A Special Issue to Commemorate Singapore Bicentennial 2019
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2019 A Special Issue to Commemorate Singapore Bicentennial 2019 About the Culture Academy Singapore Te Culture Academy Singapore was established in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to groom the next generation of cultural leaders in the public sector. Guided by its vision to be a centre of excellence for the development of culture professionals and administrators, the Culture Academy Singapore’s work spans three areas: Education and Capability Development, Research and Scholarship and Tought Leadership. Te Culture Academy Singapore also provides professional development workshops, public lectures and publishes research articles through its journal, Cultural Connections, to nurture thought leaders in Singapore’s cultural scene. One of the Academy’s popular oferings is its annual thought leadership conference which provides a common space for cultural leaders to gather and exchange ideas and best practices, and to incubate new ideas. It also ofers networking opportunities and platforms for collaborative ideas-sharing. Cultural Connections is a journal published annually by the Culture Academy Singapore to nurture thought leadership in cultural work in the public sector. Te views expressed in the publication are solely those of the authors and contributors, and do not in any way represent the views of the National Heritage Board or the Singapore Government. Editor-in-Chief: Tangamma Karthigesu Editor: Tan Chui Hua Editorial Assistants: Geraldine Soh & Nur Hummairah Design: Fable Printer: Chew Wah Press Distributed by the Culture Academy Singapore Published in July 2019 by Culture Academy Singapore, 61 Stamford Road #02-08 Stamford Court Singapore 178892 © 2019 National Heritage Board. All rights reserved. National Heritage Board shall not be held liable for any damages, disputes, loss, injury or inconvenience arising in connection with the contents of this publication. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from Culture Academy Singapore, a division of National Heritage Board, which is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. ISBN 24249122 Supported By: Volume IV 2019 Contents Foreword 7 Rosa Daniel Editor-in-Chief’s Note 8 Tangamma Karthigesu Nationality, Identity and Culture: A Personal Refection 9 Professor Tommy Koh Te Hunt for “Majulah Singapura” 12 Professor Bernard T. G. Tan Recalling Home: 29 Looking at Western Classical Music in Singapore 100 Years Ago Phan Ming Yen From Sushi in Singapore to Laksa in London: Globalising 38 Foodways and the Production of Economy and Identity Professor Lily Kong Te Singapore Story through 60 objects 60 Kennie Ting A Shared Identity: A Case for Arts and Culture 133 Dr Sharon Chang and Kenneth Kwok Te Imprint of 1819–Entrepôt, Place, Community in Images 141 Iskander Mydin, Daniel Tam and Priscilla Chua Place-making and Identity in Singapore: 161 Te Role of Integrated Planning and Our Built Heritage Elaine Tan and Tan Xin Wei Andy Icons of the Times 171 Jean Wee What Singapore’s Bicentennial Means to the New Immigrant 179 Dr Meira Chand Foreword When we frst issued Cultural Connections in May 2016, it was the Culture Academy’s maiden efort at publishing an annual journal. Its objectives are to share perspectives to enrich our collective understanding of Singapore’s distinctive arts and heritage which shape our cultural identity. Over the past three years, the journal has published pieces from Singapore’s thought leaders including diplomats, academics and researchers, as well as contributions from colleagues in the culture sector. We have had encouraging response from readers and received requests for additional copies from within and outside the arts and culture sector. Last year’s edition to commemorate Singapore’s chairmanship of ASEAN was particularly well-received by our missions overseas and organisers of key ASEAN meetings in Singapore. Tis is very heartening for us and we will endeavour to improve on the quality of the publication. As Singapore is commemorating her bicentennial this year, this fourth volume of Cultural Connections focuses on themes which are relevant to our cultural development over the past 200 years. Te bicentennial is an opportunity to refect on the founding and progress of modern Singapore since 1819, in the context of a rich history spanning more than 700 years. As we participate in the many commemorative activities, exhibitions and programmes that have been lined up this year, it is also a time for us to refect on how far we have come as a nation and honour the memories of the many men and women who have toiled hard to create the Singapore we live in today. Te articles in this issue remind us of how fast and far we have progressed from our early colonial days to a modern and liveable cosmopolitan nation which is rooted in its multicultural heritage. I am pleased to note that the essays took on varied perspectives as they tell the story of Singapore’s history and heritage using artefacts and objects from our national collection. Perhaps a lesser-known fact is that 2019 is also the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s self-government (1959 before our independence in 1965). To commemorate this historic event in our history, we have used 60 objects from our national collections to retell the history of Singapore. I hope you will enjoy reading the essays that will take you back to before 1819 and bring you on an intellectually stimulating journey of Singapore’s history and heritage and its progress till today. Rosa Daniel (Mrs) Deputy Secretary (Culture) Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth Editor-in-Chief’s Note Two centuries ago, Sir Stamford Rafes landed on the island of Singapore, setting the foundation of modern Singapore. 200 years on, as we commemorate the bicentennial of this historic event, it is also an opportune time to refect on our journey since, and how far we have come as a people. Tis fourth edition of Cultural Connections thus explores the bicentennial through an exciting collection of essays, contributed by notable personalities and culture professionals. Born in the pre- war years, Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large, opens the journal with his musings on what it means to be a Singaporean, against the backdrop of having had to take on four “identities”. Novelist Dr Meira Chand wraps up the collection with her thoughts on the contents and discontents of being an immigrant, and fnding a sense of home in Singapore, a nation built on immigrant cultures. Professor Bernard Tan, physicist by day and music composer by night, and Phan Ming Yen, CEO of Global Cultural Alliance, contributed two illuminating pieces on the music of our nation. Te frst traces the evolution of the national anthem as Professor Tan attempts to hunt down the original manuscript. Te second leads us to contemplate upon the question of music and its role in nostalgia, and the making of home and national identity. For a visual treat, look out for the wonderfully curated journey by Director of Asian Civilisations Museum Kennie Ting. Trough a careful selection of objects and images, Ting’s piece showcases the stars, the lesser-knowns and the quirky from our national collections, weaving a diverse, rich tapestry of Singapore’s stories. Besides this visual treat, we have another black and white spread by the curatorial team from the National Museum of Singapore who looks at the development of Singapore’s entrepôt over the years through photographs and paintings from the museum’s collection. 200 years on, the question of “What makes a Singaporean?” has become increasingly pertinent. Professor Lily Kong’s chapter talks about the role of food in the making of the Singaporean identity. Te question of place, sites and identity is explored from various perspectives by our essayists from various MCCY institutions and Centre for Liveable Cities. Putting together this edition has been an enriching, rewarding experience for the editorial team at Culture Academy. We hope it brings you as much pleasure as it has for us. Tangamma Karthigesu (Ms) Director, Culture Academy Singapore Editor-in-Chief 8 Nationality, Identity and Culture: A Personal Refection Professor Tommy Koh Professor of Law, National University of Singapore Ambassador–at–Large, Minstry of Foreign Afairs, Singapore 9 Son of the British Son of the Japanese Empire (1937 to 1942) Empire (1942 to 1945) I was born in Singapore in 1937. Singapore was Te British had repeatedly assured the people then a British colony, part of the mighty British of Singapore that they had nothing to fear. We were Empire. My father worked in the private sector told that Singapore was an “impregnable fortress.” and my mother was a home-maker. I had two We believed in the British propaganda. Te city was younger brothers. in a state of shock when the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. What do I remember about colonial Singapore? Overnight, I had become a son of the Japanese First, I remember that colonial Singapore was both Empire. Instead of God Save the King, we sang racist and hierarchical. Te whites were frst-class a new national anthem, Kimigayo. Te island was citizens. Te Eurasians were second-class citizens. renamed Syonan-to, meaning “Light of the South”. Te rest of us were third-class citizens. Te only Te time in Singapore was moved forward to Tokyo Asians allowed to enter the premises of prestigious time. English was replaced by Nippon-go. clubs, like the Cricket Club and the Tanglin Club, were their servants. Although the Japanese narrative was that they had come to liberate us from the British, the reality Second, colonial Singapore was not a democratic was quite diferent.