A Singaporean man donated half his liver to a complete stranger… and successfully saved his life.
A bus driver gives away free sweets… to wish his passengers a safe journey.
And then during the record-breaking Singapore Haze in 2013… when precious face masks were fast running out… Singaporeans rallied together to donate their vital stocks of masks to the needy.
ImagiNation at Scape.
Touching and meaningful acts of kindness
These are just three of the many touching and meaningful human acts of kindness at ImagiNation, an experiential exhibition – which was officially launched yesterday. At the exhibition, viewers to peer into a world where generosity, understanding and goodness are not the exceptions, but the norm.
Transports viewers into five zones of “imaginary” situations of kindness
Currently being held at *SCAPE Playspace until Sunday, the exhibition transports viewers into five zones of “imaginary” situations where kindness triumphs over unkindness. In four out of these five zones, the acts on display are inspired by real acts from all around the world. They tell heartening stories of generosity, neighbourliness and forgiveness amongst humans.
ESM Goh launching ImagiNation, in celebration of Kindess Day SG 2015.
Photo credit: SKM.
The random but real acts of kindness that were featured in the exhibition – had all been collected over several months from a variety of sources such as newspapers and social/online media – as well as via word of mouth and observations.
Fifth zone was an interactive short film on kindness
The fifth and final zone is an interactive short film titled SW/TCH, which invites viewers to make up their minds – about whether they will choose to live in a Nation of Kindness.
Explained Dr William Wan, General Secretary of Singapore Kindness Movement, “These exhibits of kindness are in the form of five different zones and as people walk through, they will see the acts growing from small, simple acts to bigger acts and then graduating into collective acts, where people organise acts of kindness.”
The public touring the ImagiNation Exhibition.
Photo credit: SKM.
Continued Dr Wan, “And in the final zone, they can see a movie which they can interact with. This movie has a toggle that will allow people to see both the light and the dark side of life. The whole point is that in life, there are two sides – the kind and the unkind – and you can choose which one you want to be. We hope that this will make people internalise reflectively and they will immerse themselves in the environment, and start thinking that they can indeed make the society a better place with small gestures of kindness – and without having to wait for anyone else to take the first step.”
This short film had been directed by Kristen Tan of Zhao Wei Films and will feature at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Said Tan, “In SW/TCH, two starkly different sides of Singapore – the best and the worst case scenarios – are presented through the technical possibilities of this split-screen narrative. The true reality of Singapore lies somewhere along this spectrum and hopefully as we toggle between the two worlds of the different screens, we realise that it is up to us to pick a point and decide what we want our country to be, and to realise that our actions are more than than sum of its parts.”
A preview into one of the Exhibits at ImagiNation.
Part of this year’s Annual Kindness Day celebrations
The ImagiNation exhibition, organised by the Singapore Kindness Movement, is part of yesterday’s annual Kindness Day Singapore. It is a departure from previous Kindness Day events, in that it trades a celebratory tone for a more introspective one.
Kindness Day Singapore, which is now into its third year, is an occasion for Singaporeans to come together to celebrate kindness and graciousness, and inspire one another towards the vision of A Nation Of Kindness.
Said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who had been the Guest-Of-Honour at the event, “I support the Singapore Kindness Movement’s effort to make Singapore into a Nation of Kindness. This is a noble vision worth pursuing. It will make Singapore a truly wonderful, happy home which we will bequeath our children. But the effort needs to be ground up and not top down.”
ESM Goh touring the Imagination Exhibition,
Photo credit: SKM.
Singaporeans can rally together online to create A Nation Of Kindness
And according to Dr Wan, Singaporeans can rally together and turn their country into A Nation of Kindness – beginning with the online domain. After all, he feels that Kindness Day should really be everyday – and not just yesterday only. He said, “When we see someone flaming someone or something and and writing negative stuff online we should step up and change the direction of the negative comments, by saying that we don’t agree and posting something positive.
“As more people do so, there will be a tipping point where these negative people realise they are the minority. But if the majority of people keep quiet, these negative minority will think they are king with nobody to challenge them. So let’s go in and get our friends to support us by saying the same thing,” continued Dr Wan.
ImagiNation will be open at *SCAPE Playspace today and tomorrow (Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st May). For more details, check out http://kindnessday.sg
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