S'porean man, 63, has been hanging huge flag displays for 11 years in Toa Payoh to celebrate National Day

Many Singaporeans have their own way of celebrating the nation's birthday.

For one man in Singapore, known affectionately as Uncle Ong, his unique way of marking the occasion is by installing massive flag displays.

In an interview with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s online magazine Kaya, the 63-year-old shared how he began this tradition and the creative process behind it.

The start of a tradition

Uncle Ong has been a member of the Toa Payoh North Zone 2 Residents' Network Council for the past 27 years.

While he and his team would typically hang smaller flags at ground level to celebrate the National Day festivities, he noticed over time that the flags began to fade and wear out.

When the big SG50 celebration came around, inspiration struck. He decided to use the worn flags to form a large “50” and hang it somewhere more visible.

Luckily, another long-time grassroots member he shared the idea with loved it. Together, they collected fishing rope and aluminium tabs from soda cans.

They meticulously attached the tabs to each flag’s corner and threaded rope through them before weaving everything into a complex pattern.

“The first time we took a full three to four months to craft the display, and we only hung it up at the end of July. But we’ve improved on the design process every year. Now, we use plastic ropes and aluminium ring washers and the process is completed in about 10 days. We’ve also cut down costs to spend less than $150 by reusing materials."

Uncle Ong’s latest creation, a big SG60 display, can be found at Toa Payoh Lorong 1, between blocks 107 and 109.

This year, he included the Chinese characters for sixty (六十) in the middle of the zero display.

Closing provision shop

Uncle Ong’s family has lived in Toa Payoh since the 1970s.

He and his brother currently run a provision shop that their father opened in 1972.

The shop has long been a gathering place, where residents would drop by to chit-chat with Uncle Ong and seek advice from the friendly neighbourhood uncle.

So when he announced the closure of the shop, many residents were saddened by the loss of this neighbourhood fixture.

But one thing, Uncle Ong promised, would remain the same.

He is determined to carry on the spirit of connection and neighbourliness through his annual flag display tradition.

“If I stop, it might be several years before someone else like me comes out to contribute to these things again,” he said.

Community building

Nation- and community-building are close to Uncle Ong’s heart.

He credits his father, a former grassroots leader, for inspiring his commitment to service.

"My father always told us it’s not just making money that is important, but giving back to society. Because when it came to money, we couldn’t give much but we could contribute our efforts," he said.

As Singapore celebrates its 60th year of independence, Uncle Ong says he hopes to see more people step forward to volunteer.

“Although Singapore is small, many areas still need volunteers. At the end of the day, it's about using your strengths and abilities to help those in need. Some people do marching, some volunteer at orphanages, hospitals, and schools. For me, flag hanging and giving back to my estate are my forms of contribution. When people passing by see my flags, I just hope they think, ‘Ah, National Day has arrived.'”

Top photos from Kaya