How We Want to Be Remembered: Creating Our Singapore Legacy

Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law, for the Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award 2024 on 2 April 2025

1. Good afternoon, everyone. Nadi Singapura is a real hard act to follow, but I would do my best. And I am going to start by thanking all of you for being here, for celebrating this occasion with us.
2. And really, your presence signifies the importance of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the way in which we look at stewarding, protecting and passing on what is special to us in this generation.
   1. So, it lives on, in Singapore, for generations to come.
3. Our ICH, our Intangible Cultural Heritage, I would regard as the backbone of Singapore’s social fabric. 
   1. It lives in the stories that we hear from our grandparents, the traditions that we uphold, and the values that guide us as we navigate life’s challenges.
   2. Generation after generation, we’ve passed down these down as if they were treasured heirlooms.
4. And I see many familiar faces today—people who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding our Intangible Cultural Heritage. And you understand the value better than most.  
   
   

   Importance of Heritage

5. In a constantly changing world, I think we can see that in almost every news report that we see, in every news reel that we hear, our heritage remains our firm anchor.
6. It bridges the past and present, the young and old. 
   1. It connects us to our roots, to our families, and to our communities.
7. And thanks to all the heritage practitioners like all of you here, it also connects us to the future.
   1. Not just because of the young boy there that Rishi said earlier, is our future, but in all of us, in all of what we do.
8. Our heritage shapes who we are as Singaporeans – a multi-cultural, multi-religious, and deeply multi-ethnic society.
   1. It’s woven into the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the festivals we celebrate.
   2. And it is a distinct identity, something that we cherish deeply.
9. Our commitment to heritage has gained global recognition.
   1. From the Singapore Botanic Gardens becoming the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015,
   2. to Hawker Culture's inclusion on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative List in 2020,
   3. and of course, last year’s success with the Kebaya inscription. 
   4. These and many other milestones celebrate our heritage’s far-reaching significance, and through this, they also unite us. 
   
   

   Heritage Awareness Survey

10. I believe Singaporeans value our living heritage very much and I think increasingly so. According to a 2024 Heritage Awareness Survey,
    1. Over 90% believe heritage experiences enhance understanding of diverse cultures.
    2. Half of Singaporeans participate in ICH activities like community events and festivals. 
    3. And 80% would support ICH practitioners through performances or crafts.
    4. Our youth engagement has also surged. 
       1. 66% of youths participated in heritage activities, up from 58%, 
       2. With over 90% advocating for preserving both tangible as well as intangible heritage. 
11. I believe that these results come, and they reflect, the tireless work of our many heritage practitioners and organisations. 
    1. Proud in the work that they do, treasuring these traditions, and stewarding it, carefully guarding it, and making sure we educate, raise awareness, and pass them on. 
    2. And this afternoon, I want you to join me in showing a round of applause to all of them and showing our gratitude and pride in what they do. Let’s applaud their efforts.  
    
    

    Safeguarding Our Heritage

12. But at the same time, while these numbers I have cited, they are promising, they are encouraging, I think we all know that more can be done.
13. Two years ago, I introduced the refreshed SG Heritage Plan 2.0, which aims to make heritage accessible to all.
    1. We want heritage to be present not just in special exhibitions or in galleries, but in our everyday lives, in where we work, where we live, where we play, where we go with our families.
    2. Through our partnership with the community, we’ve launched Heritage Activation Nodes (HANs) in Katong-Joo Chiat and Clementi, with Punggol joining soon. More Heritage Activation Nodes will be on the way. 
14. Equally important is safeguarding our cultural heartlands – Chinatown, Kampong Gelam and Little India.
    1. These are very special places. 
    2. These areas are vital to our history and our identity, with heritage businesses at their core. 
    3. Yet, we know that these businesses, they face pressure, they face challenges. 
    4. The NHB’s Heritage Business Feasibility Study highlights that there’s a gap between the value we place on these businesses and actual consumer behaviour.  
15. We think that this gap has to be bridged, so we set up an interagency task force, co-chaired by my colleagues, SMS Low Yen Ling and MOS Faishal Ibrahim.
    1. It is a key part, and a key initiative, for this SG Heritage Business Scheme to be launched, to allow us to celebrate local heritage businesses and help them to develop, to thrive and to continue the good work that they do. 
16. I believe too that innovation is key to preserving heritage whilst adapting.
    1. So, the Organisation Transformation Grant supports businesses like Deli Maslina, which modernised their packaging and introduced new flavours whilst maintaining tradition. 
17. Craft X Design, connects traditional crafts with local designers, reimagining old skills for modern times. 
    1. One of this year’s ICH Stewards showcased stunning Rangoli designs in home décor, beautiful designs in everyday home decorative.
18. The SG Culture Pass, which we launched recently, also helps to expand access to arts and heritage. 
    1. And as you know, the SG Culture pass: every Singaporean aged 18 and above will receive $100 in credits to explore local arts, heritage, and cultural events
    2. And this helps us to activate the community, get behind our arts, culture and heritage, and build through their attendance and participation, build stronger community bonds. 
    3. I think all of these efforts help us to build and strengthen our national identity.
    4. Singapore’s tapestry is rich, is interconnected, each thread is different, representing all of us here. 
    5. But when woven together, representing Singaporean and its core, I think it becomes stronger than the sum of its parts.
    6. It tells the story of our people, of our passions, and of our aspirations. 
19. And I think, at the same time, this story of our young nation, celebrating SG60, it is still being written. 
20. Heritage over time shapes civilisations.
    1. Look at how the Renaissance shaped Europe, with its influence still very much alive today, continuing.
    2. We see the Silk Road as more than just a trade route — it started off as a business trade route, where you build a trade, develop a trade, shipping lanes, but it became also a cultural bridge, connecting everyone on that path. Spreading innovations like Chinese papermaking.
    3. Or you take the Japanese Kintsugi, the art of mending broken pottery with gold, combines tradition with modern innovation. In a way, a bit like Nadi Singapura, constantly evolving, look at what Ridhuan said earlier: “taking old traditions, melding them with new innovations, evolving, remaining relatable and relevant with our times.
21. And in years to come, I believe Singapore's story will be told by the heritage that we preserve today. 
    1. The efforts that we take today to steward, to safeguard, to raise awareness and pass it on will have a profound and tremendous impact on our history and how people in Singapore, years and generation from now will look at us, and how we started these traditions.
    2. So, I ask this question: “How do we want to be remembered?”
    3. And I believe the answer lies in a glimpse of the award winners that we showcase today.
    
    

    Award Recipients 2024

22. This afternoon, we celebrate our stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
    1. They have dedicated countless hours to perfecting and re-perfecting their art and craft and sharing it generously.
    2. What sets them apart is their single-minded determination and resilience. 
    3. It must have been not easy, in fact, probably quite difficult, for them to keep at the craft, keep at the art, continuing it, trying to teach, raise awareness, practice it. 
    4. Perfection after perfection. 
    5. In a changing world, what they have done is that they’ve kept these traditions alive, evolving them but at the same time, respecting their roots. 
23. Since 2019, we have honoured 17 exceptional individuals and organisations.
    1. And today, I’m so proud to say, that we will add 5 more remarkable stewards and let me share their stories, if you would indulge me, let me say a little bit about each of them.
24. First, Mr Yaziz Hassan 
    1. Mr Yaziz has devoted over 30 years to Malay drums. 
    2. His passion began with, I’m told, a torn drum skin during an overseas trip. 
    3. He became a master drum maker and repairer in the process. I guess, necessity is the mother of invention and innovation.
    4. And in the 1990s, when the art was almost lost, he made it his own mission to teach the next generation. 
    5. Through Nadi Singapura, he has built a community of skilled artisans.
    6. Celebrating and showcasing our culture on stage.
    7. Bringing joy to rhythms and song, allowing us to invite, allowing us to experience, but also allowing us to remember what our heritage is about.
    8. So, thank you very much, Mr Yaziz. 
25. Mr Thomis Kwan 
    1. Mr Kwan has been practising Peranakan jewellery also for over 30 years.
    2. Trained as a goldsmith, he blends Malay, Indian and European influences into his art pieces and into his designs.
    3. His creations, like the kerongsang and the brooches, are cherished symbols of Peranakan culture. 
    4. He also embraces innovation, 30 years and counting, and still in the business, in the practice, 
    5. But constantly looking at reinventing himself, innovating, changing from one modality to another, embracing technology. 
    6. Keeping these traditions alive at the core of what he does, but still remaining relevant and relatable. 
    7. At the same time, Mr Kwan mentors the next generation, teaching them, generously sharing his skill, his craft, ensuring that these traditions, and these skills pass on from one generation to another. 
    8. Thank you very much, Mr Kwan.
26. Our third steward is Mrs Vijaya Mohan 
    1. I met Mrs Vijaya recently, back at several dialogues that has been talking about culture pass, getting ideas and she’s been tremendously supportive with many constructive ideas.
    2. And they go beyond her own art and craft, they go beyond her own field. She’s been telling me a lot of what we could do and much of what we have conceived in the culture pass idea, came from her ideas, came from her suggestion to broaden, to deepen awareness in the audience. 
    3. So thank you very much for that, and now back to your craft.
    4. She’s been creating rangoli for over 60 years.
    5. She has made more than 20,000 pieces, I’m told, worldwide, including the world’s largest rangoli. So yes, the Guiness Book of Records you’ll see Mrs Vijaya in there.
    6. But at the same time, she’s down-to-earth and she innovates by using household materials that you might see in your everyday life, like pasta shapes and ice cream sticks. 
    7. You might not imagine that, and I used to do art and craft, using pasta shapes and ice cream sticks, but I could never achieve what she has achieve.
    8. At the same time, is not just an artistic pursuit for Mrs Vijaya, she believes that rangoli is for everyone. 
    9. It is a community space for everyone.
    10. And so, she has mentored countless students, passing on her passion, giving and breathing new life into Rangoli, with each and every art piece that she has produced. 
    11. Thank you very much, Mrs Vijaya. 
27. Now moving on to organisational recipients, we have Pek Sin Choon.
    1. Founded in 1925, Pek Sin Choon is a guardian of Chinese tea heritage.
    2. And you know, those of you who appreciate and enjoy Chinese tea, there are thousands, millions and one variety, each of them intricate, each of them telling a special story,
    3. and you know how it is, you don’t just read tea leaves to tell the future, you look at teas to tell the heritage and the past.
    4. So under the leadership of Kenry Peh, they continue to blend tea in the most traditional of methods, traditional of styles. 
    5. They also mentor young tea enthusiasts and work with schools to document this craft. 
    6. To let people understand, appreciate and raise awareness about how this is done over the years.
    7. Pek Sin Choon’s commitment to sustainability is also very evident in their reuse of metal tins. 
    8. Thank you very much for safeguarding Nanyang tea heritage and allowing us to enjoy tea, and I now enjoy tea, having read about the story here, I now enjoy tea in a different way because of the tea leaves. 
    9. I read them as if I know something but, I’m not sure I can do it the same way.
28. Finally, let me speak a little about Thye Moh Chan. 
    1. I actually grew up, eating Thye Moh Chan pastries, without knowing that it was so famous, over the years.
    2. My grandmother frequented Chinatown, we used to live in Chinatown, and she would bring home boxes of pastries. And now when I remember it and I look at it today, I am reminded of my own time in my childhood. 
    3. And I think that’s a special thing about heritage, that it brings you back to that moment in your own life, when you came across, or associated with that product or item. And I think this is all very special.
    4. Founded in 1943, Thye Moh Chan is famous for its traditional Chinese pastries.
    5. But when it closed in 2011, we feared that we had lost something for good.
    6. Fortunately, BreadTalk revived it in 2012. 
    7. Today, they document traditional techniques and pass them down through the work of new chefs. 
    8. Thye Moh Chan continues to engage Singaporeans, creating new products, new memories whilst at the same time, honouring old traditions.
    9. Again, doing something that keeps the artwork, the craft and heritage alive, but relevant and relatable to a new generation through evolution.
    10. Thank you very much for keeping this food heritage alive.
29. These little stories and snippets that I have told really is just a small tip of the iceberg, so I encourage you to find out more, read about it, read about the history and understand why it is so special to Singapore.
30. These recipients, all 5 of them, show us and prove to us, that heritage is not at all static. 
    1. They innovate, they bridge generations, they pass on traditions. 
    2. And through their mentorship, I would say, generous sharing of their knowledge, they ensure that the legacy lives on.
    3. And so, as the legacy lives on, we have stewards on one hand, wanting to pass on but as with every passing down, you also need a recipient. 
    4. We need someone from the new generation to see that, to embrace it and themselves, one day become a steward. 
    
    

    Outstanding Youth in ICH Award

31. So, I believe we must do more to involve young people in the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
    1. They will be the ones who will carry our heritage forward.
    2. We need to show them that therefore, this culture, this heritage, this special part of being uniquely and intrinsically Singaporean, will be a meaningful part of their future identity. 
    3. So, they must innovate within traditions and become their generations’ cultural leaders. 
32. And so, to support this, I am very pleased to announce that this afternoon that we are going to be launching a new initiative— the Outstanding Youth in Intangible Cultural Heritage Award.
    1. We believe that it is time for us to recognise young leaders dedicated to ICH. 
    2. And inspire them to do even more, to steward it, to receive it, treasure it and pass it down.
    3. They will receive training and grants to nurture and develop their expertise and allow them to contribute back to the community. 
33. We will open applications soon.
    1. So, please spread the word. 
    2. Let’s partner with our youths to also ensure that as we pass it down, there will be a willing recipient, there will be a worthy recipient to steward this and pass it on to next generations. 
34. Let me now conclude and say that the task of stewarding this heritage is really not just for a few of us. 
35. It’s not something we can say, let’s leave it to someone to do because it will get done and I will just enjoy it, and my own children and grandchildren will get to enjoy. 
    1. It won’t happen if all of us think this way. 
36. Each of us has a role to play in ensuring that our traditions, our stories get told, and our values live on.
    1. Whether it’s by attending a performance, and it can be as simple as that, buying a handicraft item, or just teaching the next generation.
    2. Every little act of preservation, big or small, adds to a legacy we are building together.
    3. And I am reminded of the song title you chose, Mr Yaziz Hasan, for Nadi Singapura, it’s small but big. 
37. Our traditions will guide us as we continue to shape Singapore into a nation where innovation and culture are not separate but intertwined. 
    1. Where we take pride in our past as we march boldly towards the future. 
38. And in generations to come, future Singaporeans will look back and will appreciate the steps very much, the steps that we take today.
39. They will see that we didn’t just preserve heritage—we made it thrive, we adapted it, and we made it relevant and relatable for their world.
40. Together, we will be remembered as a nation that didn’t just hold on to heritage but breathed new life into it. 
    1. A Singapore where tradition empowers progress and where our cultural stories are woven into the very fabric of our modern identity. 
41. So, I say this to all of us. Let’s rise to this challenge. Let’s be that generation that ensures that our heritage doesn’t just survive, but thrives and lives on, and inspires many generations to come. 
42. This after all is our legacy. This is the story that we want to write, this is the Singapore that we want to create. 
43. So as I leave you with this, let me go back to the 5 stewards. Congratulations to all of you, thank you very much for all that you do. 
44. And I want to thank the village behind all of you as well, all of you here in the audience — family, friends, practitioners, some have said they have been with our stewards for 20 years, 25 years or more, 
    1. All of you make a difference. 
    2. All of you are that wind beneath their wings, 
    3. that make these stewards do what they do and allow us to preserve and protect our culture for many generations to come.
    4. Thank you very much to all of you for being here.