What makes you YOU?

Posted by angela under Exhibitions
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Yesterday I visited the YOUnique !dentity exhibition at the HeritageFest 2006 Festival Hub at Suntec City (Tropics Atrium), aimed at prompting Singaporeans to discover their identity and their roots.

The central theme of the exhibition was identity, which was explored at different levels.

Of course, there’s a exhibit on Singaporean identity..

Foreigners who have made Singapore their home…

Singaporeans who live in foreign lands…

What makes us Singaporean?

Everyone has different views… come listen to some of them! Not to be missed: the Caucasian man who does a good imitation of Singlish!

Global identity discusses Singaporeans and our impact on the world, as well as what it means to be a citizen of the world.

Social identity explores the different communities each individual could belong to - school, ethnic etc - and our roles within them.

Identity in the family talks about how our family contributes to our individual identities, as well as our roles in the family and whether they evolve with time.

Individual identity delves into who you are and how you are unique.

Several interesting things found…
The Not-so-identical Twins

This exhibit talks abou the story of 2 identical twins who led completely different lives for 50 years as they were separated from birth. One is now a Muslim who speaks English and Malay, whilst the other speaks only Hokkien and Chinese. This emphasizes how everyone is unique - even twins, alike at birth, can grow up into two totally different individuals.

The Singapore Tree


This tree in the middle of the exhibition contains visitors’ ideas of “Who is a Singaporean?” Some believed it would be someone born here, while others thought it was someone who embodied our nation’s culture (think kiasu. think Singlish.) If you happen to be in the vicinity, do grab a leaf and hang your thoughts up!

The Iris Scanner



Our eyes are unique, and not just in shape! Here, you can get your iris scanned and printed out, and compare your iris scan with your friends’ to see how they differ!

The Thumb Reader
What else makes us unique? Our thumbprints, of course. No one else has the same, not even if your identical twin/triplet/quadruplet/***let (if you had them)

To open this..

Place your thumb on the reader..

And tada!
Note: The machine is programmed to randomly open/deny access. If you do happen to place your thumb there and get denied access… don’t take it personally. ; )

There’s also a similar exhibition for kids at the Galleria Foyer, with simpler language but the same themes.

It’s all very kid friendly. Children can indulge in traditional games such as five stones and pick up sticks.

It must be fun, because I spotted fully grown guys trying their hand at the games…

Kids can also enjoy clay sculpture activites..

And dramatisations of ASEAN folktales.

All in all, an experience with something for all in the family.

HeritageFest 2006 runs till 23 July. For more information on the festival and its events, visit http://www.heritagefest.org.sg.

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