1964

NOMAD the way Ang Mo Kio Secondary School does it, is on a large scale. As a school with limited resources, we always welcome help and donations in any form.

The last time we attempted it in 2005, it involved over 350 student participants serving in a variety of roles from actors and actresses, to musicians, painters, make-up artistes etc

This is no accident of numbers. It is one of our explicit aims to involve as many students as possible in the process of putting up an arts production to enable as many students as possible to experience first-hand, the joys AND tribulations of such an endeavour.

Here we would like to salute the many individuals, from parents who volunteered to cook for our hungry students, to those members of the community who offered us donations in kind, to those institutions in the community: the National Arts Council, Ang Mo Kio Community Centre, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the school based groups such as the Parent Support Group and the School Advisory Committee.

NOMAD 2008 will be no less in scale and opportunities for students and youths in our communities . As such, every bit of help offered will be greatly appreciated by the staff and students at AMKSS!

Here are some ways you can help!

1. Volunteer to be our community liaison to connect our students with the residents of Ang Mo Kio.

In 2008, our students will be fanning out across Ang Mo Kio to tap residents for their stories and tales of living in Ang Mo Kio, help be a facilitator and point us in the right direction to people you know with fascinating stories to tell.

2. Volunteer to be interviewed.

For the same project mentioned above, nothing beats being interviewed. Your interview will provide rich fuel for our students’ imaginations as they craft art works, plays and dances from your own experiences.

3. Feed the students.

We all know about the appetites of adolescents! Come help us feed the performers and participants. In 2005, we were grateful to one of our parents who offered to cook us enough fried bee hoon to feed 50 students! Needless, to say, we were most grateful!

4. Spread the word.

Every successful performance requires dedicated performers and a receptive audience. Help publicise NOMAD by talking to your friends and family about it.

5. Propose a performance

Our production 1964 aims not only to revolve around performances involving our students, but also to involve performers and artists who are living in the Ang Mo Kio Area to share their gifts and talents with the community at large. To that end, do come forward and approach us should you want to propose a performance strand yourself.  We would appreciate it if you could work in an educational element such that our students can get to benefit from your experience and expertise too, and would be most happy to work with you on the educational aspect of things.

6. Share your professional expertise

A production of this scale requires many skills and talents not immediately related to the arts. If you would like to volunteer some time to help us with an aspect of the production, e.g. carpentry, make-up, marketing etc please come forward and volunteer!

7. Suggest exciting performing venues

As an arts production with a strong community emphasis, we would like to take performances out into the community, to places where arts performances are seldom or never encountered. Therefore, if you know of a place thats big enough to fit a performance, with enough human traffic to attract an audience and/or is unique to Ang Mo Kio, please contact us with your suggestions.

8. Sponsor a performance strand.

In 2005, NOMAD included over 30 different performances and art works. Help cover the material costs of 1 of these productions.

9. Give cold hard cash.

Help us realise the artistic dreams of our students by contributing to the NOMAD fund. Your contributions will be used to engage some of the best artists and artistes to work with our enthusiastic students and/or purchase materials to support their work.

10. Bums on Seats

Last but certainly not least, we invite you to come and enjoy the culmination of a year’s preparations by attending the finale of 1964 on 4th and 5th of July 2008. See you there!

If just reading this has already generated some ideas, you can leave a comment on this page, or email us here: amkssnomad at gmail.com