TEDxSingapore Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Experiential Event “Telling Time”

TEDxSingapore marked its 15th anniversary with a landmark event, “Telling Time,” held last Wednesday at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre. This annual gathering brought together thinkers, creators, and innovators to explore how time shapes human choices, relationships, and society.

Kudos to Vivian Lim, a dear friend, who is the lead curator and license holder for TEDxSingapore as well as the CEO of The Idea Co, for keeping TEDxSingapore running for a good 15 years, including through the difficult covid years.

This year’s event presented a series of compelling insights, ranging from the preservation of cultural heritage to the potential of future technologies. Among the highlights was the rediscovery of Malay culinary traditions, the legacy of letterpress printing in the digital age, and the intricate interplay between tradition and modernity.

The lineup featured nine speakers who shared their perspectives and stories:

• Sun Yao Yu, a relic master, delved into Singapore’s fading printing heritage, illustrating the cultural and technological significance of letterpress printing.

• Khir Johari, a culinary heritage advocate, transported the audience through the rich and diverse history of Malay gastronomy.

• Dr. Hishamuddin Badaruddin introduced the transformative potential of longevity medicine, showcasing its impact on the future of health and aging.

The event also included two fireside chats:

• Leon Toh discussed the art and evolution of diplomacy with veteran diplomat Ashok Mirpuri.

• Vivian Lim and Elroy Cheo explored the intriguing possibilities of Web3.

Performance and creativity were at the heart of the event, with:

• Heema Izzati, a singer-songwriter, blending music with personal narratives to demonstrate its transformative power.

• Dr Chua Yang, a visual storyteller, brings profound stories through her lens – from the wisdom reflected in her ageing father’s eyes to the strength and grace of women on their unique paths.

• Rebecca Toh, a photographer, sharing her journey of creating a unique “shed library” in Singapore’s heartlands.

• Opera Tang, a drag artist, delivering an emotional tribute to her grandmother, affectionately known as “Ama” in Teochew.

I brought my son along to attend the session, his first-ever TEDx event. He enjoyed the talks thoroughly and quipped to me how impressive the power of ideas and rhetoric can be in advocating for changes to make the world a better place.

Dr Chua Yang’s talk resonates particularly well with me, reminding me of how we often neglect to document better photos and moments when we are with our parents and family members whom we tend to take for granted. Time once past, will not come back again, as are those fleeting moments.

For the more ‘chim’ topics, the fireside chats deep diving into the hard topics of diplomacy by Ashok Mirpuri with Leon Toh and on web3 by Elroy Cheo with Vivian Lim, were insightful.

For my son, he was inspired by Rebecca Toh’s story of how she crowd-sourced and built a community library with no financial intentions, as well as Opera Tang’s intimate sharing on his close relationship with his liberal grandmother.

As TEDxSingapore celebrates 15 years of storytelling by the community and for the community, this milestone event is the culmination of its efforts towards fostering meaningful dialogues, sparking innovation, and building connections.

Since its inception in 2009, TEDxSingapore has served as an independently organised TED platform dedicated to showcasing ideas and stories worth spreading. Through its events, TEDxSingapore brings together a vibrant community of thinkers, creators, and innovators to inspire positive change.

To find out more about their future events and other programming, visit the official TEDxSingapore website.