Contribute sound recordings from your everyday lives to the National Archives of Singapore's SoundscapeSG

What are the sounds we often hear in places familiar to us, such as at the wet markets and hawker centres? How has the Singaporean accent evolved? What do dwindling languages such as Kristang and dialects such as Hock Chew sound like?

As part of the ongoing efforts to continuously expand the collection of National Archives of Singapore (NAS), we are launching SoundscapeSG, a crowd-sourcing initiative that calls on the public to contribute sound recordings from their everyday lives. From 5 August 2020, members of the public are invited to help build a sound map of Singapore by contributing recordings that represent Singapore’s unique sonic heritage at www.nas.gov.sg/citizenarchivist/SoundScape. This will add on to the existing collection we have which range from oral history accounts to documents, footages and photographs.

This is the first time NAS is collecting snippets of Singapore’s evolving soundscape. Through this project, NAS aims to collect sound recordings of present-day Singapore before they are no longer available.

“SoundscapeSG builds on our ongoing efforts to involve and engage Singaporeans in our archival efforts,” said National Library Board’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong. “This is in line with the direction of our Libraries and Archives Plan 2025 where we would like to work closely with the public on projects to foster community bonding and learning.”

We want to ‘hear’ from you
To capture sounds that are unique to Singapore and Singaporeans before they cease to exist, we are inviting members of the public to contribute sound recordings in five areas:

  • Local Accents and Dialects
  • To capture the language spoken by a specific region or social group
  • Wildlife and Nature
  • To capture sounds of animals, plants and landscapes such as parks and trails
  • Sounds of the Heartlands
  • To capture sounds at home, playgrounds, coffee shops, wet markets, hawker centres, void decks, etc.

Sounds at the Workplace
To capture sounds in workplaces of various industries

Festivals and Celebrations
To capture sounds of festivals celebrated in Singapore

The sound recordings collected through the Soundscape’s online portal will be made available on the Citizen Archivist portal (www.nas.gov.sg/citizenarchivist) after upload. NAS will assess the suitability of contributed materials before adding them to our collection. Materials added to the NAS’ collection will be preserved for posterity and made available to members of the public for personal research, academic work, publications or exhibitions.

Please refer to the Annex for a guide on how to upload sound recordings on SoundscapeSG’s online portal.

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About National Library Board
The National Library Board (NLB) nurtures Readers for Life, Learning Communities and a Knowledgeable Nation by promoting reading, learning and history through its network of 26 public libraries, the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. NLB also forges strategic partnerships that encourage awareness, appreciation and greater discovery of Singapore’s history through its rich collections on Singapore and the region.

NLB achieves excellence through innovation, focusing on citizen engagement and co-creation, resource and digital innovation. This creates learning opportunities, greater access to library resources, services and archival collections, as well as a continual development of innovative library spaces. Established on 1 September 1995 as a statutory board, NLB is under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).

For more information, please visit the NLB website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Charmaine Lau
Weber Shandwick Singapore
Tel: 9223 2570
Email: chlau@webershandwick.com

Denise Tan
Weber Shandwick Singapore
Tel: 9187 8530
Email: dtan@webershandwick.com

 

ANNEX A - GUIDE TO UPLOADING SOUND RECORDINGS ON SOUNDSCAPESG’S PORTAL