Tag: National Day

Singapore – To honour Singapore’s National Day, which is celebrated every 9 August, the telco Singtel has launched a new campaign that illustrates how its telecoms infrastructure and engineering expertise have been vital to the staging of the National Day Parade since the 1960s, through the early days of 3G to a fully 5G nation today.

Titled ‘The Making of a 5G Nation’, the film tells the story of Singtel’s planners and engineers for whom wiring up the Marina Bay floating platform with 5G is a mission they are immensely proud to undertake.

Mark Chong, Singtel’s group chief technology officer, shared that when thousands of people want to live stream and send videos at the same time, from multiple 5G-enabled devices that are concurrently streaming over global online mediums, great demands are placed on their network which will be seriously tested in terms of its power and reliability.

“From our experience supporting this event through the years, and our 5G trials in Sentosa, we’ve picked up important lessons on managing complex technology for an even more memorable experience. It is our privilege to support the Parade every year and we’re excited to bring 5G to everyone this year to commemorate Singapore’s birthday,” said Chong

Meanwhile, Lian Pek, Singtel’s vice president of strategic communications and brand, noted that this is the first time they’ve thrown the spotlight on their planners and engineers, the unsung heroes who work quietly behind the scenes, year after year, to pull off one of the most anticipated events in the national calendar.

“This year’s NDP is particularly special for us as a company as we’ve reached nationwide 5G coverage 3 years ahead of time, effectively making Singapore the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G. The significance of this milestone, and a 5G-enabled live Parade, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID, calls for a celebration with fellow Singaporeans. This is the leap in technology that will help carry Singapore forward as it moves on from the pandemic,” said Pek.

Singtel said that preparations for this year’s National Day Parade started as early as a year ago, with its teams working to enhance capacity and optimise and test 5G mobile coverage to ensure spectators at the event are well supported.

The campaign will be airing on Singtel TV and various social media channels.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – To celebrate the true spirit of Malaysia’s National Day, electricity giant Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has launched a new campaign film that aims to send positive energy to Malaysians in the face of adversity.

The new campaign film, which was created in collaboration with marketing agency Entropia, reflects one of TNB’s core values, which is ‘mindfulness’, as it reflects how Malaysians power through adversities to brighten the lives of others during the pandemic.

Titled, ‘Raikan Malaysia Kita’, which translates to ‘Celebrate Our Malaysia’, the animated film tells the stories of four Malaysians, namely Ridzuan Jamal, Yong Xun Ong, Paramesvary Munumsamy, and Nazirah Abd Rahman, who overcame the myriad challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, while also giving back to help others along the way.

In the first story of the film, Jamal, a former engineer from Sabah, started selling buns for RM1 during the pandemic, and with his bun business, he has provided job opportunities to others and fed hungry people. 

Meanwhile, in the story of Ong, also known as Zero Ong, who created the JomStudy mobile app. Despite not having any coding knowledge, Ong has managed to develop the app housing SPM subject notes, which is hugely beneficial to students, especially those adapting to the new normal learning process. 

The third story features the generosity of Munumsamy and her children, who worked together to cook and feed those in need, regardless of race or religion. And finally, the selfless act of Abd Rahman, also known as Mama Pinky, who is equally heart-warming as she willingly takes up two jobs to sustain the medical costs and provide meals for stray cats, despite having 50 cats of her own.

Zaheer Kaisar, the creative director at Entropia, commented that they need stories that will inspire and rally people together, so for this campaign, the team, director, and clients were all inspired to retell a more imaginative story as a way to pay tribute to the amazing Malaysians the film’s characters represent. 

“With illustrations and animation, we could beautifully capture the spirit and positive message behind this national holiday,” said Kaisar. 

Meanwhile, April Toh, Entropia’s principal, shared that by now they have all been stuck at home for more than 500 days, and while the pandemic robbed people of many things, there’s also much to be thankful for. 

“This National Day, we wanted to remind Malaysians that there’s good energy among us, and that spark of positivity will inspire us to soldier on. Because only in unity and kindness, we will prevail,” said Toh.

Singapore – Singapore’s telecommunications Singtel has released a new ad that illustrates both heritage and personal triumph as it pays tribute to the realization of the Tokyo Olympics, which had to be postponed for a year in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The film features the country’s national players for the Olympics; swimmer Joseph Schooling, shuttler Loh Kean Yew, fencer Kiria Tikanah, and sprinter Shanti Pereira, and how each dealt with the frustration and disappointment of having to come to terms with the Olympics’ cancelation after expectations had been up and training and preparations have been well placed. 

Adding to this, the ad also portrayed how beyond the Olympics, athletes, whether bound for the global competition or not and even those that have sports as a passion or as a source of living, had to struggle with the lockdown, being forced to give up physical activity to obey social distancing.

“I can’t believe it’s been postponed. I’ve trained so hard,” “I can’t go to the court. I can’t do my training,” the players would mutter with scenes where gloom and loneliness loom in a silenced living room or a shut oval. 

The ad portrays, most of all, the value of hope and resilience, still ending on a positive note, where players’ patience and ongoing training for their sports now finally rewarded as the Tokyo Olympics officially resumes. 

The featured players would be sending across inspirational messages such as how a winner never gives up, how failure only becomes such when one stops trying, and how true triumph is dealing straight on with adversity.

“Our athletes’ journey to the Olympics has been nothing short of inspiring. Making it to the games in any given year would be a coup but making it under the current circumstances takes a lot of grit and determination,” commented Aileen Tan, Singtel’s group chief people and sustainability officer. 

The new ad ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ is part of Singtel’s ongoing branded content campaign, built around stories that reflect the Singtel Group’s values of community, family, diversity, and inclusivity. Last year’s festive film campaign also paid tribute to the Singapore spirit of tenacity and perseverance against the backdrop of the health crisis.

Alongside its tribute to the Olympics, the film is also in celebration of the country’s National Day, remembered every 9 August.

Tan said, “As we mark our second National Day under the cloud of COVID, the film is a way of celebrating the Singapore spirit of resilience that has brought us this far. Like our athletes, we’ve all been fighting the good fight, keeping our spirits up, and moving forward in spite of COVID. Yes, the journey has been fraught with uncertainty, false starts, and U-turns, but we hope the film will inspire us all to press on and keep trying.”

The film, which was conceptualized by the Singtel Brand team, has now been launched across the telecom’s YouTube and Facebook. It will also be airing on Singtel TV from 21 July 2021.

Singtel has been a long-time supporter of Team Singapore, having donated S$2.5m to the Singapore National Olympic Council to help fund the training of athletes since 2012. 

For this year’s global sports event, Singtel customers will be able to catch a broadcast by tuning in to all 14 Mediacorp channels for free on Singtel TV CH 21-34 and Singtel TV GO. It will also be available on Singtel CAST to all consumers, including non-Singtel customers.

The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021, where 23 players are slated to represent Singapore.