Media Release COMMUNITY ON BOARD IN TELLING THE SINGAPORE STORY NHB‟s focus & highlights for 2012 and beyond 18 January 2012 – From curating exhibitions at the National Museum of Singapore, and being interviewed on traditions, customs and nursery rhymes for the National Archives of Singapore, to volunteering as a guide on a neighbourhood heritage trail – Singaporeans can look forward to being an even more active part of heritage in 2012. 2. This year, the National Heritage Board (NHB) is set to connect and engage with the community on a whole new level, by inviting them to share in the telling of Singapore‟s story. 3. Said Michael Koh, CEO for NHB, “NHB the custodian of Singapore‟s heritage and tells the Singapore Story through our national collection, heritage programmes, festivals and activities. But NHB is not the only story teller, our communities, too, have their own captivating tales to be discovered. In 2012, we are inviting them on stage to share their stories as well. Together, we will present the Singapore Story for everyone to reminisce, enjoy, and learn from.” Celebrate the Singaporean in Us 4. In today‟s inter-connected, fast-paced world, it is of increasing importance for us to retain a sense of who we are and where we come from, to maintain our footing and enable us to contribute purposefully. NHB wants to ensure every Singaporean not only know the Singapore Story, but also revels and take ownership of what makes us Singaporean. 5. This year, NHB will be embarking on a series of new initiatives to preserve, document and present what is near and dear to our hearts, our heritage. We will be researching and recording intangible heritage, such as rites and rituals, home remedies, Singapore cuisine and the places associated with them, local myths and legends, and even nursery rhymes. For this, NHB will be enlisting the assistance of the community, including senior citizens, religious leaders and clans, through oral history recording and video-graphing. 6. Much-loved familiar sights in Singapore‟s heartlands, such as wet markets and void decks, and their unique characteristics, history, evolution and impact on our lives, will be documented and preserved for posterity. To connect past, present, and future generations through shared heritage, we will be partnering schools in learning journeys and to interview involved parties and photograph sites. 7. In the museums, exhibitions like 1945 – 1965: Road To Nationhood, remind us of how the tumultuous period of post-war recovery and nation building have influenced our identity as a nation, and as individuals, today; while In the Mood for Cheongsam: Modernity and Singapore Women from the 1920s to 2000s, Regarding Emily: Emily of Emerald Hill and the Discovery of Peranakan Identity, A Life of Practice – Kuo Pao Kun, and Lee Wen: Lucid Dreams in the Reverie of the Real reach out to different segments of the population by telling the Singapore Story from a variety of perspectives. 8. NHB will also be creating community spaces in our museums. One of the galleries in the National Museum of Singapore will be designated as a Community Gallery. Community partners such as cultural or ethnic groups, clan associations and special heritage interest groups, will be able to co-curate exhibitions with NHB, and present their stories in a museum setting, as an essential part of the Singapore Story. Connect our Communities 9. Outreach programmes, like the popular Singapore HeritageFest (SHF), already enliven the heartlands, and pull our various communities together, in celebration of our multiculturalism, building inter-racial and inter-generational bonds in the process. This year, the SHF goes one step further by inviting their audiences to co-curate Satellite Hubs in the heartlands – presenting a show for the people, created by the people. 10. NHB is working with various communities in presenting different facets of the Singapore Story, for example 500 years of Eurasian Portuguese heritage with the Eurasian Association, CultureFest at the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, public lectures on Kampong Gelam at the Malay Heritage Centre prior to its re-opening later in 2012, and traditional Indian trades and professions in the 19th century with the Indian Heritage Centre. 11. NHB will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle for Singapore (1941 - 1942), the darkest chapter in the Singapore Story, in 2012. The community will be sharing in this project with talks by war survivors, student-curated exhibitions and student-led trails, strengthening the relevance of this historical event in our peaceful society today. Share World Heritage 12. An important part of the Singapore Story is our place and deep links to the rest of the world. Special exhibitions in 2011, including Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in Islamic Arts and Gold Rush: Treasures of Ukraine, and The White Wedding Dress: 200 Years of Wedding Fashions from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London will reflect how Singapore stands in relation to world heritage and culture. For example, artefacts influenced by Islamic art, will be drawn from the Asian Civilisations Museum‟s collection, and presented alongside the Aga Khan treasures. The National Museum of Singapore will also display a section on the importance of gold in Singapore‟s heritage and culture within the Gold Rush exhibition, and wedding attire from Singapore‟s ethnic groups next to those from London. Such exhibitions serve to remind Singaporeans of our shared heritage within the global context. 13. 2012 is set to be a year where the Singapore Story will be told in earnest for the community and more importantly by the community. Our stories stem from a shared heritage after all. 14. Details of highlights in 2012 may be found in the Annex. For media enquiries, please contact: Rachel Lo Associate Account Director, Fulford Public Relations DID: (65) 6327 6177 Mobile: (65) 9847 8839 Email: [email protected] - END - About the National Heritage Board The National Heritage Board (NHB) champions the development and promotion of a vibrant cultural and heritage sector in Singapore. It makes heritage enriching, relevant and accessible to all through staging innovative programmes and forging collaborative partnerships with both private and people sector counterparts. The NHB leverages on state-of-the-art technology and refreshing new approaches to make heritage more dynamic, alive and exciting for different audiences. It also manages both national and public museums, the National Archives of Singapore, and the Heritage Conservation Centre. The NHB was formed on 1 August 1993 as a statutory board under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA). 2012 Highlights Celebrating the Singaporean in Us Documenting Intangible Heritage NHB will be embarking on a project to document intangible heritage such as rituals surrounding rites of passage – from birth ceremonies to funerals. This will be done through interviews with senior citizens, religious leaders, clans, etc as well as video-graphing. Plans are underway to document home remedies, and our unique cuisine and places associated with them. We are also looking to add to our existing collection of local myths and legends, nursery rhymes. As the documentation process is ongoing, the public will only be able to access selected information for now. Community Heritage Projects NHB‟s project to document our community heritage will be manifested in important aspects of living in the heartlands – wet markets in January 2012, and void decks in March 2012. Wet Markets - 20 Jan 2012, Chong Boon Market In addition to conducting research into the history and development of wet markets in Singapore, both during the pre-colonial and post-war periods, and documenting the unique characteristics of wet markets such as the nature of transactions and prices of goods, NHB will also be examining the challenges facing wet markets today. NHB will showcase the histories of seven markets including the Tiong Bahru Market, Geylang Serai Market, Tekka Market, Kebun Bahru Market, Marine Terrace Market, Holland Village Market and Chong Boon Market. NHB will partner neighbouring schools to develop learning journeys for students, facilitate interviews with family members and stall holders, and embark on photographic documentation of wet markets in Singapore. Void Decks - Mar 2012 This third project will focus on the development and evolving uses of void decks and their role as a social leveller amongst different ethnicities living in HDB estates. NHB will be showcasing common communal activities held at void decks as well as highlighting various void decks across Singapore. NHB will also be partnering a group of heritage bloggers to create virtual showcases of void decks online. Community Heritage Gallery at National Museum of Singapore NHB will be opening a space in the National Museum of Singapore as a Community Gallery. The galley will see exhibitions curated by the community for the community, as well as other exhibitions co-curated by NHB and the community. Community here refers to cultural or ethnic groups, clan associations, special heritage interest groups such as the Singapore Heritage Society, the blogging community such as Yesterday.sg, etc who will be invited to work with NHB to curate exhibitions that tell their story – which is intertwined with, and part of the larger Singapore Story. This will help Singaporeans tell their part of the Singapore Story and make them understand that every Singaporean has an important part in the making of the Singapore Story. New Citizens will also be invited to share their Singapore Story. Heritage Trails, Programmes & Travelling Exhibitions NHB would intensify its community outreach and engagement efforts through the development of new heritage trails which showcase the heritage of the community, coupled with programmes and travelling exhibitions. The target audience of NHB‟s initiatives would range from children, students, to active agers.