$30m For Heritage Centres

Site Of Future Indian Heritage Centre

Singapore - The National Heritage Board (NHB) is all set to jazz up activities and exhibits at the Malay Heritage Centre at Sultan Gate in Kampong Glam, the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Tai Gin Road and the upcoming Indian Heritage Centre in the heart of Little India.

A new division, the Heritage Institutions Division, has been set up to assist in key areas like curation, programming, marketing and promotions and operations at these three community heritage institutions.

The government will provide $29 million and the community will raise another $1 million to help fund these efforts.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) on Wednesday signed three memorandums of understanding (MOU) to provide support to the three community heritage institutions.

The NHB will also assist in offering its management and professional expertise to these centres in areas such as operations, curatorial support, programming direction, marketing and promotions.

`Today`s MOUs underscore our commitment to further invest in our multicultural heritage with a new framework of support,` said RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State for Education, and Information, Communications and the Arts, who witnessed the signing ceremony.

`The community heritage institutions play an important role in documenting the history of the various communities in Singapore. They add a new dimension to the understanding and appreciation of our collective heritage.`

NHB will work closely with the local communities to reposition the selected heritage institutions as focal points for the Chinese, Malay and Indian diasporas.

The institutions will continue to be led by the various communities in Singapore, represented by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce Foundation for the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, the Malay Heritage Foundation for the Malay Heritage Centre, and the various committees leading the development of the Indian Heritage Centre.

For a start, two senior NHB staffs have been identified to provide curatorial support. Ms Lee Chor Lin, Director, National Museum of Singapore, will advise on the curating of exhibits for the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and Malay Heritage Centre. Dr Gauri Krishnan, Senior Curator, from the Asian Civilisations Museum will be in-charge of the IHC`s museum developments.

Construction work will start on the Indian Heritage Centre in Little India next year, as well as the revamp of Malay Heritage Centre and the rejuvenation of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall where improvements will be made to the exhibitions to raise it to the standards of our National Museums. The improvements are expected to be completed in between 2010 to 2011, said NHB.

Source: StraitTimes.com (March 11^th, 2009)
Photo: NHB.gov.sg

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