Celebrating Diverse Contributions, Dedication and Continuity of Heritage Patrons

Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, & Second Minister for Law, at the Patron of Heritage Awards 2023 on 24 September 2024

1. Delighted to join you at the Patron of Heritage Awards. Tonight, we reinforce the importance of our shared heritage, and our role in carefully stewarding it and safeguarding it for the next generation; and also celebrate all of your generous contributions which have enriched and expanded the heritage sector in Singapore.
2. Our heritage is central to our identity as a multicultural nation, reminding us of our origins, what binds us together as a people, and how we move forward collectively as a nation. It connects us to our past, to our identity, to our community, and through that, we can chart our path forward for our future. 
   
   a) It is through our heritage that we understand and appreciate our diversity, a hallmark of our uniqueness in Singapore, be it the festivals that we take part in, the food that we enjoy, or the heritage businesses that we see in our neighbourhoods. 
   
   b) It is through understanding our past and where we came from that we can better appreciate the challenges our forefathers faced in building Singapore, the shared values that we embody and celebrate, and inspire us to find a way forward together as we have done in the past. 
   
   c) This is particularly pertinent as we head into 2025, where we will celebrate 60 years of Singapore’s journey as a nation, and take a moment to reflect on how far we have come and the road ahead. 
3. The heritage sector has matured alongside Singapore society over the years, and I am glad that Singaporeans have come to recognise the importance of heritage more than ever. 
   
   a) According to NHB’s Heritage Awareness Survey, more than 90% of respondents agreed that our history and heritage are important to us.
   
   b) More Singaporeans than before have also expressed interest to learn about our heritage, the rituals and customs that they practice, and how they can continue to nurture them for their children and beyond. 
4. We launched the Second Edition of the Our SG Heritage Plan last year, to nurture the growth of the heritage sector up till 2027, put in place foundations, to allow us to better cherish and appreciate our shared heritage, and also protect and nurture it, so that subsequent generations of Singaporeans can also enjoy and appreciate it.
5. I will spend a few moments to sketch out for you what the Our SG Heritage Plan means, and how all of us can come together to make this work for us. 
   
   a) Under Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0, we have outlined four priority areas – Community, Identity, Innovation, and Industry.
   
   b) Over the past year since the launch of the plan, we have made great strides in each of the priority areas, through the hard work of the National Heritage Board and its partners.
6. Heritage is at the core of a nation’s identity and one of the key aims of Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 is to encourage a more layered understanding of the Singaporean identity, which, even after 60 years, is still evolving. 
7. We also want to deepen aspects of our shared culture and identity, in connection with the region and the world.
   
   a) For instance, Singapore, together with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand jointly submitted the multinational nomination to inscribe the kebaya to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in March last year. I cite this as an example of how we can come together using a shared culture that goes beyond Singapore alone, showing our connection to the region and the world, and using heritage as a reason for uniting and not dividing the nations. 
   
   b) When I was in Paris last year to celebrate the joint nomination, we had a small gathering amongst all the nations – the feeling of solidarity and the ability to come together and celebrate our shared interest in kebaya was exceptional, and it made us stronger as a nation of ASEAN nations. This is something that we would cherish, and it shows the importance of heritage going beyond Singapore. 
8. Second, the Singapore story can only be properly told through the lens of our community. 
9. That is why another key priority of Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 is to nurture a connected people, empowered to tell our collective stories. 
   
   a) NHB launched the Heritage Activation Nodes, HAN in short, this year in Katong Joo Chiat, and recently launched the second node in Clementi.
   
   b) For the HAN at Clementi, Institutes of Higher Learning, schools, heritage businesses and community partners in the neighbourhood played their part to provide a diverse range of experiences such as guided tours, talks and installations to reflect the heritage of the location. 
   
   c) In all, over 130 student and community volunteers were involved in HAN@Clementi and its launch festival.  It was truly a community effort to showcase the unique heritage of Clementi. 
10. Third, a thriving heritage and culture industry is vital to the health of Singapore’s cultural landscape. 
11. We plan to cultivate a vibrant heritage ecosystem that values people, connects with industry, and creates opportunities for Singaporeans to be in this heritage value chain. It is important to do that because we want to keep it sustainable. In the past, we often took heritage for granted, and assumed that there will be someone looking after it, but it is urgent that we take the steps now positively, act with conviction, and build a value ecosystem. 
12. Finally, the fourth pillar - continuous innovation. In this day and age, it is unthinkable to do something without the prospect of what innovation or technology can do to help us power it. 
    
    a) We aim to create a heritage sector that is both innovative and creative, through the use of technology and other digital tools.
    
    

    Importance of patrons to our heritage

13. We know that this plan, both ambitious and forward-looking as it is, cannot be achieved by the Government alone. Not by NHB or MCCY alone. In fact, most single entities wouldn’t be able to carry this through, and come to the landing that we would be able to nurture all these heritage and preserve it. This is where the work of our patrons and partners comes in. 
14. Tonight, we gather to honour 89 awardees, who contributed about $11.7 million to heritage causes in 2023. This is the highest number of awardees we had in the last 5 years. 
15. $11.7 million is not an extraordinarily large sum, but not a small sum. Yet the value of what you have given goes beyond the numbers, and beyond tangible gifts. 
    
    a) These contributions help us enrich Singapore’s culture and widen our heritage landscape not only for Singaporeans today, but also for future generations. 
    
    b) I thank all of you for these invaluable contributions, and more importantly, for believing along with us in the importance of safeguarding and promoting our heritage for future generations.
16. Working with all of you patrons, our collective efforts have increased the richness and depth of our collections, enhanced the accessibility of heritage to much broader audiences, infused new perspectives and new expertise into the sector, amplified the impact of heritage on our society.  
    
    a) And I thought to showcase this evening, a few examples of how our patrons, working with us, have lent themselves to the causes. 
    
    Strengthening the Singapore story through collecting
17. This year, for instance, we have seen great generosity from patrons in the gifting of personal collections and, in some cases, cherished family heirlooms, which has allowed different facets and more compelling histories of Singapore to be told.
    
    a) We need a criss-crossing of diverse paths, different contributions and stories. All of that make up all of Singapore’s stories and heritage.
18. The family of Mr Tan Koon Yong and Mdm Ong Kue Neo has gifted over 450 objects, comprising batik stamps, fabrics, and garments to the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM). 
19. Mr Tan founded I. B. Batek Industrial Company in 1974, one of the largest batik-making enterprises in Singapore, an early enterprise in a business that is steeped in our heritage values.
    
    a) The company subsequently expanded to include the likes of pattern designing, batik stamping, silkscreen printing, and rotary printing, and were sold both locally and overseas. 
    
     b) After Mr Tan’s passing in 1986, his wife, Mdm Ong, became a managing partner and continued to operate the business along with their children, before the company eventually closed in 2009. 
    
    c) These copper and iron stamps, and fabric and garment pieces that are saved and now donated to the ACM are historically significant as they not only tell stories of the presence of craftsman and artisans in the evolution of batik in Singapore, but also capture Singapore’s role in the manufacturing and production of textiles within and beyond the broader region.
    
    d) This is a key part of our national building history, as well as our collective identity, that is captured through this collection.  
    
    e) We are grateful for their immense generosity, in sharing these treasures with us, so that more Singaporeans now and in the future, will be able to appreciate them better.
    
    Reflecting our rich identities
20. Second, heritage also helps us connect across different ethnic groups and communities.
21. This is exemplified by many, who reach across divides and bounded spaces to create something extraordinary and special, making our heritage compelling and exciting to modern audiences. 
    
    a) Take for example Singaporean designer, Ms Kavita Thulasidas. She created a fashion installation that complemented the Indian Heritage Centre’s special exhibition Malayalees in Singapore.
    
    b) She was inspired to reinterpret the traditional Malayalee garment into a modern collection of fashion pieces for a new generation. It was quite spectacularly done.
    
    c) More importantly, her work exemplifies how members of the community are not only preserving their heritage but also taking steps to infuse it with new energy and modern-day interpretation, bridging the connections between the past and the present, and across a diverse range of different communities.
    
    Expanding access to heritage
22. Third, through the contributions of our patrons who have given in kind, we have been able to create inclusive heritage spaces and programmes, expanding access to heritage to more Singaporeans. 
23. Let me cite a few examples.
    
    a) Dalio Philanthropies’ grant helped the Children's Museum Singapore enhance the accessibility of its programmes and exhibitions for children with special needs. I thank Dalio Philanthropies for having a care and thinking about those more vulnerable than us, making sure that they also have access to our heritage and museums. 
    
    b) RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd provided consultation and design services for the National Museum of Singapore’s Reunion Social Space and Café. This is the first social space in a museum setting that is dedicated to seniors, including those with mild cognitive impairment. 
24. These efforts, amongst many, ensure that everyone, from children to seniors, of all age bands and abilities, can engage with and benefit from our heritage, come together and share that space to build our special bonds, and share our identity on a common platform. 
25. We are also grateful to our patrons from the corporate sector that have lent us your support, both monetary and in kind. These include Samsung Electronics Singapore, Suntec Singapore, Jewel Changi Airport, Mediacorp, SPH Media, Singapore Expo and Target Media Culcreative.  
    
    a) I cited these examples because they are not names which we might intuitively associate with heritage, but it tells us that all of us have a part to play. 
    
    b) In fact, Samsung Electronics Singapore, the presenting sponsor for Singapore Night Festival 2023, incorporated its mobile technology into the festival, allowing visitors to experience the festival in a different way, with technology – immersive and also interactive. 
    
    c) With all of these partners, we can scale up and level up. Collectively, we become stronger and greater than the sum of our parts. 

    
    Honouring Long-time Donors

26. Finally, let me finish by honouring our longstanding donors.
27. Our partnership with them goes back many years, and we are very grateful for their longstanding partnership and support. 
    
    a) We are grateful to our longstanding donors like the Hong Leong Foundation, Perennial Holdings Ptd Ltd, SBS Transit Ltd, Yuvabharathi International School and Singapore Post Limited.  
    
    b) For instance, SBS Transit Ltd has been a consistent supporter of the various language campaigns over the years. The different languages that we speak in Singapore are essential to appreciating and understanding our heritage.  
    
    c) SBS Transit Ltd has helped us by generously contributing advertising space on the buses to our Speak Good English Movement, Speak Mandarin Campaign, and the Bulan Bahasa campaign.  
28. Building on these longer-term partnerships, we see a lot of benefit working with partners from diverse industries and backgrounds, who come forward to lend their expertise to build our heritage. 
    
    a) Take Stellar Ace for example, who has been providing media support to promote the Singapore HeritageFest. It recently deepened its partnership through a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with NHB to incorporate heritage and cultural content into MRT stations near NHB’s Heritage Activation Nodes.
    
    b) This, amongst other examples, tells us that we have to redouble our efforts to work with our community to encourage more from different backgrounds to lend their different skillsets, working with us in tandem, growing the spaces, deepening the interest in heritage, and also finding different ways to amplify it and reach new audiences. 
    
    

    Conclusion

29. Let me conclude. 
30. Heritage is not just about the past; it is very much about the future that we want to share, build and forge together. 
    
    a) As a young nation, our identity is ever-evolving and constantly dynamic. It is our stories and our many layers that make us who we are, as our nation progresses with each change. And change is the constant.
    
    b) For example, right here where we are now at the ACM – this used to house our Government Offices. It used to be where people collected their passports and identity cards!
    
    c) Singaporeans now come here for a different reason, to connect with their identity, to appreciate the world class exhibitions here, through encountering artefacts and decorative arts from around the region at ACM. We share a little something with the region around us, that is special as a fellow Singaporean and a fellow member of the Southeast Asian nations. 
    
    d) Importantly, it tells us that what we steward today, what we treasure and preserve as our heritage will help us build the identity of tomorrow. 
    
    e) Each initiative, each programme, and indeed every effort that we make today will contribute to a foundation that will shape our future generations’ vision of who we are, and who we want to be.
31. To all the patrons that we are honouring this evening – once again, thank you very much for your kind contributions. 
    
    a) The work that we do today, and are able to do with your generous contributions,  will build a strong foundation for us to appreciate and cherish our shared heritage. We must cultivate, nurture, and add to it with each succeeding generation, and then we must take care to look after it and pass it on.
    
    b) Our shared heritage shapes who we are as a nation today and contributes to our ever-evolving identity.
    
    c) It is important that this be a living heritage. We want future generations of Singaporeans to not just read about our heritage in history books, but to feel it, experience it, and touch it, and let the experience of heritage become the essence of our identity. 
    
    d) In order for this to happen, we all have a collective responsibility to look after, nurture, build on it, add to it, and then steward it and pass it on, to educate our future generations on the importance of this heritage that if we lose, we will never get back. 
    
    e) What we do need to do is to go out there and tell others about how important this mission is, to keep this going for future generations to understand and learn what it means to be Singaporeans, what it means to be a member of this region, and to be a connected, global citizen sharing a history that is unique to us, but also having an identity that has been built up and evolved over the many years of this shared heritage. 
32. Thank you once again for being here and being a big part of our heritage journey, and for sharing that vision with us.