Procession. Possession. - The Everyday Museum

Sean Cham, in collaboration with Nathaniel Mah and Syafiq Halid

Approx. 60-80min
Starting point: Raffles House, Fort Canning
In conjunction with Singapore Biennale 2025: pure intention

An embodied essay. An aural provocation. A sonic procession. Procession. Possession. is the fourth instalment of Speaking of which—The Everyday Museum’s series of self-guided audio trails—guiding listeners through Singapore’s Civic District from colonial times to the present. Beginning at the Fort Canning Flagstaff and concluding at Queen Elizabeth Walk, this episode conjures the city’s spectres, engaging both the material and symbolic dimensions of its landscape: what endures in the present, and what has borne witness from our past.

This episode is a collage of sonic and textual fragments including oral histories from the National Archives of Singapore, field recordings, songs and poetic as well as “critical fabulations” by Sean Cham, in collaboration with Nathaniel Mah and Syafiq Halid. Procession. Possession. is a site-specific work that confronts the legacies of the British Empire, the abrasions of a nascent independent country, and contemporary civic discourses. It calls upon the listener to become an active participant in a space of collective memorialisation.

This episode is an invitation to attend to the lamentations and jubilations, griefs and disorientations of the city’s spectres and countless unrecorded ancestors.

Speaking of which is commissioned by The Everyday Museum in partnership with the National Archives of Singapore. Procession. Possession. focuses on the Civic District, including locations that are part of Singapore Biennale 2025: pure intention. For more information, visit singaporebiennale.org.

This episode contains some mature themes, listener discretion is advised. Recommended for ages 16 and above.

Embark on Procession. Possession. here

To request for a transcript of the trail, please email [email protected]

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Disclaimer

The Singapore Art Museum is not liable for any injury, loss or damage that you may sustain from participating in this trail.
The views and opinions expressed by narrators in the audio trail do not necessarily represent the position of Singapore Art Museum.

Credits & Acknowledgments

Procession. Possession features extracts from the oral history interviews of the following individuals, by the Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore:

Tay, Moses Leng Kong (Accession No. 002083, Track No. 8)
Tan, Hoon Siang (Accession No. 000077, Track No. 1)
Tan, Kim Wah (Accession No. 000212, Track No. 5)
Tan, Jeanie (Accession No. 003868, Track No. 17)
Eu, Phyllis Cheng Li (Accession No. 000786, Track No. 2, 5 and 6)
Fozdar, Shirin (Accession No. 000336, Track No. 13 and 14)
Lee, Geok Boi (Accession No. 004019, Track No. 18)
Thomas, Margaret (Accession No. 003860, Track No. 36)
Namazie, Mohd Javad, Haji (Accession No. 000189, Track No. 10)
Mohammad Atan Ja’amat (Accession No. 001118, Track No. 7)
MILNE Ronald Benjamin (Accession No. 000447, Track No. 23)
Khatijun, Nissa Siraj (Accession No. 001663, Track No. 33)
Zain, Tuan Sabeer (Accession No. 003489, Track No. 6 and 8)
Chin, Kah Chong (Accession No. 002954, Track No. 32)

The episode also features excerpts from

“Foreign Labour – A Dilemma” (Accession No. 1997002095)
“Mass Rally For Japanese Atonement For War Crimes” (Accession No. 1998004491)
Source: Mediacorp Pte Ltd, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

and recorded interviews with:

Khin Cherry Htwe

Written and performed by:

Sean Cham

Sound Design:

Nathaniel Mah

Field Recording:

Syafiq Halid

Burmese Translator:

Ei Myat Phyu Sin

Special thanks

Danial Hannan, Thomas Lim and SG Climate Rally.

About the Artists

Sean Cham is a London-based Singaporean artist and historian working across photography, performance, and site‑specific intervention. Through a research-based practice, he interrogates different sites of power. His works reveal the ways in which historical narratives are constructed and distorted. He has a PhD in History of Art from Birkbeck, University of London in collaboration with London’s National Gallery. Cham’s works have been exhibited in Singapore, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He was also a participating artist in the 2025 Guangzhou Image Triennial, 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, 2018 Addis Foto Fest, and 2018 Landskrona Foto Festival. His works had been commissioned by Singapore Fringe Festival, The Future of Our Pasts Festival, and NUS Centre For the Arts.

Nathaniel Mah is a Singaporean songwriter, sound designer, and audio engineer based in Manchester, UK. His sound design and audio engineering work spans animation, film and podcasts, and includes two award-winning audio dramas: Temujin (2020) and Sayang (2024). He has worked with and for companies such as Andas Productions, DBS Bank, Shophouse & Co., and National University of Singapore, among others.

Syafiq Halid is a manipulator of sound, an electronic artist and an experimental percussionist based in Singapore. His experience spans traditional, multidisciplinary and contemporary performance projects as an artist, sound designer and composer. He has presented work in Asia Pacific such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia, and has worked with collaborators and companies at platforms like the Esplanade, National Gallery Singapore, ArtScience Museum, Singapore Art Musuem, Nusasonic, Goethe Institute, *SCAPE and Bus Projects.