SINGAPOREAN EXPERIMENTAL ORGANISATIONS COMPANIES IDENTITY TRAVEL “What is going to be the “We want to keep our “To develop deep roots you “The moment you want to future? How we will organise presence open in each need to have locals who be somebody, you are no ourselves? For Singapore, country for as long as speak the language, who longer free.” that is the most challenging possible. That shows understand the culture, who point for the nation and for commitment.” live in that space.” the coming generation.” Professor Wong Poh Kam, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Fumio Otani, Yukiyasu Nishio, Director of the NUS Writer, speaker and President of JCCI, Singapore GM of BTMU, Entrepreneurship Centre philosopher Singapore Branch A Socially Conscious Publication www.be-movement.com movement Celebrating the courage to be IN FOCUS : SINGAPORE www.be-movement.com Newspaper Permit: 092/08/2015 50 RED DOTS Be Movement AROUND THE WORLD SGD 18.90 Singapore’s 50th birthday VOL. 6 36 40 49 22 25 1 29 44 34 8 24 26 2 20 7 9 15 4 41 11 5 32 30 39 17 18 42 3 12 14 6 43 10 35 27 19 13 31 50 37 33 47 45 28 21 23 38 16 46 48 2 Be Movement - Celebrating the Courage to Be Be Movement - Celebrating the Courage to Be 3 1 ADRIAN YAP, JAPAN, PG 31 2 AIHUI ONG, US, PG 33 3 BEN CHEONG, THAILAND, PG 69 50 RED DOTS 4 CAROL TAN, US, PG 35 5 CHERYL CHIN, US, PG 78 6 CHEW CHIA SHAO WEI, US, PG 73 7 CHRISTINE CHIA, US, PG 74 8 CIEL LIU BEI, CANADA, PG 62 9 CLARA YEE, UK, PG 26 10 DARRELL ANG, FRANCE, PG 76 11 DIANA SAW, CAMBODIA, PG 182 If courage was a 12 EVAN FOO, US, PG 63 13 FAIROZ AHMAD, INDONESIA, PG 197 14 FIONA SZE-LORRAIN, FRANCE, PG 66 Singaporean person, 15 GEOFFREY K. SEE, NORTH KOREA, PG 12 16 GOURI MIRPURI, INDONESIA, PG 196 who would it be? 17 HAKIM YOUNG, AFGHANISTAN, PG 22 18 HANJIN TAN, HONG KONG, PG 20 To celebrate SG50, 19 HIU ZHI WEI, US, PG 148 20 IVYONE KHOO, UK, PG 71 Be Movement uncovers 21 JACK SIM, INDIA & WORLDWIDE, PG 194 22 JANANI SRIDHAR, US, PG 68 23 JEANINE LIM, NEW ZEALAND, PG 109 50 red dots whose 24 JENNIFER LIM, UK, PG 157 25 JOHN CLANG, US, PG 159 courage and action goes 26 JON MAX GOH, US, PG 106 27 JOSEPHINE TAN, INDIA, PG 153 beyond our shores… 28 KATHY XU, INDONESIA, PG 115 29 LAURENTIA TAN, UK, PG 178 30 LEE MIN XUAN, US, PG 180 Written by ERICA LIM & CASSIE LIM 31 MARK SIN, US, PG 151 Edited by MICHAEL LAIDLAW, KAH GAY NG, 32 MINA ELLEN KAYE, US, PG 108 DANIEL WHITTINGTON & CASSIE LIM 33 MICHAEL ONG, VIETNAM, PG 116 Photography by DAVID LALANNE 34 NATASHA LATIFF, AFGHANISTAN, PG 120 35 NAZYA AYAZ, US, PG 28 36 ND CHOW, JAPAN, PG 111 37 NELLIE HUANG, SPAIN, PG 118 38 NICHOLAS LEONG, KENYA, PG 155 39 RAMESH MEYYAPPAN, SCOTLAND, PG 14 40 SHARLIZA RAHMAN, UK, PG 142 41 SHARON LOW, AFGHANISTAN, PG 186 42 SHER CHEW, US, PG 113 43 SIOW LEE-CHIN, CHINA, PG 145 44 STEFEN CHOW, CHINA, PG 122 45 TAM WAI JIA, UGANDA, PG 16 46 TING SIEW LEE, TIMOR-LESTE, PG 191 47 VEMALA VALAS, INDIA, PG 149 48 WAN FONG WOO, GHANA, PG 188 49 XIE SHAOGUANG, MALAYSIA, PG 210 50 ZHANG TINGJUN, SEA, PG 144 • • 50 RED DOTS 50 RED DOTS the situation, after news of a second earthquake SINGAPORE HAS BECOME A CONCRETE JUNGLE of magnitude 7.3 and the crashing of a US Army BECAUSE OF ITS ECONOMIC GROWTH AND LAND helicopter on a relief mission, due to the bad SIZE. More cultural platforms to encourage weather and unfamiliar terrain on 12th May. The the next generation to grow up to be proud whole of Nepal was in a chaotic state and most of Singaporeans would be great. the infrastructure had been destroyed. iVYONE SINGAPORE HAS TO EVOLVE TO STAY AHEAD Our group had made a promise to the village to OF ITS CONTEMPORARIES, OTHERWISE IT WILL KHOO be there with relief items, food, tarpaulins and BECOME OBSOLETE AND FALL OFF THE RADAR. funds, and we went ahead with the plan. We However, sometimes I feel that it may be moving arrived in Katunge village on 15th May via a too fast and risks losing its soul. Evolving does not helicopter piloted by Captain Subek. Two weeks necessarily mean to do away with the old, but to later, I was devastated by the tragic news on 2nd innovate and stay vigourous. UNITED KINGDOM June that Captain Subek was killed in a helicopter LIFE IS NOT A BED OF ROSES. Learn to live life THE NORTHERN PART OF THAILAND, WHERE crash together with three other relief workers with a pinch of salt and don’t complain about MY FOUNDATION IS BASED, is the melting pot of from Doctors without Borders. If I had delayed everything. activities where many refugees, migrant workers, my trip by two weeks, I might have been on that hill tribes and poor Thai children are situated. All unfortunate flight. It did not occur to me that I was ivyone Khoo is a brave and curious the refugees and migrant workers in Thailand are courageous until the news of the crash hit me. ONE NEED NOT BE RICH OR FAMOUS TO REACH creature. Case in point: sleeping from neighbouring countries who are seeking OUT TO HELP A FELLOW HUMAN BEING WHO IS on the streets of Venice to finish LESS FORTUNATE THAN OURSELVES. Empathy refuge from the constant civil unrest in their SO FAR I’VE MANAGED TO RAISE FUNDS TO her art installation, and busking is the essence of every human being and any villages. Chiang Mai also borders Myanmar and BUILD 17 SCHOOLS IN THE REMOTE VILLAGES OF in Covent Garden. Her willingness ordinary person can become extraordinary if he Laos where many of my projects to help the MYANMAR. Every year, over 3,000 village kids to push boundaries also extends dares to use his heart, to feel the pain of those children in remote villages to get an education are have a chance to be schooled through my school to her artwork, as she views the whose hearts have no hope, to use his eyes to see rooted. It is a natural decision to have a base in building projects. world through a mechanical lens those whose eyes have been shaded by injustice, Chiang Mai, Thailand. and plays around with light. A SINGAPORE WILL ALWAYS BE MY HOME AND and to use his hands to reach out to help those cross-disciplinary wunderkind, whose hands have been handicapped by poverty. • I HAD MANY RISKY ENCOUNTERS IN MY JOURNEY. PRIDE. It is the place that gave me my heartbeat. ivyone is currently collaborating My most courageous encounter could be my The neighbouring countries that I have to be in are with a group of scientists to create recent relief mission to Nepal on 15th May 2015, part of my soul and give me the zeal to be living a an art project incorporating 20 days after the Gorkha earthquake which killed meaningful life. bioluminescence, the production of over 10,000 people. We chartered a helicopter light by living organisms. to reach the village of Katunge, Nepal, where a BASIC EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE IS A WAY OF group of us had previously donated funds to build LIFE FOR ALL. Education in these remote areas a medical centre in 2014. The medical centre was is a privilege. It is my personal goal to empower the only building standing after the earthquake the future and lives of as many children as I can and was used as the relief centre for the villagers. through education. The 1,677 houses in the village had completely SINGAPORE’S SUCCESS STORY has made some of collapsed and over 5,000 people were homeless. us a bit complacent and the next 50 years may not The route to the village was deemed unsafe be as smooth as the last 50 years, where many due to the magnitude of the aftershocks and opportunities were out there for people to grab. landslides. Many of my friends asked me to cancel or postpone my trip for a week or two to monitor 70 Be Movement - Celebrating the Courage to Be Be Movement - Celebrating the Courage to Be 71 • • 50 RED DOTS 50 RED DOTS workaholic and I have a very ‘Kiasu’ Singaporean streak, I am always fully committed to the task in hand, I am a ‘neurotic’ perfectionist. It has also given me a distinctly beautiful and unchangeable Singaporean accent when I speak. CHEW CHIA SINCE MOVING AWAY FROM SINGAPORE, I have learnt to live with less material belongings. My SHAO WEI priorities in life have changed too and as a result I have a much simpler lifestyle. I certainly have learnt to listen to my inner voice and have the courage to pursue a path of my own. I have also learnt how to cook and to take better care of UNITED STATES myself. I stopped watching television and started reading more. Being away from Singapore made I LEFT SINGAPORE TO explore and go on an LOVE IS COURAGEOUS. It scares the shit out of me appreciate the things I take for granted in adventure, so I followed my instincts. me because I discovered at fourteen that I didn’t Singapore even more.