Learn more about your community, arts and culture without a major time commitment:
Join FOM's program Field Studies Singapore (FSS): A fun way to discover Singapore with others!
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You are now calling Singapore 'home' and with this come many daily routines. Field Studies Singapore (FSS) offers a wonderful opportunity to break from these routines and learn more about your community and its arts and culture - without making a major time commitment.
We encourage you to broaden your knowledge of Singapore and join FSS for a weekly encounter with friends, facts, food and fun.
Registration for our next program is now open.
Download the February 2012 application form here.
Looking for a fun way to learn about Singapore and meet some new dynamic people? Then look no further - Field Studies Singapore 2012 is the program for you! With a partner and a mentor, you will develop a tour on a subject that interests you. For example, recent sessions have included tours of Fusionopolis and Biopolis, Deepavali celebrations and the Goodman Arts Centre.
After you give your tour, you can sit back and enjoy the tours developed by the other members of the group. Give one tour, get six more! Each tour ends with lunch at a restaurant so members can get to know each other and discuss the tour. This is a great way to form lasting friendships. The group meets on Fridays for a period of nine weeks (excluding school and major holidays).
Download the FAQ for our 2012 FSS programme here. This year's programme begins 3 February 2012 with an Orientation (registration has already begun). The Mentors' Tour is scheduled for 10 February. Tours 1 through 6 will be on 17 February through 13 April with the final meeting on 20 April 2012r.
Please join us as we get out and explore this fascinating country we live in. For more information, email Tracey Lees.
We are also seeking mentors to assist our Field Studies Singapore participants in the 2012 program. A great way to see more of Singapore and assist fellow FOM mebers. Please contact Tracey (above) for further details.
Tracey Lees, FSS Coordinator
Highlights of some former Field Studies Singapore Tours
Singapore's Hidden Sanctuaries
The tour began in tranquil Bishan Park where we heard about the ABC Waters program. ABC stands for active, beautiful and clean; the plan encompasses more than 100 projects, twenty slated to be completed in 2012. The project in Bishan Park itself is experimental, aiming to convert a concrete canal into a natural meandering river.
The next stop was the beautiful Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Temple. This is not only the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore, but also the largest religious complex in Singapore. The complex of temples and buildings is built on a hillside (thus, Bright Hill Monastery) and was founded in 1920 by Venerable Zhuan Dao. We visited prayer and meditation halls, a hospice, gardens, and a vegetarian restaurant.
In Bukit Brown cemetery, we saw old moss-covered Chinese tombstones, and heard stories about ghosts and the Ching Ming festival while troops of monkeys scurried past. The final sanctuary was the Hollandse Club where Katy Leblanc of Ayuryoga explained to us the principles behind ayurveda. A park, a temple, a club and a final resting place--so many sanctuaries, in so little time!
Tanjong Pagar
To download a summary of this FSS program, click here.
Kampong Glam
The Arts and Crafts tour of Kampong Glam was truly a hands-on experience. At the Malay Heritage Center, Ms. Imelda Tzee showed us the wax-resist dye techniques for creating batik. Members then had the opportunity to try their hand at making batik orchid designs. The tour continued with a demonstration of the Malay folk dance, the joget. We all tried to copy the graceful moves of our dance instructor, some more successfully than others.
The next stop on the tour was an introduction to Malay musical instruments where we were shown the gamelan and kompang, and taught to play a song on the angklung, an instrument made of hollow bamboo tubes. After a stop at a Mr. Johari Kazura's custom-made perfume shop in Arab Street, we ended the day with lunch at the Gedung Kuning, the historic Yellow Mansion. We were treated to a visit to the throne room used for traditional Malay weddings. There are infinite possibilities for tours; the only limit is your imagination.
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