OSU Invitation

AN INVITATION

The Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) is pleased to invite you to attend a reception hosted by Senior Minister of State (Information, Communications and the Arts) RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew. The reception is for Singaporeans from the creative industries in the United Kingdom, and will be held on Friday, 12 September 2008 at the Royal Garden Hotel.

SMS Lui Tuck Yew will be accompanied by a delegation from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts comprising Mr Chan Yeng Kit (Permanent Secretary), Mr Lock Wai Han (Deputy Secretary for Industry & the Arts), and Dr Milton Tan (Director, DesignSingapore Council). Singapore High Commissioner in London, Mr Michael Teo, will also be present.

Details of the reception are:

Date: Friday, 12 September 2008

Time: Registration starts at 7 pm, and reception at 7.30 pm. Kindly
arrive early.

Venue: Royal Garden Hotel, Function Room - York Suite
2-24 Kensington High St, London W8 4PT

Dress Code: Lounge Suit

Kindly RSVP by 1st September 2008 to karolyn_poon@pmo.gov.sg

Asia House

Check out these exciting upcoming events at Asia House!

• Asia House Festival of Asian Film 2008

Photo from www.zhaowei.com

Dont miss the UK Film Premiere of 881, Singapore’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 2008 Academy Awards and a local, record breaking box office sensation. 881 is a magical, heart-wrenching musical extravaganza from director Royston Tan, the winner of over fifty international and local awards and hotly touted as one of Asia’s most promising breakout talents.

Friday 22 August at The Renoir Cinema at 6.30pm.

The festival also features many UK premieres of films from Asian directors such as Shin-Yeon Won, Daniel Lee, Nan Achnas and Kiumars Pourahmad. For more information, visit Asia House

• INDONESIA Inspired

During October 2008 - as part of the annual Connecting Cultures Series - Asia House presents Indonesia Inspired, a festival showcasing some of the most influential and exciting contemporary arts of Indonesia. This is the first event of its kind in the UK and the biggest Indonesian contemporary festival for many years.

Indonesia Inspired showcases a dynamic and fresh face of Indonesia and its people today. Through popular themes from food to film, fashion to design, these events will reflect a modern face of Indonesia with its dynamic society and the ability of its people to transform. For more information, visit Asia House

• Hong Kong Design - Lecture by Douglas Young

G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) is a one-stop Hong Kong lifestyle store, selling home accessories, furniture and fashion to the style-conscious denizens of the city. Most items of furniture are created by in-house designers and cater specifically for those living in a densely-populated city, while maintaining a healthy appetite for local flavour. The designs imbue traditional oriental techniques and materials with fresh ideas. Shunting freely between the old and the new, East and West, these bear witness to the adaptability and pragmatism of Hong Kong's people.

Douglas Young, founder of G.O.D., will talk about his quest to define a Hong Kong/Chinese style through product, lifestyle and fashion design. Born in Hong Kong in 1965, Douglas Young trained as an architect at Sheffield University and The Architectural Association, London. Since 1991, Young has worked on Hong Kong projects ranging from residential to retail interiors. In 1996, Young founded G.O.D together with partner Benjamin Lau. The majority of the merchandise is
self-branded and designed in-house by a multi-disciplinary design team led by Young.

This event is presented in association with the Hong Kong Society.

Thursday 18 Sep, 2008 at Asia House from 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM. Doors open at 6.30pm. Asia House Friends, Hong Kong Society Members & Concs £5, Others £8. For more information, visit Asia House

Tan Pin Pin’s Moving House, Singapore Gaga, Invisible City

Look out for the official release of one of Singapore's top documentary filmmaker's works in a special edition DVD boxed set. Tan Pin Pin's works have won acclaim internationally and can now be enjoyed collectively on your small screen. Meet the director, Tan Pin Pin, who will be sharing her inspirations and challenges in making these films.

Date : 29.08.2008 Fri 07.30pm till 29.08.2008
Venue : BooksActually. No. 5 Ann Siang Road

Getai girls rule again

Photo: ALPHONSUS CHERN

HOW do you follow up a mainstream breakthrough that was also a runaway homegrown pop phenomenon as well as Singapore's official entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film?

Director Royston Tan's answer: Give the crowd what they want.

So his new film 12 Lotus, which opens tomorrow, returns to the familiar stomping ground covered by his getai flick 881.

Inspired by the hard-luck song 12 Lotus, it tells the melodramatic story of Lian Hua (the Lotus of the title played by 881 alum Mindee Ong), a talented singer who is made use of by the men in her life.

The stakes are higher this time round. After all, 881 beat even reigning box-office champion director Jack Neo's Just Follow Law to the No. 1 spot last year with a gross of $3.5 million.

It also spawned two Hokkien-heavy hit soundtracks, tuned hipsters into the entertainment value of getai and proved that Tan, the enfant terrible of Singapore independent film, had what it takes to make a commercial film.

Call for entries! DMY ASIA TOUR 2008

DMY - daily, monthly, yearly ...is always and everywhere!
Following its ending in May, the DMY International Design Festival 2008 has garnered a highly positive response from the media, exhibitors and visitors alike.

This year, the DMY has enjoyed a successful expansion, introducing itself for the first time as a city-spanning design festival. Designers can now apply for their overseas projects, of which of the brief description below.

DMY - Asia Exhibition Tour 2008
In Autumn 2008, they will concentrate on their activities on Asias creative and economic key markets - Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They plan to take part in following design fairs and festivals:

•Taiwan
Design Expo, Tainan (October 4 - 19, 2008)
International Culture & Creative Industries Exhibition, Taipei (October 23 - 26 2008)

•Japan
Tokyo Designers Week (October 30 - November 3, 2008) - TBC

•Korea
Seoul Design Festival (December 3 - 7, 2008)


Call for Entries
DMY Berlin invites designers residing or working in Berlin to apply for its "DMY - Asia Exhibition Tour ".

The following types of objects can be handed in:
Products, soon-to-be serialized prototypes, limited editions and single items from the fields of industrial and product design.

The selected works of approx. 10 - 15 designers or design studios will be presented in a joint fair stand within a homogenous exhibition design. Participants will be nominated by DMY Berlin on the basis of their applications.

Application deadline: August 1st, 2008

Application:
Upon recepton of a duly completed application form, accompanied by a description of the submitted objects and images (low-res) via fax of e-mail.

The application form and call for entries may be downloaded here


Additional 2008 DMY Berlin Projects Abroad
Additionally, DMY Berlin takes part in following events with an array of projects and exhibitions in Autumn 2008: Tent London (September 18 - 21), Vienna Design Week (October 2 - 12), Designblok Prague (October 7 - 12), St.Etienne - International Design Biennial (November 15 - 30).

For more information, visit DMY Berlin

Mad About English!

THE ONLY MOVIE TO SEE THIS OLYMPICS!

Don't miss MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! A hilarious and heartwarming film about the people of China and their mad, mad rush to learn English before the Olympics begins. Featuring real-life characters, shot on actual locations across China and including never-before-seen, uncensored footages of the world's most bizarre way of mastering English, MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! is the must-see film of the year!

Click here now to see the movie trailer the whole world is talking about!

(More than 120,000 hits in less than a month!)

A cinematic milestone by a Singaporean filmmaker

The Globe & Mail in Canada says MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! tells its amazing story with "gusto and wacky charm".

Realscreen in Cannes says the film is "hilarious and heartwaming".

Award-winning Singaporean fillmmaker and former CNN anchor PEK SIOK LIAN (Sayonara Changi, Born Again Buddhists) has created a film that's filled with so many laugh-out-loud moments, stunning visuals and beautifully layered pathos.

Watch MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! and you'll never look at China the same way again.

And the next time you speak English, you'll think of the characters in the film...

How they inspire you, make you laugh and warm your heart.

Catch MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! at Lido, Orchard Cineleisure, GV Plaza in Singapore from Thu 7 August 2008!

Discounted tickets at S$6 each are available for group and school bookings of 50 tickets & above.

Please contact Wei Ling at Tel +65 6235-2077 or email weiling.cheok@shaw.com.sg

Media enquiries: Please contact Journey Pictures in Singapore at email@journeypictures.com.sg or Tel +65 6884-4840, Mobile +65 9488-2696

Singapore 2010 logo design competition

Photo credit : http://en.beijing2008.cn/

While all eyes are on the Beijing Olympics 2008 opening in a few hours, you can too, make history by designing the very first logo for the Youth Olympic Games taking place in Singapore 2010.

Singapore will host the Youth Olympic Games in 2010 and some 3,500 youth athletes from all over the world will arrive on our shores to compete in the spirit of Excellence, Friendship, and Respect.

The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee are inviting everyone to submit a design for the Singapore 2010 logo! This competition is open to anyone, regardless of nationality or design experience. So don't hesitate, have your say in the logo for the first Youth Olympic Games!

The closing date for submission is 29 August 2008

For more information, please click here

Singapore Biennale 2008

Singapore Biennale, the city’s largest international contemporary visual arts exhibition, returns on 11 September.

As the anchor arts event to the Singapore GP Season held in September, this mega art exhibition would continue to impress and draw wide global attention as it extends excellent opportunities for local and international art communities, arts businesses as well as diverse art audiences to interact, collaborate and be engaged in the world of contemporary art.

Please visit the official site for more information.

Powerbrokers International Leadership Placements

Powerbrokers International Leadership Placements are aimed at BME creative as well as those in managerial areas of the sectors.It is encouraging 'learning through doing' with some of the industry's most respected leaders and organisations.

The third round of placements offering awards up to £15,000 are:

• The Beijing Modern Dance Company, China
Associate Producer
(November 2008 - February 2009)
China's leading professional modern dance company

• 501 Contemporary Art Centre, Chongqing City, China
Marketing and Development Associate
(November 2008 - February 2009)
A dynamic and exciting not-for-profit new art centre

• Theatreworks, Singapore
Business Development Associate
(November 2008 - February 2009)
A leading inter-disciplinary performance company respondisible for ground breaking work regionally and internationally

• National Museum of Singapore
Associate Curator
(November 2008 - February 2009)
A cultural leader in making learning pleasurable, intellectual and serious

Please click here for further information