The Purple Symphony has gone on to perform at national platforms, such as the President's Star Charity Show 2018, 2017 National Day Parade, Orchard Road Christmas Light-Up, annual Purple Parade, and the True Colours Festival.

All I Have To Do is Dream – An In-gallery Theatre Performance
Date: 8 and 9 August 2020
What does the Singapore Dream look like to you and me?

What did the Singapore Dream look like to our seniors who migrated, grew up and witnessed a pre- and post-independent Singapore?

What did the Singapore Dream look like to our seniors who toiled through the days of rapid industrialisation?

What does the 2020 Singapore Dream look like to our retiring and active seniors now?

Two mysterious figures wake up in the National Museum of Singapore on National Day 2020. Both exist to collect dreams − one has the ability to draw out deeper knowledge behind objects, and another uses sign language, sculpting meaning in the air with his fingers. With the help of a young museum worker with Down Syndrome, they embark on a journey through the galleries, collecting dreams of the past and present.

Timmy and Tammy at the National Day Parade Storytelling and Games Session *live- streamed*

Date: 8 August 2020, 11am (45min) | Ages 4 and up

Join us for this live session where children can listen to the story of Timmy & Tammy at the National Day Parade, and have a fun-filled time with activities such as a game of charades and a finish-the-lyrics challenge!

Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdSty43ZRM&feature=youtu.be) to make your very own Parachute Soldier as a pre-session activity. See you soon!

The live-stream will take place on the National Museum of Singapore's Facebook page. A recording of the session will be available after the event.

Encounters with History
Date: 8 August 2020

Join our docents in this special presentation as they share insights and stories on a selection of artefacts.

HistoriaSG: Songs of Singapore
Date: 8 August 2020, 4.15pm | Live streamed on the National Museum's Facebook page

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the National Day songs sung at the National Day Parade each year, or catchy community tunes like "Singapore Town" or "Chan Mali Chan"? Many of the national songs we know and love today were especially commissioned and compiled in the 1980s for Singaporeans to sing together at communal and national events.

Join us for this special edition of HistoriaSG with our speaker Dr Bernard Tan and moderator Eugene Dairianathan. Dr Bernard Tan, who sat in the early Sing Singapore committee, will share more about the challenges of creating and promoting original national music in the years after Singapore's independence, as well as the development of National Day songs over the years.

Live-stream Workshop: My Colourful Self
Date: 9 August 2020, 10am (45 mins) | Ages 4 – 12
In this artmaking workshop, learn more about the characteristics of Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim, and how it represents Singapore's identity. Art therapist Kelly Reedy will share how art can help us express who we are and how we can enjoy the process of drawing and painting using mixed media materials!

Don't forget to download and print out your own orchid template (template will be made available nearer the programme date) and prepare your art materials before the session!

Recommended materials: Participants should prepare 3 pieces of A4 (or larger) size paper, either a set of oil pastels or wax crayons along with watercolour paints OR a set of watercolour pencils. Please also have available a brush, a container with water and paper towelling.

This programme is presented in collaboration with STAEDTLER and ArtWorks for Wellbeing (www.artworks.sg).

The live-stream will take place on the National Museum of Singapore's Facebook page. A recording will remain available after the event.

Nat's National Day Wish Storytelling Programme
Date: 9 August 2020 | Ages 5 and up

"I wish I can be a soldier with Papa and Yeye (Mandarin for "grandfather") in an aircon room!"

This National Day, the museum presents Nat's National Day Wish, a storytelling programme for families. Join 5-year-old Nat, Papa and Yeye on their visit to our Singapore History Gallery, where they will share their stories and learn about the history of National Service in Singapore!

(The video will be uploaded closer to the programme date)

A Showcase of the 15 Shorts Film Initiative
Catch a moving selection of short films from the 15 Shorts film initiative, and be inspired by ordinary Singaporeans who performed extraordinary acts of giving between the 1970s and 1990s. This segment is supported by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) towards a City of Good.

The Buddy (directed by Jason Lee)
The Buddy tells the story of 8-year-old Hidayat, who is tasked by his teacher to be a buddy to his isolated and erratic classmate, Tam. The two develop a close bond, eventually making a decision that will change Tam's life forever. This film is based on the true story of Nurhidayat Hamid, who attended Ping Yi primary school in the 1990s. He embraced and guided a classmate who has autism, at a time when there was little understanding of the condition.

One at a Time (directed by Daniel Yam)
Teresa Hsu was the founder and matron for Home for the Aged Sick, one of the first homes for the sick elderly in Singapore, until she was made to retire at 85. Renowned as Singapore's own "Mother Teresa", this short film charts her life's turning points following retirement and what shaped her relentless story of giving.

Ali Baba (directed by Randy Ang)
News reporter Augustine discovers that an injured migrant worker has been left for dead by his employer in a forest. At a time when stories on migrant workers were untold, Augustine challenges convention in the newsroom. This film is based on the true story of Augustine Pang and other Singaporean journalists who covered the plight of migrant worker Mohd Bashar.

All films are rated PG

15 Shorts is a charity film initiative by NVPC and Blue3Asia towards a City of Good, championing SG Cares. For the full selection of films, please visit https://cityofgood.sg/15shorts/.

National Day Celebrations with the National Museum of Singapore


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