The Singapore Memory Project (SMP) is a whole-of-nation movement that aims to capture and document precious moments and memories related to Singapore; recollections not merely from individual Singaporeans, but also organisations, associations, companies and groups.

The SMP currently involves partners (academic, research and library institutions, heritage agencies, public agencies, private entities and community organisations) and Memory Corps – volunteers who serve various roles, such as helping individuals with difficulties documenting their memories; connecting the SMP to people with memories of key Singapore events, personalities and places; and enrolling more volunteers to join the SMP cause.

The web portal – SingaporeMemory.sg - allows every Singaporean to own a memory account to deposit their memories and stories. Memories can be deposited in the form of texts, audio files, video files or images. The web portal will help in community bonding by connecting contributors with shared memories and similar experiences. This will help to draw Singaporeans from all walks of life closer and foster greater social cohesion.

Thank you for visiting SINGAPOREMEMORY.SG, a Portal for the Singapore Memory Project ('SMP' or 'SMP Portal'), a Singapore Government initiative and project managed by the National Library Board, Singapore. By accessing and using this Web Site, you shall be deemed to have accepted to be legally bound by these Terms of Use as stated by the National Library Board, Singapore. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, please do not use this Web Site.

General

These Terms of Use may be changed from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page and your use of this Web Site after such changes have been posted will constitute your agreement to the modified Terms of Use and all of the changes. This Web Site is maintained by the National Library Board, Singapore ('NLB' hereinafter).

Proprietary Rights

This Web Site is created, updated and maintained by NLB. When any user deposits or donates any memories at this Portal, the user does so on the strict legal understanding that, all such memories are deposited or donated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Singapore, especially the National Library Board Act (Cap. 197), a Singapore legislation/stature that can be accessed at the www.agc.gov.sg website. The user should either have the legal ownership to the said deposited or donated memories and/or have the legal authority granted to him by the legal owner of the said memories to deposit or donate the said memories at this Portal. Additionally, the user who deposits or donates the memories at this Portal for the Singapore Memory Project shall complete all the fields of information details requested at the deposit or donation sub-page of this Portal. All information details and entries must be factually accurate, to the best of the user's actual knowledge. The intellectual property rights to the deposited or donated memories shall be reasonably reflected and attributed by all users of this Portal, who shall print, download and use the memories for both non-commercial educational and research purposes.

The memories and library materials located on this Web Site including the information and software programs (the Contents), are protected by copyright, trademark and other forms of proprietary rights. All rights, title and interest in the Contents are owned by, licensed to or controlled by NLB and the respective Singapore Government Agencies and contributors of memories whose names are attributed herein.

For all memories contributed to this Portal by any and all Parties, the Parties shall grant to the NLB (including Singapore Memory Project (SMP) and the National Archives of Singapore (NAS)), the perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to digitise, make available to third party(s) and/or members of the public via the Internet and/or successive technologies for downloading, printing and shall grant to the NLB the right to reproduce and republish this Portal's contents in any formats and platforms including print; electronic media; social media platforms; websites; publications; for NLB internal and external uses and for non-commercial purposes. The afore stated licence grants the NLB the legal right to sub-licence for non-commercial use the contents of this Portal at NLB's sole discretion and on such terms as the NLB may impose on the users. Such non-commercial use includes but is not limited to, use for personal enjoyment, private study and research purposes and/or posting of all content item(s).

When using and re-using the memories and library materials located on this Web Site, the online Patrons of this digital library portal of the NLB, shall undertake to comply with the various formalities stated herein, complete the relevant forms and undertakings attached and fill in all the information details requested truthfully at the respective web page.

PROHIBITED CONDUCT ('You' hereinafter refers to the users of this NLB and SMP Portal)

You agree not to post on the SMP Portal any memories, content or any other materials whatsoever that is or could appear to be:

• untrue, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive to another person's privacy or protected data, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
• infringing or alleged to be infringing upon a third party's intellectual property rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights of any party, including, without limitation, any Content that is the subject of any third party claim of infringement;
• of a type that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships, such as inside information and proprietary and confidential information;
• unsolicited, undisclosed or unauthorized advertising;
• software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
• data or information obtained through access that was not authorized by the owner of the data or information, or with respect to which such posting would constitute unauthorized use; or
• in violation of any applicable law, regulation, or statute.

You acknowledge that the posting of your memories for any period of time is sufficient consideration for the license granted herein to the NLB and SMP.

You agree not to do, or attempt to do, any of the following, subject to applicable law:

• access or use the SMP Portal or any service on the SMP Portal in any way that violates or is not in full compliance with any applicable law, regulation, or statute, contracts, intellectual property rights or constitutes the commission of a tort, or for any purpose that is harmful or unintended (by us), or other than in full compliance with these Terms;
• access, tamper with, or use services or areas of the SMP Portal that you are not authorized to access;
• alter memories, library materials or information on or obtained from the SMP Portal;
• tamper with memories, postings, registration information, profiles, submissions or memories of other users;
• use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the SMP Portal or extract data or gather or use information, such as email addresses, available from the SMP Portal or transmit any unsolicited advertising, "junk mail," "spam," or "chain letters";
• frame any part of the SMP Portal, or link to the SMP Portal, or otherwise make it look like you have a relationship to NLB or that NLB have endorsed you or your memories for any purpose except as expressly permitted herein. The SMP Portal and NLB accepts memories and not opinions on any memories and library materials contained in this SMP Portal. The NLB shall reserve all legal rights to delete and take down any comments, views, opinions, statements, written notes that are deemed by the NLB to be offensive against any person, individuals, organisations, groups, associations, entities, third parties whoever from this SMP Portal without any written explanations whatsoever to be provided by the NLB of the same;
• impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
• reverse engineer any aspect of the SMP Portal or do anything that might discover source code, or bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, content or code of the SMP Portal (except as otherwise expressly permitted by law);
• send to or otherwise impact us or the SMP Portal (or anything or anyone else) with harmful, illegal, deceptive or disruptive code such as a virus, "spyware," "adware" or other code that could adversely impact the SMP Portal or any recipient; or
• take any action which might impose a significant burden (as determined by us) on the SMP Portal’s infrastructure or computer systems, or otherwise interfere with the ordinary operation of the Site.

MONITORING OF SITE CONTENT

The NLB and SMP are under no obligation to restrict or monitor SMP Portal content in any way. YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE NLB AND SMP PORTAL MANAGEMENT DOES NOT REGULARLY MONITOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF CONTENT. Notwithstanding the foregoing, NLB reserves the right to modify or remove any SMP Portal contents at any time. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including other users, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of this SMP Portal. The NLB and this SMP Portal neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice, information, or statement made on this SMP Portal by anyone other than authorized NLB and SMP team acting in their official capacities.

Privacy Policy

Click here to review this Web Site's Privacy Statement. Restrictions on use of Materials.

Except as otherwise provided, the memories and contents of this SMP Portal shall not be reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or otherwise distributed in any way, without the prior written permission of NLB.

Modification of any of the memories or use of the SMP Portal contents for any other purpose will be a violation of NLB's copyright and other intellectual property rights. Graphics and images on this SMP Portal are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced or appropriated in any manner without written permission of NLB.

Right of Access

NLB reserves all rights to deny or restrict access to this SMP Portal to any particular person, or to block access from a particular Internet address to this SMP Portal, at any time, without ascribing any reasons whatsoever.

Links from this Web Site to other web sites

This SMP Portal contains hyperlinks to web sites which are not maintained by NLB and SMP. NLB and SMP are not responsible for the contents of those web sites and shall not be liable for any damages or loss arising from access to those web sites. Use of the hyperlinks and access to such web sites are entirely at your own risk.

Hyperlinks to other web sites are provided as a convenience. In no circumstances shall NLB and SMP be considered to be associated or affiliated with any trade or service marks, logos, insignia or other devices used or appearing on web sites to which this SMP Portal is linked.

Links to this Web Site from other web sites

Except as set forth below, caching and links to, and the framing of this SMP Portal or any of the memories and contents are prohibited.

You must secure written permission from NLB prior to hyperlinking to, or framing, this SMP Portal or any of the contents, or engaging in similar activities. The NLB and SMP reserves the right to impose conditions when permitting any hyperlinking to, or framing of this SMP Portal or any of the memories and contents contained herein.

The linking to, or framing any part of this SMP Portal or memories and its contents constitute acceptance of these Terms of Use. This is deemed to be the case even after the posting of any changes or modifications to these Terms of Use. If you do not accept these Terms of Use, you must discontinue linking to, or framing of this SMP Portal or any of the memories and contents.

In no circumstances shall NLB and SMP be considered to be associated or affiliated in whatever manner with any trade or service marks, logos, insignia or other devices used or appearing on web sites that link to this SMP Portal or any of the memories and contents.

NLB reserves all rights to disable any links to, or frames of any site containing inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful topics, names, material or information, or material or information that violates any written law, any applicable intellectual property, proprietary, privacy or publicity rights.

NLB reserves the right to disable any unauthorised links or frames and disclaims any responsibility for the content available on any other site reached by links to or from this SMP Portal or any of the memories and contents.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed and construed in accordance with laws of the Republic of Singapore.

GOVERNMENT OF SINGAPORE PRIVACY STATEMENT

This is a Government of Singapore website. Thank you for examining our privacy statement.

If you are only browsing this website, we do not capture data that allows us to identify you individually.

If you choose to make an application or send us an e-mail for which you provide us with personally identifiable data, we may share necessary data with other Government agencies, so as to serve you in a most efficient and effective way, unless such sharing is prohibited by legislation. We will not share your personal data with non-Government entities, except where such entities have been authorised to carry out specific Government services.

For your convenience, we may also display to you data you had previously supplied us or other Government agencies. This will speed up the transaction and save you the trouble of repeating previous submissions. Should the data be out-of-date, please supply us the latest data. We will retain your personal data only as necessary for the effective delivery of public services to you.

To safeguard your personal data, all electronic storage and transmission of personal data are secured with appropriate security technologies.

This site may contain links to non-Government sites whose data protection and privacy practices may differ from ours. We are not responsible for the content and privacy practices of these other websites and encourage you to consult the privacy notices of those sites.

The intellectual property rights to the deposited or donated memories shall be reasonably reflected and attributed by all users of this Portal, who shall print, download and use the memories for both non-commercial educational and research purposes.

Who we are and what we do

What is the Singapore Memory Project?

The Singapore Memory Project (SMP) is a national initiative started in 2011 to collect, preserve and provide access to Singapore's knowledge materials, so as to tell the Singapore Story.

It aims to build a national collection of content in diverse formats (including print, audio and video), to preserve them in digital form, and make them available for discovery and research.

Who is behind the SMP?

The Project is a whole-of-nation collaborative initiative led by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and facilitated by the National Library Board, in partnership with other institutions such as local and overseas libraries, heritage agencies and research institutions. The Project is directed by a Steering Committee and managed by the project's Secretariat.

Is Singapore the first to do a project like this?

No. Memory-related initiatives have sprung up all over the world especially in recent years. However, the specific goals of such projects may differ.

One aim of SMP is to engage individuals, communities, groups or institutions who have formed memories and content about Singapore, and would like to contribute them. The project hopes to build a culture of remembering, which will nurture bonding and rootedness.

What does the SMP hope to achieve specifically?

With the help of individuals and community partners, we hope to:

• Get as many people as possible taking part in the history of their family, streets, country and world.
• Bring communities together around local history and help people feel closer to the place they live in.
• Get people from different generations talking more, sharing more and coming together more often.
• Converve and open up global archives for everyone to enjoy, learn from and improve.

Using the Site: How to Share and Discover Memories

What is SingaporeMemory.SG?

SingaporeMemory.SG is the online platform for SMP that will enable everyone who has experienced Singapore to discover, share and contribute their personal memories towards the growing body of all things Singapore.

How can I submit memories through the portal?

To submit a memory, the public can create a personal memory account by signing in via their existing Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Windows live ID, and National Library Board (NLB) digital library accounts.

For the convenience of users, there is no need for accounts to be created at the portal.

Users can create accounts at the services mentioned above, if they do not have existing ones.

Does that mean I can choose to login with more than one account?

Yes you can. But it may mean that your memories would appear under different accounts, even if the accounts show the same name.

Why should I share my memory?

By submitting your memories to the Singapore Memory Project, you are joining us in affirming a simple truth about our country: that every voice matters.

Whether these are old photographs filled in shoeboxes or an oral account from your grandparents, the Singapore Memory Project hopes to find a home for these vignettes of memory, where everyone can see it, hear it, add to it, discuss and use it to build up an understanding of Singapore.

Is the platform meant only for Singaporeans?

No. It is open to anyone who has a memory to share about Singapore. We recognize that visitors to Singapore also add fascinating historical tidbits on how Singapore once was. Their encounters with Singapore, from the transient to the enduring, contribute to a fuller understanding of our collective history and identity.

What is considered a "memory"?

Memories can be personal accounts that tell the Singapore Story, be it past or present memories; in physical or digital format. These may come in the form of photographs, letters, ephemeral, manuscripts, videos, or oral interviews. The stories can be as recent as something that happened a few minutes ago. What is present now, will serve as a past memory for future generations.

We’re aware that these accounts and recollections are by its very nature personal and possibly subjective, but do take note of some guidelines that we’ve put up here to ensure the best experience for everyone on the portal.

What if the actual date of the memory is unknown?

Just provide an estimated year for the memory, if you do not know the exact date of the memory or it is hard to pin down the exact date of the event.

Can I submit a photo without accompanying text? Is that still considered a memory?

Yes and yes. We hope that through this portal, information gaps can be addressed through the contributions of others. Over time, what the community collectively contributes should help enrich one other’s submissions.

May I submit a memory on behalf of another person?

Sure! The Add form in the portal has been designed with this situation in mind. You can include the person’s name in the “Whose memory is this?"field in the form, to add a memory on behalf of someone else.

How do I find the memories I’ve contributed when I come back to the site?

You can go to the Browse section (Browse Contributors) and look for your name.

If you are logged in to the SingaporeMemory.SG portal, you can click on your name at the top, right hand side of the portal. Or look under ‘ME’ in the navigation bar. This is located at the centre, right hand side of the portal.

Will my submission be moderated?

Contributions are published in the portal immediately. We aim to be as open as possible. The community of users may then help us by flagging inappropriate contributions. In addition, our site administrators will proactively review content to ensure contributions adhere to the Terms & Conditions, and remain in true spirit of the project.

How long will it take for my submission to be viewable?

For submissions with only photos and text, these will be viewable within 1-2 hours. For submissions with video content, these videos will be viewable within 2-4 hours.

I have forgotten my password, how can I access the site again?

If you used a service like Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, and Windows to login to the portal, you have to activate the password recovery mechanism via the respective service provider.

If you used the NLB digital library account, you can contact the NLB Helpdesk (see the relevant section in the FAQ).

As the log-in mechanism for the portal leverages on third-party authentication, recovery of password will have to be obtained from the platform from which you are logged in. Example, you have to go to the Facebook website to activate the password recovery mechanism, if you chose Facebook as your login.

If I have my own blog with memories, do I need to resubmit every single story?

The portal currently doesn’t have 'import' functionalities to make automated submission possible, so the short answer is "yes", if you’d like to have all your prior blog posts shared with us. Email us at enquiry@nlb.gov.sg for us to help you.

How can I remove memories that I have submitted?

The portal does not allow deletion or editing of content that has already been submitted. Contributors can email their requests to: enquiry@nlb.gov.sg.

What are the accepted formats for attachments like photos and videos?

For contribution of images, the portal supports jpeg files (8Mb per image). For videos, the portal supports files in any of these formats: AVI, MP4 and WMV (20Mb per file).

Users can submit up to FIVE files per memory.

Which browser does the site work best in?

Chrome and Firefox are our preferred browsers at this moment.

Copyright and use of content

How will my content be credited on the portal?

Your submissions will always be credited by your username that you have chosen at the login stage.

When adding new content, you can may wish to add details in the description box, to include information of the photographer/cameraman/recorder, copyright license details, copyright holder and archive information etc.

Who owns the copyright to my submission?

You retain your IP rights. At the same time, by submitting to the portal, you grant the SMP the rights to reuse the content. Terms and Conditions are in place to protect your content from commercial use.

How will SMP use the content submitted to SingaporeMemory.SG portal?

We will only use it for non-commercial, and online promotional purposes. SMP may feature the content within their newsletters, via Facebook and Twitter identities and within community presentations.

SMP can remove inappropriate content, edit content by adding keywords and improve the accuracy of location and date information.

For more information on this, please refer to the Terms & Conditions.

Getting Involved

How can I get involved more personally?

Interested individuals can consider developing their pursuits in any of the following tracks:

• Trainers/Mentors: A trained irememberSG volunteer with experiences as a writer/documenter & interviewer and have been contributing a significant number of articles and posts for the project. Required to recruit new batches of volunteers to be trained and will form their own mini workshop sessions where they will conduct training sessions on how to conduct interviews and document memories. Mentor the new recruits to ensure that they are comfortable at conducting future interviews and documentations independently.
• Research writers & interviewers: Required to travel, conduct interviews and write at their personal time and expenses. Memory Corps will be trained to conduct interviews and must have good writing skills. Preferably have a personal blog or blog/websites/writing columns (physical/electronic media) that they regularly contribute to, including social networking sites such as twitter & Facebook.
• Documenters: Can conduct own interviews and documentation of memories and possess technical expertise such as photography, videography, audio recording for oral history interviews. Preferably have a personal blog or blog/websites (physical/electronic media) that they regularly contribute to, including social networking sites such as twitter & Facebook.
• Translators/transcribers: When required, they will help to translate/transcribe articles/interviews so that interviews will be understood and remain accessible to a multi-racial Singapore. Those interested to be part of the irememberSG Memory Corps has to sign up through https://vms.nlb.gov.sg.

We also offer a short structured internship with schools who are interested to train students in visual ethnography, and interview techniques. To find out more about these initiatives, contact us at iRememberSG@nlb.gov.sg

How can I bring the Singapore Memory Project to my community?

We have developed a basic set of memory starter kits as instructional materials for educators and students to bring to their classroom. We are also in touch with many town councils and community development councils to tap into the grassroots for community initiatives.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can bring the Singapore Memory Project to your classroom / community, contact us at iRememberSG@nlb.gov.sg

Disclaimer of Warranties and Liability

The contents of this SMP Portal are provided on an "as is" basis without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, NLB does not warrant and hereby disclaims any warranty:

as to the accuracy, correctness, reliability, timeliness, non-infringement, title, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose of the memories and contents of this SMP Portal;

that the memories and contents available through this SMP Portal or any functions associated therewith will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects will be corrected or that this SMP Portal and the server is and will be free of all viruses and/or other harmful elements.

NLB shall also not be liable for any damage or loss of any kind caused as a result (direct or indirect) of the use of the SMP Portal, including but not limited to any damage or loss suffered as a result of reliance on the memories and contents contained in or available from this SMP Portal.

For system login and technical issues, feedback and enquiries about the portal, the public can email to enquiry@nlb.gov.sg

Feedback

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