Ngee Ann students recreate history with iBooks

When Colonel (COL) (Ret) Andrew Chng was doing rescue work at the Hotel New World collapse, he came across a lady whose leg was trapped under the debris.

He had two choices at that time -- to focus all his time on rescuing her or use that time to find other victims. After weighing his decisions, he decided to set a time limit of 20 minutes to rescue the lady.

Student Daniel Tan said: "COL (Ret) Chng told us that in life, when you have two difficult decisions to make, the best thing is to strike a balance between both. He said if he was unable to pull her out, he would amputate her leg to save her.

"Fortunately, he succeeded."

The 16-year-old Ngee Ann Secondary student was so inspired by COL (Ret) Chng's encounter that he and his schoolmates decided to recreate the latter's story into an iBook.

Apart from the Hotel New World collapse, two other significant events in Singapore's history were also recreated as part of this project Konfrontasi and the 1964 racial riots through interviews with Commitment to Defence (C2D) ambassadors like COL (Ret) Chng.

The project, which started last May, involved 15 Secondary Three students. During the interviews, the students were thrown back in time as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) veterans recounted their stories.

Said Daniel: "(When) COL (Ret) Chng was sharing his experiences, it was very vivid as if he were painting a picture in our heads!"

With that, his team decided to retell the Hotel New World collapse incident through an interactive form where clicking different hotel room keys would bring the user to a specific time which an event took place. The iBook, titled Restoring Hotel New World, also consisted of the students' reflections.

The other two iBooks, titled Through the eyes of a Captain: 1964 racial riots and Confronting the Konfrontasi, were done in the form of a diary and a case file respectively.

Student Alicia Ong, who worked on the Konfrontasi iBook, explained that the inspiration for the unusual format came from the fact that very little was known about that period, except for the MacDonald House bombing.

"When we interviewed Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (Ret) Syed Ibrahim, he revealed a lot of details about the event that we were unaware of so it felt like we were uncovering a secret. We then decided to tell the story in a case file format, kind of like solving a mystery," said the 16-year-old.

The iBooks were officially launched on 10 Mar, during Ngee Ann Secondary School's 23rd Founders Day. Available for free on the school's website (http://www.ngeeannsec.moe.edu.sg/c2d-ibook), the books are currently only iOS compatible. An Android version is being explored.

Both the students and teachers also picked up lessons from the veterans' sharing.

Alicia shared that during the war, LTC (Ret) Ibrahim organised activities for his men to keep them occupied and positive as they were worried about their families.

"I learnt that no matter how the bad the situation seems, you should always stay positive and never give up," she said.

Mdm Farhana Mohamad Noor, one of the teachers who oversaw the project, said that she was so inspired by the stories that she told her husband to take his In-Camp Training seriously. She added that if she had a son, she would make sure that he served his country well.

"LTC (Ret) Ibrahim said even after you serve your National Service (NS), you still have to keep fit, (so that) in case something happens, you're ready. I never thought that was crucial for the defence of Singapore," admitted the 34-year-old Head of Department of Character and Citizenship Education at Ngee Ann Secondary.

Through the iBooks, the students hope to spread awareness of a forgotten part of Singapore's history and not to take her peace and security for granted.

Said 16-year-old Dawn Siew, who worked on the Hotel New World iBook: "I hope to inspire other students to connect with these veterans and curate the stories so that we can preserve these memories. There are many other significant events not covered, and (we can) learn from the many valuable lessons."

Fellow schoolmate Rianne Goh, who worked on the racial riot iBook, revealed that interacting with Captain (CPT) (Ret) Shamsudin bin Shadan made her realise that despite tensions during the riot, both the Chinese and Malays soldiers still fought as one to break the rioters up because they saw one another as brothers.

The 16-year-old said: "In the past, I always thought racial harmony was just a day for us to wear ethnic costumes, go to school and take pictures. But it's more than that -- it's about how these veterans fought to preserve the peace and security of Singapore.

"I hope that Singaporeans will take racial harmony more seriously and not take the peace we have for granted."