Enjoying art in the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Mr Kirk Wagar, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore

Dr Helmut Sohmen and Professor Anna Sohmen

Distinguished guests

1. Good evening to all of you, and I'm very happy to be able to join you this evening for the unveiling of this sculpture at the Botanic Gardens. 

2. Of course, all of you would know by now, that we are here are Singapore's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sometimes we take it for granted that these accolades come to Singapore so easily. But when you think about this, the great big world that we live in has a land area of about 150 million km2. Tiny little Singapore, truly a little red dot, is 700 km2. And in this great big world there are just about a thousand World Heritage Sites. For us in this little tiny imprint of an island, to have one of a thousand World Heritage Sites, I think it is something really very precious.

3. So we are very proud, all of us Singaporeans and residents in Singapore, to have this precious gem. Not just for ourselves, but for the whole world. And it is not just for now, but for all generations to come. In fact, right after the announcement of the World Heritage Site, our visitorship in the Gardens went up by about 35 percent. This was not just made up of tourists, in fact many Singaporeans came, intrigued by the history of the Gardens. Many people know the Gardens to be just greenery, and may not realise the rich history and heritage of the Gardens. Over the Golden Jubilee weekend, when we celebrated our independence, we had 100,000 people come to the Gardens just over that weekend alone. We had a whole range of concerts and performances during the weekend, and 100,000 people came to be part of the celebrations in the Gardens.

4. So the Botanic Gardens is truly a very special place for all of us in Singapore. It stands also as a an icon of our vision for Singapore, a vision that our founding leaders, starting from Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has set out – for Singapore to be a Garden City. That's why all around Singapore you see greenery. That's why right here in the heart of the city, on prime land, we preserved a green oasis.

5. From more than 150 years ago when the Gardens was founded, till today, and now that it is a World Heritage Site, you can be assured that this is forever going to be preserved. It will be here for eternity, for as long as we can make sure that it is going to be preserved. So I think it is wonderful that we have a Garden like this in Singapore, and greenery to enjoy.  Mr Lee used to say we need greenery to lift our spirits. Otherwise if we live in “a blighted urban landscape, a concrete jungle destroys the human spirit”. That's why we made Singapore a Garden City, and that's why we have a beautiful Botanic Gardens right in the heart of our city.

6. With the World Heritage Site, we hope that people will come to enjoy the greenery, learn about our heritage, learn about our culture, learn about how the Gardens became the catalyst for rubber cultivation many years ago – how it started the hybridisation of orchids and sparked the entire orchid industry in the region, how it shaped the course of history all over South East Asia.

7. There is rich history to be learnt in the Botanic Gardens, not just the greenery itself. But now, besides greenery and heritage, you can also enjoy art in the Garden. Again, this is something that has a tradition and is not something new. We have had wonderful art pieces in the Gardens for many years. 

8. For example, if you walk through the Gardens you would find over 20 art pieces donated by our foreign friends and local philanthropist. The Clock Tower outside the National Orchird Gardens was a gift by Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice, an abiding supporter of the Gardens.  We also have three Sydney Harpley sculptures –Girl on a Bicycle, Girl on a Swing, and Lady on a Hammock– donated by Mr David Marshall, Singapore's first chief minister.  And now, we have the esteemed gift by the Sohmen family that will add to the collection of wonderful art pieces in the Gardens. It is fitting that this wonderful gift by the Sohmen family has 50 wings – it may represent 50 states, it may represent 50 years of independence in Singapore. But it is a beautiful gift that we will always treasure, so many thanks to the Sohmen family.

9. As Andreas (Sohmen-Pao) was relating his conversation with Christina (Ong) that for a gift like this to come to the Gardens it has to be a private donation. Actually, both of them are about half right. Because in Singapore, the other thing that works is that we get public-private partnerships to work effectively.

10. In fact, this private donation benefits from a Cultural Matching Fund where there is a one-to-one matching grant from the Government. And we have a Public Art Trust that we just started, and contributions to the Public Art Trust also attracts tax deductions. It's a double tax deduction in ordinary circumstances, but this year, because it is our Jubilee year, you get three times the tax deduction. This applies not just to donations in the Garden, but public art anywhere in Singapore. 

11. So, we would love to see more art, not just in the Botanic Gardens, but all over Singapore. We can make more public-private partnerships work, because you can donate, get matching grant from the Government and three times tax deductions. I do not know of any other country that does this but we do this in Singapore because we believe in public-private partnerships that work. And we hope that with more partnerships like this, we can see more art all over Singapore – beautiful art for all to enjoy. 

12. So finally I would like to congratulate the artist, Mr James Surls. Thank you very much for the wonderful art piece that we are going to unveil. Thank you to the American Embassy, the Ambassador, and your team, for co-hosting this event.

13. And once again, thank you to the Sohmen family for your gift. I think it is a beautiful gift not just to celebrate the fact that the Botanic Gardens is now a World Heritage Site, it is also a lovely gift for our Golden Jubilee.

    
    

    
    

    Thank you.