SINGAPORE : A 4-part documentary on how Singapore developed from a sleepy fishing village to a modern city will hit the screens by the end of the year.
The production is a gift from Discovery Networks Asia to the nation for its 40th birthday.
From a humble beginning to a booming trading post: it is a story of how Singapore went through turbulent years and emerged a modern, cosmopolitan city state.
"History of Singapore" will piece together the dynamics of the Singapore identity.
And it promises to be different from documentaries that have been made about Singapore.
James Gibbons, Vice-President, Programming and Creative Services, Discovery Networks Asia, said: "It will also be the first definitive history of a country. You see all the other shows that we've done has been of people's stories, biographies, lifestyle, travel, culture and stories that focus on particular people or places but this will be the first time that we are telling the history of a nation and we will only probably tell that story only once. This is our definitive history of Singapore and I think that it is very unique and will make it stand on its own for that reason alone."
UK-based company Lion Television, which has produced numerous historical documentaries, will be producing the series.
Tim Lambert, Series Producer, Lion Television, said: "I think there is a great puzzle at the end of the series that is how has this extraordinary story, transformation from mangrove to a metropolis, how has that been achieved in an extraordinary short time and while people around the world understand and have a sense of how Singapore has made that leap, but they don't understand how this has happened. I hope that at the end of having watched this series, people would understand much more about the background, the circumstances, the forces of this modern city state "
The documentary, which will be shot in high definition television, will feature interviews with historians, past and present political leaders and commentators.
Producers have roped in Singapore's historians, like Associate Professor Tan Tai Yong from the National University of Singapore, to help in the production and will be using extensive archive materials from the National Heritage Board and the National Archives.
Professor Tommy Koh, Chairman, National Heritage Board, said: "We have never seen a documentary on Singapore done on this scale...covers not only the colonial period and present but we are going back to pre-colonial history. We are cooperating with them by opening our archives to them and we will help them by facilitating interviews. My hope is that they will do it so well that they will travel outside Singapore."
Discovery Channel and Lion Television are looking for old photographs and film footages from the late 1970s or earlier, to help in the making of the "History of Singapore".
The multi-million dollar documentary will start production this month. - CNA
