The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf) has made into the Singapore Book of Records for organising the biggest mass online signing performance, which was conducted via zoom last Saturday (16 Jan).
In achieving this feat, SADeaf has been awarded the certificate for the ‘Largest Mass Online Song Signing’.
A total of 101 participants took part in the challenge, as they performed the song ‘Reaching out for the Skies‘.
The signers include volunteers from the SADeaf, sign language students from SADeaf’s courses, students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, and Nanyang Technology University.
The challenge was a spin-off project by the SADeaf team which had earlier successfully organised a remote song signing project in celebration of Singapore’s 55th National Day celebration in August last year.
Besides setting a new record, this project also served as a purpose to show the beauty and versatility of song signing, and to educate the public about Singapore’s deaf community, culture, and language.
“It was a difficult feat to have 101 signers on Zoom all at the same time. Some of the difficulties faced by the organizing team was that some signers did not have a good knowledge of sign language, said James Ong, deaf access manager of SADeaf and chairperson of the project.
“Regular training was held for them. We managed to achieve this feat at the end of the day through everyone’s hard work. We would like to thank all participants involved in this project for taking the time and effort,” he added.
“I always feel the beauty and versatility of Sign Language can be shown in Song Signing. To achieve the 3 minutes of good performance, it took us months of training and hard work,” said Pet Tan, choreographer of Project Sign Language.
“Winning the award took less than 5 min. But it took us months to get here. It’s a tiring week after week of training, with a refreshing sight each week watching more and more participants leaving the Zoom session at the end of each training,” said Leon Woo, choreographer of Project Sign Language.
Quotes from participants
“The association has adapted quickly to the challenging times and continues to bring people together (albeit virtually) to spread deaf awareness. It’s been a fun and exciting experience learning more about the deaf culture and sign language through song signing, meeting new people along the way, and breaking the Singapore Book of Records at the same time!”
– Lim Zhi Chiaw
The beauty of the Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) has always amazed me. I was privileged to be one of the 101 participants that took part in the meaningful sign remotely online event that helped to create awareness of SgSL & enabled the public to know more about the Deaf Culture. The weekly training did not faze me. All our efforts paid off when we finally broke the record on 16 Jan 21. It gave me (and I’m sure the rest of participants as well) such a wonderful and exuberant feeling. We did it !!!
– Diana Eng
I’m extremely honoured and proud to be a part of this event. A huge thank you to SADeaf, the organizers (especially Pet and Leon!), and all the participants for making this achievement possible. This was truly an unforgettable experience, one that I will cherish forever 🙂
– Lee Su Ann
As a past participant, we were free to help point out areas of improvement to ensure that we could deliver the best performance as a team. If there was a similar event in the future and I still had time to commit, I would join again!
– Lok Xin Yu
Thanks SADeaf for organizing this Song – Signing Project. Through this project, not only have I gained more Song – Signing experience, I am able to meet new friends and interact with the Deaf.
– Gelene Toh Qiao Wen