Everyone, including our youth, has a part to play in safeguarding our cultural heritage

1. Good evening. Honoured to join you tonight to recognise the exceptional contributions of our inaugural cohort of Outstanding Youth in Intangible Cultural Heritage.

2. Very happy to see many members of the heritage community, including heritage business owners, Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and community partners and stakeholders. Thank you for joining us today.

3. Our intangible cultural heritage, or ICH, is formed by the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that our communities recognise as part of our heritage. This is the living part of our culture that gets passed on from generation to generation.

4. It connects us to our families and our communities. And in Singapore’s context, our multicultural and multi-religious identity is a key part of our intangible cultural heritage.

5. Singapore’s multicultural tapestry is the foundation of our national strength and identity. And this is why, going forward, a key focus of MCCY is to:

   1. Deepen and to pass on our traditional arts and heritage to our younger generations;

   2. To promote greater cross-cultural understanding and mutual appreciation; and

   3. To support our local artists and practitioners to develop our multicultural arts and heritage.

6. So earlier this month, I announced a $20m Multicultural Arts Programme Grant, and new initiatives to expand the outreach of traditional arts to preschool and MOE school students.

7. We want our young people to engage with and learn more about our traditional arts such as Malay traditional dance, Indian classical music, or Chinese calligraphy, so that they can develop the cultural fluency and empathy that will help them navigate life with understanding and respect.

8. These experiences teach us about our very rich diversity, and to appreciate and celebrate it.

9. The same emphasis applies to our intangible cultural heritage. Over the years, these customs have been passed down like heirlooms – in particular by our Stewards of ICH – to younger generations.

   1. For example, the Gunong Sayang Association staged a production entitled Ada Kerak, Ada Nasi, which introduced audiences to Peranakan traditions and customs and trained younger actors in the art of Wayang Peranakan.

Supporting Youth Participation in Heritage

10. Since we launched the Stewards of ICH award in 2019, our Stewards have provided valuable feedback on ways to better promote and to sustain the transmission of our living heritage.

11. They shared that there is a need to invest in promoting youth practitioners of our living heritage, and to support them to sustain and to maintain their practice.

12. From the Heritage Awareness Survey 2024, we found that our youth not only recognise the importance of preserving heritage, but they also want to step forward to get more involved.

13. In addition, the Youth Heritage Blueprint, developed by NHB’s Youth Panel, indicated that our youth are keen to champion our heritage and actively contribute to our heritage scene.

14. Last year, we launched the Outstanding Youth in ICH award to recognise the youth practitioners of our living heritage. Through this award, we hope to foster greater youth engagement with and participation in promoting and safeguarding ICH in Singapore.

    1. Whereas the Stewards of ICH award recognises our master practitioners, this award supports the younger practitioners in their journey.

15. Recipients will be given a grant of up to S$20,000 to invest in their growth as ICH practitioners, and as emerging leaders in their respective fields. And we hope that one day, they too will become Stewards as well.

Award Recipients

16. This evening, we celebrate six remarkable young individuals who embody the very best of our cultural stewardship.

    1. They demonstrate passion and commitment to their practice, exhibit potential to excel, and serve as a positive influence to everyone around them.

17. Let me just say a few words about each of them.

18. Adrian Ong is a Chinese puppetry practitioner focusing on Hokkien glove and string puppetry. His passion was sparked as a child, when his grandmother took him to watch Hokkien opera and puppetry outside temples.

19. Adrian regularly performs during major festive occasions in local temples. He has written original scripts emphasising traditional Chinese values such as filial piety, family unity, and respect, while embracing contemporary themes and storytelling methods to make his performances relevant to younger audiences.

    1. Adrian also leverages social media to extend his reach, sharing educational content to promote greater appreciation for Chinese puppetry in Singapore. And I hear that he is possibly going to embark on a project with one of our schools in Tampines to further his craft.

20. Next, we have Banupriya Ponnarasu. Banu is a traditional Indian dance practitioner who specialises in bharatanatyam and kathak. Since she was five, she trained under the late Cultural Medallion recipients Mrs Santha Bhaskar and Mrs Neila Sathyalingam – a perfect example of heritage being passed on from one generation to the next.

    1. Through her practice, Banu seeks to preserve the traditional arts, and take them into the future. In 2022, she founded the Scarlet Mela Festival of the Arts, an incubation programme that supports emerging traditional arts practitioners across ethnic backgrounds in their artistic development, while highlighting the essence of traditional art forms to new audiences.

    2. Banu also runs a dance company, Mandala Arts, which has nurtured over 200 students by deepening their understanding and appreciation of Indian dance forms.

21. And we have Muhammad Ilyia bin Kamsani, whose performance we just saw earlier. He has been practicing dikir barat and Malay poetic forms since 2010, when he joined the dikir barat group in Temasek Polytechnic. And I understand this was because he couldn’t continue soccer – that’s why he went to dikir barat. So soccer’s loss is dikir barat’s gain!

    1. Last year, Ilyia spearheaded the inaugural Festival Dikir Singapura, which featured workshops, performances, and panel discussions. The Festival pioneered a space for the dikir barat community to engage in dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration. Ilyia also published Serumpun: Jurnal Dikir Singapura, a journal that provides in-depth documentation and critical reflection on dikir barat in Singapore.

    2. In recognition of Ilyia’s contributions to promoting Malay language and literature, the Malay Language Council of Singapore appointed him as Sahabat Sastera, or Friend of Literature – an appointment he has used to further share his knowledge and passion.

22. Next, we have Ng Si Ying. Si Ying is a rattan craftsperson who learned the craft from Chun Mee Lee Rattan Furniture, one of the very few remaining rattan shops in Singapore. And I understand she had to ask the master three times before the master agreed to take her as an apprentice.

    1. Si Ying pushes rattan beyond its traditional boundaries, creating pieces that blend traditional techniques with modern design. So she can make a phone case out of rattan! Her innovative approach has garnered widespread recognition, with her works being featured at the Singapore Pavilion at the Osaka Expo as well as at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

    2. Si Ying also actively shares her process and research, including through online platforms and workshops in schools and cultural institutions.

23. And then we have Niranjan Pandian. Niranjan is a bamboo flautist trained in classical Indian music. He is a prolific performer who has participated in over 850 performances across the region – all this just in the last 5 years.

    1. As the co-founder and creative director of the Brahmastra Arts House, Niranjan has pushed the boundaries of his art form, combining it with visual arts and virtual reality, and reaching across genres and cultures through platforms like the Singhanagara Contemporary Orchestra.

    2. At the same time, Niranjan is devoted to building up young practitioners. He mentors students across MOE schools, LASALLE College of the Arts, and NAFA, delivering lectures on composing for Indian bamboo flutes and crafting Indian rhythms and ragas.

24. Finally, we have Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin. She is also our National (Arts Council) Young Artist. Syafiqah is a traditional Malay music practitioner who currently serves as the music director of Gendang Akustika, a Malay folk music ensemble in Singapore.

    1. Syafiqah has embraced Singapore’s unique multiculturalism – by the way, she started out as a classical musician – by spearheading cross-cultural collaborations with groups such as Teng Ensemble and Siong Leng Musical Association.

    2. She works tirelessly to move her craft forward, including through a notation project with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music to document and advance Malay classical music. She also produced Dendang Warisan or Songs of Heritage, a series featuring original Malay Asli music written by Singaporeans about Singapore – a unique contribution to the Malay Asli repertoire, which does not have that many of such songs. And she continues to mentor young musicians and pass on her passion for music.

25. These – all six of them – are our outstanding youths who are working to keep our intangible cultural heritage alive. Please join me in a big round of applause for them.

Conclusion

26. Today, we are reminded that our cultural heritage must continue to evolve to resonate with each generation, so it can remain a key part of our present as well as our future.

27. The task of safeguarding our heritage is not just for a few – it is for all of us. We all have a role to play to ensure that our traditions, our stories, and our values live on.

    1. Whether we attend a performance or a workshop, buy a handcrafted item, or teach the next generation, every act of preservation and transmission helps us build our collective legacy.

28. I am deeply encouraged by tonight’s celebration, which shows us what is possible when we empower our youth to take ownership of their living heritage.

29. Congratulations once again to all our award recipients, and thank you for contributing so richly to our cultural landscape – and to the Stewards for mentoring them, and for all of you for mentoring the next generation. We look forward to your continued efforts and achievements in the years to come.

30. Congratulations.