Now that National Day is nearly upon us, we can all expect the annual bombardment of government-approved jingles that you may or may not secretly listen to on repeat, locally-inspired nosh, and red and white on things that should never be splashed with those colors. *patriotic feels*
To celebrate Singapore’s 53rd birthday, we’ve got a special Singapore edition of a little magazine you may have heard of called National Geographic. Dropping islandwide at community centers and libraries, the limited edition publication will see 250,000 copies distributed for free from Aug 1 onwards.
Of course, this being a collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information, the mag will feature an interview with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong about his thoughts on the future of Singapore, alongside a series of local stories about individuals contributing to “shaping our future home through their pursuits.”
All this is part of the #WhatMakesSG campaign (since the authorities have figured out hashtags are the way to millennials’ hearts… and eyeballs), which includes a photography contest that was held back in April. Out of the over 7,000 entries, five winners were chosen by National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita and Nobel Peace Prize photographer Sim Chi Yin.
These images — plus Yamashita’s pictures of Singapore — will tour the country at a month-long roving exhibition that just started in Suntec City this week. Following that, the display will move to Changi Airport Terminal 4, Central Public Library, Jurong Regional Library, and Cheng San Public Library.
Oh, and for more on Singapore, you can tune in to a 60-minute Nat Geo documentary called City of the Future: Singapore, which will air from Aug 18.
Here are the winning photos.
