First Interactive Photo Walk for Schools on Google+

Release Date : 28 Jul 2012

Singapore Memory Project collaborates with Google to capture memories and images of schools past and present

Singapore, 28 July 2012 – The National Library Board (NLB) held the first interactive photo walk for students to capture memories of their schools and upload them on Google+. This is an online engagement project to collect memories and images of schools for the Singapore Memory Project (SMP) based on the theme of “Schools Past & Present”. Guest-of-Honour Mr Manogaran Suppiah, Executive Director from the Academy of Singapore Teachers, Ministry of Education, graced the event at the National Library Building.

The School of the Arts (SOTA), Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Central and Temasek Junior College each appointed 10 student representatives who mobilised their peers and led the photo walk in each school campus. More than 100 students participated in the event.

Mr Gene Tan, Director, SMP, shared, “We are delighted to work with Google on this innovative project that engages students to record images and recollections of their schools on Google+ for the Singapore Memory Project. We hope to reach out to more online users through this fun and interactive social media platform and encourage them to share their treasured memories with fellow Singaporeans.”

Mr Loren Shuster, Country Director, Singapore & Emerging Markets, Google, said, “Google is committed to bringing all types of culture, art and heritage online, and making it universally accessible. The Singapore Memory Project shows how the Internet can enable individuals and groups to spread knowledge to the broader community.”

Students from each school joined in the walk to take photographs and share them with online communities. Each school created its own sub-theme for the walk:

  • SOTA students carried out a heritage trail on “Schools Old & New” in the Bras Basah area which covered old school compounds like CHIJMES and Old School @ Mount Sofia and new schools like SOTA and LaSalle.
  • Students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic chronicled their vibrant campus life and school activities based on the sub-theme “Diversity and Culture”.
  • ITE Central students focused on the sub-theme “Transition from Old to New” by recording their memories of the current campuses ahead of their move into a new consolidated campus later this year
  • Students from Temasek Junior College celebrated their school's 35th anniversary by exploring the evolution of their school through the years.

The students uploaded their pictures on Google+ during their respective photo walks. At the end of the walks, the students gathered at The Pod, National Library Building, to share more photographs. Members of the public can view these images on the SMP's Google+ page, irememberSG, or by doing a search on Google+ using the hashtag #SGMemory. Google+ users can also instantly share their images and recollections of Singapore using the same hashtag.

In conjunction with the photo walk and to reach out to more Singaporeans, the SMP also organised a photography competition of the Bras Basah area for amateur photographers and a guided tour of the vicinity for members of the public.