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This is so cool! I just discovered the QR (Quick Response) bar code. Install the free QR Reader app for your iPhone and scan this image to see where it takes you 
Imagine what possibilities! WOW.
P.S. 26 Sep 2011 – Here’s how one person has taken it to the grave.
Oh! The Japanese were on to it in 2008 already!
WOW what a surprise! Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong quoted me in his National Day Rally Speech on 14 August 2011.
.
He said:
Recently, I attended the launch of Singapore HeritageFest and I made a speech about these human stories and emphasised how important they were. It prompted a response in the TODAY newspaper by a lady, Angeline Koh, who is working on digital storytelling and I think I should read a little bit of what she said because it resonated with her.
She said, “What are memories and shared experiences but stories. And storytelling is what Singapore as a nation needs. There are unsung heroes in our midst, there are people we meet each day in our homes and in our schools, at work and in play. Our children need to realise they are heroes in the making. They have the power to become heroes by the brave and sacrificial choices they make to live well and for the good of others”.
Here’s what happened
I was slouching in the seat of my living room listening to the PM deliver his speech. I was tired, half dosing off actually. But I really wanted to know what the CEO of Singapore had to say and where he was taking us as a nation.
Toward the last quarter of his speech, he began talking about home, memories, stories. That woke me up of course. Anything “story” does.
There in my living room, I (complete with animation) began “talking back” to the PM, “Digital Storytelling, Digital Storytelling.” I said repeatedly to mum who was watching his speech with me. “Mummy, Singapore should do digital storytelling.Singapore needs digital storytelling.”
Then suddenly he said my name, and he said, “digital storytelling.”
I began jumping in my seat. “YES! YES! YES!” I began screaming. It was like Singapore had scored a goal at the Malaysia cup.
The past year has been challenging. I left the comfort zone of my last job after 22 year with little clue of how to run a business or how to make digital storytelling fly. I only knew that we need storytelling in Singapore. I wanted to tell stories and help others tell stories. I must have knocked at some 20-30 doors… individuals as well as organisations, communities, corporations, SMEs, and government departments.
People like storytelling. But we are a pragmatic people — and storytelling is seen as a luxury item. I can almost hear it, “What is it for?” How do you tell busy people come sit down and listen to my story. Or tell me your story.
Last month, PM Lee spoke at the launch of the HeritageFest. I read his speech and listened to the snippet of the launch on the news. I said to myself, “I have to engage him. I have to tell him how digital storytelling can help address some of the issues that he is concerned about.” The recent May 2011 General Elections surfaced many expressing strong sentiments about this party or that party. This is not about parties but about my heart for my country. I wanted him to know how I want to play a part in building up Singapore my home.
I worked almost non-stop for 24-hours crafting and creating a 1.5 minute video clip for him and sent it to him together with a very short note. I could think of nothing except that the CEO of Singapore has to hear me.
He replied. Well, at least I think his PA did. It was a short,
Dear Angeline,
Thanks for your email, and for your video. I enjoyed watching it, and am glad that what I said about the meaning of home struck a chord with you.
With best wishes,
Lee Hsien Loong
“No!” I said. “I want to engage you! That’s not the reply I want to hear from you.” (I didn’t actually say this to him of course. I was just saying it aloud to myself as I read his reply.)
The thought wouldn’t leave me. I couldn’t let HeritageFest come and go without sowing the idea that digital storytelling can play a part in nation building. And I want to be part of it.
Then the thought came to me to write to the Today Papers since it was there that I had read about the HeritageFest and PM’s speech. I took another 24 hours to craft my blog post and sent that to VOICES (Today Papers). I was thrilled when I got an email from the editor saying he would publish it if I cut my article down to 500 words.
I painfully cut down my article and sent it to him.
And then something awful happened. For whatever strange reason, there was a bug in my email that made the mail keep looping itself. It just kept relentlessly resending the article to them again and again and again. Finally I got an email from the press asking me to stop spamming their mail box.
I thought, “No! This is not happening!” There was nothing I could do to stop it. I called the technical hotline but still it just kept looping. I wrote to Voices to explain. I got no reply. I phoned them a couple of times. I couldn’t get the editors.
Then each day I checked the newspaper — no article. I thought, “That’s it. They must be thinking I’m some mad woman trying to tell the press what to do.”
On the early morning of 10 August, the day after National Day, I was skimming through the Today papers. The title, “Telling the Singapore Story” caught my attention. I started reading it… It was MY article! And so well timed!
I thought, OK, the PM didn’t respond to me. But something good came out of this. If he had responded to me, I would not have written this article and then nobody would have got to hear about digital storytelling.
That same day, a Sin Chew Jit Poh (Chinese newspaper) journalist called to do a telephone interview with me.
Three days later, on 14 August, PM Lee read the excerpt of my article on the nation-wide broadcast.
In that same speech, the Prime Minister also said,
“MICA is launching a Singapore Memory Project to capture, preserve and showcase these memories. They hope to collect five million memories by 2015 because that is our 50th anniversary. The stories can come from anybody, any person, any community, any organisation or institution which has experienced Singapore. Together all these individual stories will weave the tapestry of our nation. They started in July, so far they have collected 30,000 plus stories…”
FIVE MILLION!
More than twenty years ago, I had made a “joke” with God. I didn’t even dare to call it a prayer. I said, “God I want to touch a million lives.” I want to make a difference. I wanted to ask him for something so big and so audacious that if it happened, I would know it is not an Angeline Koh thing but a God-thing.
By the 16 August, I got emails. The people I had talked to remembered me. And now they are opening the doors to let me in.
God took my joke seriously.
A week ago, I met a young and accomplished composer artiste who saw immediately where I want to go with Digital Storytelling. He not only inspired me but also worked closely with me to put together a self-explaining video for Digital Storytelling Asia. It is not just Hagen Troy Tan‘s skills, creativity, and accolades but who he is and his belief in people, in me, that makes him amazing.
The young man has been in the music industry for 13 years and for the past three consecutive years has been Sony BMG (Asia)’s top music composer. Hagen’s creative efforts have led him to be noticed by some of the biggest names in the music industry for various collaborations (Ocean Ou, Harlem Yu, Wilbur Pan, Jocie Guo, Joi Chua, to name but a few). Hagen’s song, “A Wonder in Madrid” (“Ma De Li Bu Si Yi”), written for Taiwan pop queen Jolin Tsai, led her to be “Best Female Artiste of the Year” and was also nominated for “Best Song”.
Here are two more of his videos.
The songwriter, music producer, artiste, rock star was recently appointed Health Promotion Board’s Breathe Icon/Ambassador.
Hey Hagen Troy Tan — how do I say thanks without saying thanks? You’re cool bro.
A condensed version of this article appeared in the TODAY papers on 10 August 2011, a day after Singapore celebrated her 46th birthday. Click to download the PDF Telling The Singapore Story.
Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong’s opening message at the HeritageFest launch resonated with me.
“Home means you must have some memories, you must have shared experiences and you must have some sense of where we came from, why we are here what it means to us… we will tell the stories about it to the younger ones and the next generation…we will connect to one another, connect to our parents and past, and to our children and future.”
For a struggling start-up social entrepreneur with a passion to “Create Storytelling Movements. Empower Ordinary people to tell their stories,” PM Lee’s statement is a beacon of hope, an affirmation that Digital Storytelling Asia (DSA) is on the right track. Storytelling is what Singapore as a nation needs.
When I speak of storytelling I do not mean the “once-upon-a-time” fairy tales that we think belong only to the domain of children. Stories are the stuff that life and memories are made of — the stories of our lives shape us. History is story. There are national stories and there are personal stories. We all have histories even the quietest of us.
Stories are shared memories. They can be painful ones like seeing a loved one through cancer or happy ones like remembering the old kampung house we grew up in, or the silly ones that make us laugh at ourselves. We have personal, family, community, and national stories. Stories engage not just our minds but our emotions and glue us together. Stories are the heritage that we leave with our children and our children’s children.
In the 9 September 2010, TODAY papers, Yeo Lay Hwee wrote, “The Singapore Story – A new narrative, a new story that can engage the younger generation, is needed.” Commenting about the immigrant issues, she said:
“I also have a nagging feeling that the unhappiness about the large influx of foreigners is only a symptom of some larger issues and questions. It is not about us and them, but it is a question of who we are, what kind of society we want to build and what kind of Singapore we want to have.”
Have we come closer to finding our Singapore Story? Our “romantic narratives” of fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, of unlikely knights turned heroes on a quest? There are unsung heroes in our midst — they are our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, people we meet each day in our homes, schools, work, and play. There are heroes in the making. The young people in our midst who shape tomorrow.
Our children need to realise that their lives are stories that they are writing by the choices they make each day. They have the power to become heroes by the brave and sacrificial choices they make — to not live indulgent lives but to live well and to live for the good of others.
To quote Yeo again,
…We now have to think of a narrative that will take us from First World to XXX — the unknown? We need a new narrative, a new story that can engage. And this story can no longer be written by the Government alone…
The story that can engage our imagination must begin with a “WE”. It has to be a story that as many people who want to participate in the writing must be given the opportunity to do so.
It has to be a story that we all believe in.
Our individual stories are like little streams that converge into a river and into the ocean. The Singapore Story is the sum total of the stories of her people.
So where do we start?
Moving HeritageFest to the heartlands and creating events like these are steps in the right direction. PM Lee hit the nail on the head when he said, “These trails should be developed by the community, as a ‘grassroots, bottom-up’ effort.”
BBC Wales and BBC England initiated storytelling projects. ‘Capture Wales” project ran successfullyfrom 2001 until 2008. Nearly 600 stories were produced and it won some awards including a BAFTA Cymru. ”Telling Lives” (England’s parallel to the Wales project) ran from 2002 to 2005.
“Everyone has a story to tell” the sites say. All over the UK, “people made Digital Stories about real-life experiences and each story is as individual as the person who made it. Each Digital Story is made by the storyteller themself, using his or her own photos, words and voice.”
The series which were screened on BBC and showcased on their websites with the aim to “Connecting communities is a key aspect of the BBC’s contribution to social value. Many of our programmes, our physical presence and our grass-roots activities serve to encourage participation and a sense of belonging.”
In my keynote address at the International Digital Storytelling Festival organised by the Aberystwyth University, the Arts Council of Wales, the National Council of Wales, and the BBC held in Wales on 17 June 2011, I said that my dream is to create storytelling movements and to empower ordinary people to tell their stories.
John Hartley and Kelly McWilliams in the book “Story Circle” (2009),wrote:
“…Digital storytelling… is less developed in Asia, Africa, and South America. Most of the workshops held on those continents have been run or led by Western organizations or Western workshop facilitators and, by large, have not resulted in ongoing local programs…”
Digital Storytelling Asia is a Singaporean initiative. As far as I know, an early mover (if not the first mover) of digital storytelling in Asia. DSA which collaborates with the National Book Development Council of Singapore is a bottom-up initiative that seeks to fill that gap by creating storytelling movements and empowering ordinary people to share their stories.
The late Dana Atchley, also known as the father of Digital Storytelling said:
“The stories and anecdotes we share with one another
are the ways we let each other know
who we are,
where we come from,
where we are going,
and most importantly,
what we care about.”
We need to keep telling and listening to our stories. We need to help others find and tell their stories.
I never saw the power of Twitter till I saw it in action.
Unknown to me, tweets were being tweeted while I was giving the keynote address (and also throughout the day) at the International Digital Storytelling Festival (DS6) in Aberystwyth, Wales on 17 June. This one for instance said,
Rydw i wedi cael fy ysbrydoli gan Angeline Koh, siaradwr 1af #ds6
I ran that through Google Translate. It immediately detected it as Welsh. It said,
I’ve been really inspired by Angeline Koh, speaker first # ds6
As a result of the Tweets, people who were not at the Festival got wind of the event. I received this email
Hi Angeline,
Great to see so much coverage of your keynote address at DS6 at Aberystwyth University. How long are you in Wales for?
I’m from Singapore and have just graduated from my journalism course here. I’ve got to admit to an immense sense of nationalistic pride which arose when I saw someone from home inspiring so many here. I’m truly sorry I couldn’t be there for DS6. Judging from Twitter, many people here are spurred on from the topics you covered. Different cultures; with so much to learn about each other.
I was wondering if you would have time for an interview, over the phone, or in person? I’m doing my placement at Media Wales, the publishers of the South Wales Echo and the Western Mail, Wales’ national newspaper. I would love to file a story or interview about yourself and your work around digital storytelling.
I am humbled by the opportunity I have to represent Singapore and Asia in Digital Storytelling. I copied the Tweets that were sent during the course of the day and sent out a Tweet myself…
angeline_koh Angeline Koh
Signed up for Twitter 27Feb2010. Sent out first Tweet 18Jun2011. Never too late to learn. Grin.
Read on if you are interested to see other tweets for DS6…
@barstep
Barrie Stephenson
Angeline Koh wins the prize draw at the end of #ds6 She takes a Fuji digicam back home with her to Singapore. Hooray
@Michael_Yong
Michael Yong
Few people talking about Singapore pledge at #ds6. Angeline Koh, REPRESENT!
@PartCymru
Participation Cymru
Rydw i wedi cael fy ysbrydoli gan Angeline Koh, siaradwr 1af #ds6
PartCymru Participation Cymru
Inspiring stuff from Angeline Koh #ds6
BBCommArts Breaking Barriers
#ds6 angeline koh – what an inspiration
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
‘Media shows our need to connect with each other’ Angeline Koh #ds6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
#ds6 angeline koh really passionate about #digitalstorytelling the story media for the people
6 hours ago via TweetCaster
Retweeted by Michael_Yong
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
#ds6 Angeline Koh ‘Digital storytelling can fill in social gaps’
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
In Asia we are ten years behind you in digital storytelling – we have a lot of catching up to do. Angeline Koh #ds6
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
#ds6 “all I wanted to do was tell my story and help other people tell their stories.” Angeline Koh speaks for so many people there!
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
#ds6 “I allow myself to make mistakes. I allow myself to have fun!” fab pledge Angeline Koh makes her trainers & trainees give before work!
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Cultural boundaries fade at the digital storytelling workshop. Angeline Koh (Singapore) #DS6@
getgood
Nicky Getgood
Listening to angeline koh of digitalstorytellingasia.com #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
First speaker is Angeline Koh from Digital Storytelling Asia, a social enterprise based in Singapore. #ds6
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Setting up the digistories stand at #DS6. come and say hello. Looking forward to pres from Angeline Koh and Pip Hardy yfrog.com/kjt23rj
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Spent a great evening with Angeline Koh discussing our dreams for the development of digital storytelling. More at #DS6 http://ow.ly/1tMuVM
=====
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
Great event at #ds6 with loads of fantastic projects and inspirational speakers. Not looking forward to 3 hour train journey to Birmingham!
@PartCymru
Participation Cymru
Fantastic workshop from @Communities2_0 at #ds6, my mind full of the possibilities of using new digital tools!
@annesiegel
Anne Siegel
Really enjoyed breakout sessions at #ds6 with Karen Lewis &@lisaheleddjones from @storyworksuk and the inspirational @hannahnicklin
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
Flickr shares stories through photos, twitter shares stories through words in real time #geecsds6 #ds6
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
More people will adopt tech that already exists … It’s clear from today not everyone already uses it #geecsds6 #ds6
@RamiDST
Rami Malkawi
I am at #ds6 . It’s really Great #digitalstorytelling conference. I have met many professional people here
@reinikainen
Esko Reinikainen
RT @CHCymru: The storytelling process gives people a voice which they can use to instigate positive changes. ~Julie Gade #ds6″
@reinikainen
Esko Reinikainen
In @hannahnicklin s session at #ds6 fully expecting to have my mind blown!
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
Stakeholders creating a vision for projects through people’s actual stories +using voice for positive change – Story Field project #ds6
@StoryWorksUK
StoryWorks
Ooh sounds good. RT @digistories: Lots of interest in my demonstration of creating digital stories in iMovie on iPad2. #ds6
@lisaheleddjones
lisaheleddjones
Have done my #ds6 talky bit. So can now enjoy the rest of the speakers. There are some ruddy interesting people here.
@harri80
Angharad Dalton
Interesting talk on potential of DS within interaction design at #ds6. Clever tools & methods used to generate ds’s for research @thinkARK
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
People are analogue and are storytellers, tech is merely a tool to aid them #geecsds6 #ds6
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
People will find new ways of using existing tech in different ways. Developments of new apps #geecsds6 #ds6
@AmandaHWard
Amanda Ward
New media allows more people to understand DS. #Ds6 #geecsds6
@AmandaHWard
Amanda Ward
Feeling creative. #Ds6
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
Is #contentmarketing similar to #digitalstorytelling? #ds6 telling a story about industry/business
@AmandaHWard
Amanda Ward
You dont have to be geeky to be in the online world. #Ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
How about putting your digital stories on your website/blog to encourage comments + interaction between staff, tenants + stakeholders?#ds6
@AmandaHWard
Amanda Ward
Might just take #amandaward to a whole new level. #Ds6
@laurasorvala
Laura Sorvala
@harri80 stuff at #ds6 sounds great!
@PilgrimPip
Pip Hardy
Good to hear from Julie Gade about digital storytelling as a way of gaining user views at #ds6.
@reinikainen
Esko Reinikainen
In @hannahnicklin s session at #ds6 fully expecting to have my mind blown!
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Interested in constructive and inspiring collaboration with partners? Digital stories help to create a vision for your project! #ds6
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
@StoryWorksUK your presentation gave me lots if food for thought – thanks! #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Digital stories can be presented to politicians and other decision makers as an alternative way of making your voice heard. #ds6
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Good conversations over lunch at the @digistories stand at #ds6 good food too.
@harri80
Angharad Dalton
Interesting talk on potential of DS within interaction design at #ds6. Clever tools & methods used to generate ds’s for research @thinkARK
@louisekcharter
Louise Kingdon
#ds6 heidi and I are getting very inspired!
@KatieWelford
Katie Welford
Really gutted I can’t be at #ds6 today, but enjoying following the hashtag…keep them coming Aberystwyth!!
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Not just about news – all about having pride in the communities you live in and sharing your community’s stories. #ds6
@hack_flash
hack/flash
RT @digistories: Digital stories allow us to walk in someone else’s shoes – just for a few minutes. @PatientVoicesUK #ds6
#ds6 so far the speakers have really clarified the energy and breadth of #digitalstorytelling
@Almag29
Alex Henry
#ds6 This might b of interest – i’m booked on! Building digital capacity for the arts: Book your free place (cont) http://tl.gd/b5sgip
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
Hearing thought-provoking stories from the @PatientVoicesUK project. #ds6
@PartCymru
Participation Cymru
Pip Hardy of Patient Voices has me thinking of #digitalstories as qualitative data #ds6
@annesiegel
Anne Siegel
Really impressed with the work of Patient Voices & how it encourages the process of reflection resulting in powerful digital stories #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Digital stories promote empathy, prompt reflection and encourage creativity – great way of sharing experiences with others. #ds6
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
What is the dragon in your story? Critical to making the account a story. #ds6
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
#ds6 the best stories are passages past dragons… yfrog.com/h4y6qboj
@hannahnicklin
Hannah Nicklin
Incidentally, today I learned about the Singaporean national pledge. It’s way better than the American one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore… #DS6
@MoreHavoc
Christopher Carney
@hannahnicklin Gosh! Good work Singapore!
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Statistics tell us the system’s experience of the individual .. stories tell us the individual’s experience of the system #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Statistics tell us the system’s experience of individuals, whereas stories tell us the individual’s experience of the system. #ds6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
#ds6 trainee doctors story very moving learn from story
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
#ds6 Pip Hardy @PatientVoicesUK ‘it’s really important to hear the stories of patients’
@annesiegel
Anne Siegel
“We learn not from experience but from reflecting on experience” Pip Hardy at #ds6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
#ds6 @PatientVoices “ways of knowing” learning from experience using #digitalstorytelling as a method for reflection
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Important to hear the stories of patients in the process of healing. @PatientVoicesUK #ds6
@PartCymru
Participation Cymru
Rydw i wedi cael fy ysbrydoli gan Angeline Koh, siaradwr 1af #ds6
@digitalst
Gareth Morlais
RT @PartCymru Rydw i wedi cael fy ysbrydoli gan Angeline Koh Participation Wales been inspired by #digitalstorytelling Asia’s story at #ds6
@estherbarrett
estherbarrett
At the Digital Storytelling Festival in Aberystwyth #ds6 inspiration from Singapore
@PartCymru
Participation Cymru
Inspiring stuff from Angeline Koh #ds6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
#ds6 angeline koh – what an inspiration
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
What is digital storytelling for? It’s for connecting people. #ds6
@rhysgregory
Rhys Gregory
@Michael_Yong digitalstorytellingasia.com or google Angeline at DS6. Check the #ds6 tag too
@PatientVoicesUK
Patient Voices
AK – eternal DS problem – economic viability without university/institutional funding/support!! #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Digital storytelling can ‘fill up social gaps’ – stories can be screened in so many different ways to reach different groups of people. #ds6
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
#ds6 Angeline Koh ‘Digital storytelling can fill in social gaps’
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
#ds6 so interesting that countries have similar stories to tell Singapore Soul moral compass lost to pursuit of wealth
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Can we write our own history – our story? Young person in Singapore on Facebook #ds6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
@digistories I think its difficult but not impossible
@CHCymru
CHCymru
DSA have collected over 200 stories – Angeline is passionate about telling her own story and helping others to tell theirs. #ds6
@CHCymru
CHCymru
Digital storytelling brings different cultures together and can turn a group of strangers into friends. Creates a community! #ds6
@Karl_multistory
Karl Greenwood
Angelina Koh at #ds6. All children say singapore pledge ’1 united people, regardless of race, language or religion’ We should have UK pledge
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
#ds6 hearing all about Singapore’s Maria Hertogh riots en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Her…
@PatientVoicesUK
Patient Voices
Angeline Koh setting DS in a very different cultural context from our usually US/European frame #DS6
@BBCommArts
Breaking Barriers
How does storytelling contribute to modern Singapore #ds6 #digitalstorytelling
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
#ds6 “eating is one of our national pastimes.” I like the sound of multicultural singapore
@getgood
Nicky Getgood
Listening to angeline koh of digitalstorytellingasia.com #ds6
@digistories
Barrie Stephenson
Angeline Koh presenting at #ds6 yfrog.com/kky4bwj
