The Magic of Dialect
The problem was that dialect, in Singapore, is not being enforced enough at homes. This is because some young parents do not speak or understand the history behind their dialects groups.With modernisation, many people prefer following the trends of global culture. Rarely do they go back to their roots to preserve their dialect and heritage. This takes away the opportunity for children to be interested in one’s dialect, as they are not exposed to it.
But, why preserve dialect?
Language and dialect is a tangible symbol of Singapore’s cultural identity. It is not just about communication, but also about ones history and traditions. Dialect helps to bind communities together, creating and preserving Singapore’s multidiverse national identity. Without dialect and language, Singapore loses its ‘colour’ as its identity is not retained.
Presenting, The Magic of Dialect
"The Magic of Dialect" revolves around creating a captivating, magical and enchanting space that goes beyond traditional language preservation efforts. The aim is to transport one into the magical world of dialect, where one can uncover secrets beneath the ‘surface’ of just speaking their dialect, turning language preservation into an engaging adventure, making the exploration of one's dialect an unforgettable experience.
The Exhibition
Phone Calls From the Past
An installation where one picks up a ringing phone, and is transported back to the past while ah gong and ahma tell them stories about the past as hokkiens. The phone calls are in hokkien, with supporting english translations. This showcases how hokkiens lived in the past, educating one on hokkien heritage, culture and way of life.
Flavour Spells
A VR cooking game where families compete with each other to cook up 5 dishes, with recipes and ingredients that will be shown on the screen.This game teaches one how to cook hokkien dishes. Besides the game, a little exhibition panel will be shown in the area, with fun facts about dishes like Kong Ba Bao, Hokkien Mee and Ang Ku Kueh.
Mix & Match
Designed for families to work together, each family remembers tiles while matching its english word to its hokkien term. The game builds ones hokkien vocabulary, while encouraging teamwork between families. For pre-education, families can play around with the flip-a-round panels, learning more hokkien terms before playing the game!
Uncovering Secrets Within
Uncovering Secrets Within is a touch screen mural, where multiple people can use their fingers to hover across the screen, revealing colours, animations and information. Upon reaching an item on the screen, it animates, and a fun fact pops up onto the screen. This educates people on hokkien culture, heritage and cuisine.
The Magic of Dialect's Application
The Process:
Learning Blender for the first time
Coming up with an exhibition, I knew I wanted to make use of 3D to model my exhibition. I made the decision to pick up Blender, a free 3D modelling software, and managed to make my exhibition come to life.
Illustrating!
Personally, I'm not very confident in my illustration. However, i wanted to bring my characters to life through this project. So I decided to illustrate! Here's some of my faves.
