Hougang Primary School

Imagine a typical train ride home one ordinary day on the crowded MRT. You see uncles and aunties after their afternoon tea sessions.  You see well-dressed executives with smart-looking briefcases rushing off to meet come clients.  You also see kids and youths after their morning school sessions, totally engrossed on their magazines, iPods and other gizmos.

It is popular culture at its best, powered by the insatiable energies of our Gen X and Gen Y movement. Now think!!!  How on earth would you capture their short attention span and turn them towards mainstream NE issues such as nation-building and chasing the Singapore dream?  This is the modern-day NE coordinator’s dilemma.

Pupils having some fun posing for a shot with Elim Chew outside 77th Street Heeren outlet.

But what if you could turn popular culture on its head and use this very force to drive NE messages across?  That’s what Hougang Primary School (HGP) had in mind when it brought 77th Street founder Elim Chew, acclaimed movie director Jack Neo and MediaCorp star Gurmit Singh under one roof in a novel approach to teaching NE called Take Five!.

And Gurmit Singh’s formula to success in showbiz is…
Tai Ji

Take Five! is a pupil-run programme where they conduct interviews with successful modern-day Singaporeans in sharing their visions and philosophies in life.  After all, what better way to bring NE to life than to showcase NE-in-motion through the lives of some of today’s most well-known household names?

This approach of interviewing current-day personalities showcases NE as a dynamic and evolving matter, and the content of the interviews are captured on video and edited into short programmes to be broadcast in schools.  To inject interactivity in the approach, HGP is currently looking to pilot the integration of Take Five! into the curriculum.  Pupils would be encouraged to watch the programme, following which their comments on the issues covered in the production would be harvested.

And the interview with Jack Neo at JTeam Production.

Pupils in the project benefit from the training they receive such as on-camera etiquette, scriptwriting as well as interviewing techniques.  The pupils also learn what it means to do the necessary groundwork and prepare themselves by embarking on a learning trip to one of the 77th Street outlets to really have a feel of who entrepreneur Elim Chew; they also researched on Jack Neo and Gurmit Singh.  Everyone had loads of fun.

And the intangibles?  Well, they found out how challenging acting and interviewing can be, and this became conversation fodder as they eagerly shared their experiences with friends in school.  They got the exciting chance to meet and rub shoulders with the celebrities up close and personal, and of course, some autographs too.

Other pupils in school who watched the first three episodes of Take Five! also had a good laugh from watching their friends in action. They got to know the personalities better through the interviews.  Most importantly, they also learnt that despite the daunting challenges and hard work behind running a business, working in showbiz or directing a movie crew, it is all about one’s dreams and passion that will always be worth fighting for.  Now isn’t this what NE is all about?

So, have a break, Take Five! and enjoy the show like how all of us in HGP did…