So the urban legend goes that two friends - young Singaporean dreamers, Aaron Maniam and Malminderjit Singh – were sharing a cab one evening in 2015, the year Singapore turned 50. They were keen to create a platform for emerging voices to shape the future of Singapore – a future in which these voices were stakeholders.

They observed that as societies around the world became more polarized, Singapore would need a credible middle-ground - a group of people who feel strongly for Singapore and are able to assess it passionately, drawing on personal insights and reflections, yet who could do so honestly and objectively.

They also wanted to build something that would last – an institution, not just a transient event or programme that focused only on the 50th anniversary celebrations.

From this desire, the first edition of The Birthday Book was born in 2016, with 51 writers to mark Singapore’s 51st year. The Book is one part of a larger Collective that is also growing, dynamically, every day.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Or, in this case, the future.

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