Importance of youths in the heritage plan for Singapore

Good evening everyone, and thank you for taking the time to attend today's engagement session that is organised by the National Heritage Board on the Heritage Plan for Singapore.

Some of you may have heard of the Heritage Plan when it was first announced in March this year. This is the first time we are putting together a nationwide plan that will be the national blueprint for Singapore's heritage moving forward. We are very excited about this Plan because it not only defines who we are as Singaporeans, but is also a core part of our personal identity.

Hence, we want to hear what you think of heritage. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “heritage”? What does heritage mean to you? What do you envision heritage to look like in the future – maybe 5 to 10 years down the road?

What you share today will help us develop the Heritage Plan, and contribute towards setting the stage for Singapore's heritage of tomorrow. The Plan will drive strategies and initiatives on Singapore's heritage landscape for the next 5 years, and will guide us towards the longer term of 2030 and beyond. Besides young people like yourselves, we are also speaking with other heritage stakeholders such as academics, museum docents, educators, heritage NGOs, and community groups. The public will get to contribute their views later this year at our travelling exhibitions and roadshows.

I understand that we have a wide variety of subject areas to discuss today. Some of you are reading history, arts management, communications while some of you are pursuing engineering and the sciences. Regardless of disciplines, it is the shared interest in heritage issues that brought all of you together. I have heard that some of you have been involved in projects to research, document or promote various aspects of Singapore's heritage, such as the 9 Emperors Festival project, and also ourgrandfatherstory.com. It is very commendable and heartening to see such efforts to further Singapore's heritage, especially since you must be busy with your studies.

Your views are very important to us. What we are doing today is for future Singaporeans like yourselves, for the next generation. We want to make sure we get it right, and that heritage is promoted, curated, and documented in a way that appeals to you. We hope that the conversation tonight will help us do exactly that. Thank you all for being here. I shall be joining some of your discussions later on, and I wish all of you a very enjoyable evening.