* Excellence Award at the 2020 Beijing International Public Service Advertisement Conference
It was September 2020. Singapore had managed the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well. But as offices and business began reopening, there were frequent instances of individuals behaving irresponsibly. Not wearing a mask. Gathering in large groups. Throwing parties at home. These incidents were cause for concern for our clients, the Ministry of Communication and Information. They wanted to create a series of films reminding Singaporeans everywhere of the right actions to take in these precarious times.
Rather than single out irresponsible acts, we chose to do the opposite—sing praises. And quite literally, too. Our films took the form of a musical tribute to people all across Singapore who were making an effort to do the right thing. Small acts that made them, in our eyes, national heroes.
I wrote the scripts for both launch films in rhyming lyrical verses, and worked with the geniuses at Song Zu Singapore to turn them into rich musical numbers.
The films were to air on local TV channels which broadcast in different languages. So we translated the songs and re-composed them with culturally relevant instruments that would resonate best with their respective target audiences.
