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Singapore’s Measures to Increase the Awareness of Heritage among the people:

-The formation of the National Heritage Board (NHB) by merging previous institutions such as the National Museum, to allow for greater coordination of various outreaches to promote Singapore Heritage

-NHB directly recruited teachers for its Education Unit, to enable more effective promotion of Singapore Heritage to local students

-NHB began to convert various former school buildings of some of Singapore’s most well-known schools into Museums, for example the Singapore Arts Museum (former St Joseph’s Institution) in 1996, and Asian Civilisations Museum (former Tao Nan School) in 1997. This was done in a bid to encourage more local students to visit these schools, and indirectly expose them to more of Singapore Heritage that are exhibited in these premises.

-NHB charges minimal fees for students visiting the various museums in Singapore. The admission prices range from $1 to $5, roughly half-price of the admission fees for working adults. Moreover, several areas such as the Heritage Conservation Centre & the National Archives of Singapore have free admission. This is to make it more affordable for students to visit these Heritage spots.

-NHB directly collaborated with various drama troupes such as ACT3 in 1999, to choreograph and direct a drama skit “Home Together” that played to more than 30,000 students in primary schools

-NHB launched 2 Heritage Mascots in 2000, Heri & Musee, to re-image the Heritage of Singapore to a more fun & exciting experience -NHB converted a bus to bring a more mobile cultural experience to students in 2003 -NHB launched a Singapore Heritage & Museums blog, www.yesterday.sg, in 2006 to encourage more local youth to visit such blogs & appeal to younger audience with local Heritage, as there’re more & more youth including students having blogs or reading blogs

-NHB started the Singapore Heritage Festival (SHF) in 2003, to celebrate the Singapore’s Heritage & Culture. It has been an annual event ever since. There has also been an increasing number of activities in SHF dedicated/targeted to local students & youth. For example, in the 2007 SHF, activities such Culture By the Bay celebrate not only culture in conjunction with National Day, but the exhibits are mainly artworks by students, in a bid to attract more students to participate in such activities. Also, SHF has another segment entitled Sound Stories. This activity is held at Zouk, a very popular hangout for Singapore Youth. Older bands like Jive Talkin, Max Surin, etc. performed and shared about the evolution of music in Singapore, while younger bands such as Reverie & Dubious Brothers also performed. This activity hopes to attract more local young people to come as the local music scene has been booming.

-NHB has also opened up more spaces for volunteers among the students in Singapore. In various museums such as the Memories at Ford Factory, students guides are welcome to help the museum by being guides to visitors. They would be given free training and would learn many facts about the exhibitions & indirectly get exposed to Singapore Culture. Also, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has began to encourage more student participation in such activities, by incentives such as CIP points.

-NHB also encourages students from various schools to plan Cultural Trails similar to that of the Civic District Trail in 1999 & the Singapore River Trial launched in 2003. The Bukit Timah Trail was launched as another of such heritage trails in 2007. The NHB hopes to collaborate with more education institutions to plan for more of such heritage trails as this will enable more students to get exposed to Singapore’s Heritage while planning for such activities.

Teck Ian
07S07