SG50 is a nationwide effort to celebrate our country’s 50th birthday in 2015. That’s a huge milestone – 50 years of independence! This is a momentous event for Singaporeans to reflect on how far we’ve come together as a nation and people.

The SG50 celebrations will span over a year, from January to December 2015. But we’re not waiting till 2015 to get started.

This is our country, and our celebrations couldn’t be more meaningful if everyone got involved in a big way.

Find out what your fellow Singaporeans are planning and tell us how you can make it even more special.

SG50 hopes to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible. To head up our Steering Committee, we’ve invited individuals from a variety of fields in the public, people and private sectors. The SG50 Steering Committee is led by Minister for Education, Heng Swee Keat; while the Programme Office is led by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong.

The Steering Committee is supported by five teams, which will encourage active community participation and involvement leading up to 2015. The five teams are:

• Education and Youth
• Culture and Community
• Economic and International
• Environment and Infrastructure
• Partnership

Find out more about our committee members.

If you have further questions, you can get in touch with us here.

You can submit your application anytime, at least two months before your project commences. Application for the Fund closes on 1 August 2015.

Projects must be completed by 31 December 2015.

You can either apply as (i) Groups or (ii) Organisations. Under the Groups category, two individuals (aged 18 years and above) are required for the application. For local projects, at least one applicant must be a Singaporean.  For overseas projects, both applicants must be Singaporeans.

Societies registered with the Registry of Societies (ROS) and companies registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) can apply under the Organisations category. Government Ministries, Departments, Organs of State and statutory boards will however, not be eligible to apply for the Fund.

SG50 Celebration Fund aims to support projects that:

a) Inspire a sense of belonging to Singapore;
b) Build on our national identity and love for Singapore;
c) Excite our community about celebrating Singapore's 50th anniversary; and
d) Encourage Singaporeans to bond as a people and community.

The SG50 Celebration Fund does not support projects that: 

• Contain commercial or profit-making elements;
• Create misunderstanding in our multi-cultural and multi-religious society;
• Are religious or political activities; 
• Advocate for lifestyles, or have content held as objectionable by the general public; and
• Undermine the authority of any government or public institution.

Items that typically qualify for funding include event management, production, publicity, and marketing costs directly related to the project. Manpower costs claimed by the applicant will be capped at up to 25% of the grant amount. Manpower costs refer to expenditure incurred for services rendered by applicants or through engaging vendors that the applicant has a direct interest in.

Our funding assessment will take into consideration grants that your project receives from other government agencies.

Applicants can submit up to 2 projects for funding. However applicants intending to submit 2 projects should complete their first approved project successfully before submitting the application for the second project.

You may apply online through https://www.singapore50.sg/sg50/Apply%20For%20Funding.aspx

After we acknowledge receipt of your application, one of our team members will connect with you within a week and subsequently follow up with you to understand more about your project and to facilitate the evaluation of your project.

Applications will be assessed by an evaluation panel comprising community and industry experts. The panel’s decision is final, and it has the right not to disclose reasons for approving or rejecting your application.

You can expect to be notified of the final decision in about two months from your application date and our team will be in regular contact with you during this period. As the whole process involves discussion and seeking clarification with applicants for a fair assessment of their proposal, there could be instance where there is more time needed and this would be communicated to the applicants.

If your application is successful, you will be required to sign a Form of Agreement with the Government.

If your project is approved, you can receive up to 20% of approved funding amount after signing the Form of Agreement. Upon successful completion of your project, the remaining 80% of the approved funding amount will be reimbursed.

The approved funding will be reimbursed to you after the successful completion of your project.  This reimbursement arrangement is similar to other grants for overseas projects such as the Overseas Singaporean Funding Programme.  

You are required to maintain proper financial records and submit a project completion report, an income and expenditure statement and reimbursement claims within three months after your project’s completion.

You need to seek the agreement of the SG50 Celebration Fund team if there are changes, postponement and/or cancellation of your project.

All funded projects will bear the SG50 branding/logo in all your publicity materials. The SG50 Celebration Fund team will advise you on the use of the logo.