While Singapore may not have a long history, our people have a rich ancestral heritage. The convergence of rich and diverse cultural influences has endowed Singapore with both a traditional and contemporary outlook. With the setting up of the National Heritage Board (NHB) in 1993, much has been done to explore and present the heritage and nationhood of the people of Singapore. The local heritage scene has grown significantly over the years, with a steady increase in visitorship to our museums, participation in NHB's various community outreach programmes and the mushrooming of more private museums in Singapore. Events such as the annual Singapore Heritage Festival serve as important touch points for grassroots participation and help build cross-cultural and inter-generational understanding in our community. The NHB will continue to encourage deeper and more active people-private sector engagement and spearhead the strategic development of the heritage sector for continued growth.
State of Heritage
Today, the National Heritage Board operates 3 national museums: the Asian Civilisations Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Art Museum, 8Q sam, 2 heritage interpretative centers: Memories at Old Ford Factory and Reflections at Bukit Chandu and 1 fully-owned subsidiary: Singapore Philatelic Museum. The NHB also manages the National Archives of Singapore and the Heritage Conservation Centre.
The following are some of our major achievements in the heritage scene to date:
Infrastructural development: Re-opening of the Memories at Old Ford Factory and the National Museum of Singapore in Feb and Dec 2006, respectively. The National Museum presents a comprehensive account of Singapore’s history from the 14th century to the present. In April 2008, the Asian Civilisations Museum at the old Tao Nan school reopened as the Peranakan Museum. This boutique museum is the first to present a pan-Southeast Asian view of Peranakan culture. NHB's newest museum, 8Q sam, was officially opened on 15 August 2008. Housed in the former Catholic High School at 8 Queen Street, the museum features the growing contemporary art collection of the Singapore Art Museum.
Rising visitorship to museums: Visitorship to the National Museums in FY 2007 was 1.85 million, a 39% increase over the previous year’s 1.34 million visitors. On the whole, visitorship to all museums in Singapore reached new heights in FY2007 with 5.2 million visitors. In addition more than 4.3 million persons attended NHB’s outreach events, fringe activities and programmes, an increase from FY2006's 2.9 million visitors. NHB’s annual signature outreach event, the Singapore HeritageFest 2007, continued to bring heritage to the masses with a record 1.43 million participants, a 23% increase from 2006.
NHB has also been engaging Singaporeans online via platforms such as www.yesterday.sg Singapore’s first heritage and museums blog, which continues to garner about 15,000 unique visitors a month. Other online resources include www.sgcool.sg, the first online repository of artefacts and artworks in Singapore which makes available highlights from NHB’s collections to the public and the www.a2o.com.sg, an award-winning portal which makes available records of our nation’s development and the social experiences of Singaporeans.
Platforms for cultural philanthropy
Cultural philanthropy was given a boost with the launch of the Patron of Heritage Awards in Apr 2007 to acknowledge and celebrate contributions to the heritage cause. A total of 86 awardees were recognized for donations and loans worth S$118.5 million. In 2006, NHB also enhanced their incentive schemes such as the Approved Museum Scheme (AMS) and the Public Art Tax Incentive Scheme (PATIS) to promote better appreciation of Singapore’s heritage, to connect Singaporeans to our heritage and to enhance the cityscape and environment.
Marking of national monuments and heritage sites: Historical landmarks provide a link to Singapore’s past and our identity and preserved heritage plays an important role in adding to the uniqueness and vibrancy of the cityscape, attracting global talent to Singapore, promoting tourism, and contributing to the quality of life for Singaporeans. To date, there has been 55 historically significant buildings gazetted as national monuments and 84 marked historic sites. To find out more on national monuments, please visit the Preservation of Monuments Board website.
Heritage Policy
The objective is to make heritage an enriching part of everyone's life and enable a better appreciation of our cultures, heritage and national history to give us a sense of purpose and belonging. Increasingly the focus is on engaging the active participation and support of the Public, Private and People sectors to ensure that there is a concerted and integrated approach to heritage preservation and promotion. The Heritage Awareness Index (HAI) saw a significant 20% increase in 2006 compared to 2002. The key findings indicated a higher level of heritage awareness among Singaporeans and general improvement in the levels of heritage appreciation, knowledge and involvement. 92.2% of respondents also endorsed Government’s efforts in preserving and promoting heritage.
Internationalisation efforts
The NHB regularly makes it possible for Singaporeans and visitors to enjoy exhibitions on cultures of the world through a range of international blockbusters at the museums. Recent examples of such exhibitions include the “Hidden Faces: The Art of Japanese Masks” and the “Mystery Men: Finds from China’s Lost Age” at the ACM; “Maria Theresia: Mother Empress of Habsburg Austria” at the National Museum; and “All the Best – the Deutsche Bank Collection and Zaha Hadid” and “Convergences: Chen Wen Hsi” at the SAM.
Similarly, our museums also showcased Singapore’s rich cultural treasures beyond our shores. For example, the ACM traveled “Crescent Moon: Islamic art and Civilisation in Southeast Asia” and “Goddess: Divine Energy” to Australia, while the SAM presented over 70 works from its collection of Southeast Asia modern art to Beijing.
Development of Heritage Industry
In September 2008, NHB offically launched its Heritage Industry Incentive Programme (HI2P). HI2P is an initiative by NHB to seed new private musuem and heritage ventures, upgrade musuem galleries, expand markets, and strengthen product development. To further boost private sector involvement in Singapore's heritage eco-system, NHB worked with the Singapore Land Authority in October 2008 to launch the first ever Request-for-Interest for integrated museum and art facilities at Queen Street and Loewen Road. Interested private collectors are invited to submit proposals to develop, operate and manage these integrated musuem and art facilities.