NVPC promotes a culture of giving in Singapore. Like any culture, stories are important for our heritage.
The National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) promotes a culture of giving in Singapore. Like any culture, stories are important for our heritage. One of NVPC’s pillars aims to use stories to inspire giving, to motivate volunteerism and philanthropy and to get people on the ground to rise up for the greater good of the community. Such stories can show the best of who we are, and provide inspiration. NVPC works with partners with the skills and the heart to share these stories.
Singapore, 28 April 2017 – There was a time, from the early 70s to late 90s, when Singapore stories were told in broad strokes, how we overcame the odds, how we helped build this nation, collectively as a people. Those were striving years, when bread and butter issues were predominant. They were also defining years. Till this day, Singaporeans are known to be hardworking, industrious, law-abiding to a fault. But who were we as individuals? Who were the Singaporeans who took a stand, did the right thing, not necessarily about making a living or making money, not necessarily about being politically correct in a young society? Theirs may not be headline-grabbing stories, but largely untold stories – of a more human side of Singaporeans, which can help provide an alternate narrative to the hungry years when some of us did not just strive but thrive as human beings.
15 of our Singapore filmmakers, from the most experienced, acclaimed, those presently making a name for themselves, the online creators, to the young and promising, are coming together, to tell real stories of Singaporeans, from post-independence till the turn of the millennium. Using film as a medium, this ground up movement features local stories uncovered from our archives, interpreted in a diversity of styles by storytellers from different age groups, backgrounds and creative inclinations. The funds will be jointly supported by foundations, corporates, and individual Singaporeans through crowd-funding. This unique approach can be seen as the emergence of community-based film philanthropy in Singapore, to create a special kind of awareness of who we were, and hence who we are today. The films will show that giving; the caring, compassionate and inclusive side of us has always been there. 2 Issued by NVPC Corporate Communications
Melissa Kwee, Chief Executive Officer of NVPC lends her strong support: “A City of Good is one where our best talents and resources are put towards the betterment of all. We are honoured to partner the directors and the community to tell the important stories of what has made the Singapore spirit. This spirit resonates with SG Cares, a national volunteering initiative that seeks to encourage everyone in Singapore to do our own small part for others, whether in time, talent or treasure.”
On what inspired Daniel Yun to kick start this ground up movement, the veteran film producer, says, “I am keenly aware these stories exist. I have a vision of Singaporeans uncovering these stories about their fellow Singaporeans. Being inspired by these stories. And telling these stories to more Singaporeans. Today, I am heartened these stories will be told soon, by some of our best filmmakers. For the world to see.”
Daniel adds, “These films are especially meaningful because they are a part of a ground up, not top down project, personally interpreted by 15 Singapore filmmakers. They are based on real-life Singaporeans who lived through a time when the focus was all about survival. The list of filmmakers also includes online creators, most of them millennials who will be discovering and rediscovering a period when life was markedly different from today.”
The 15 Short Films
Each short film will run for 5 to 10 minutes. All stories will be based on a Singaporean from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, and curated from various archival sources or from the filmmakers themselves.
Blue3Asia will produce the 15 short films with AMOK, a creative film company. The short films are slated to be released on both traditional and online platforms, progressively over a period of 18 months, till the end of 2018. There will be an integrated online-offline approach to the distribution of these films.
Funding From The Ground Up
The spirit of this film project is – that anyone can give time, talent and treasures to benefit the greater community. NVPC will seek donations from foundations, corporates and would organise crowd funding for the 15 films so that individual Singaporeans can be a part of this initiative. A campaign has been set up on the crowdsourcing platform Giving.sg, for the public to support this film project. The Stories of Us Fund is administered by Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) who
For media queries and interviews, please contact:
Jessica Chai Pei Shan
NVPC, Lead, Comms and PR
HP: 9823 8554
Email: [email protected]
