Heritage is a powerful tool that can unite communities, create a sense of belonging and strengthen social bonds. By embracing the practices, beliefs and histories of diverse communities in Singapore, we can appreciate their distinctiveness while celebrating our shared humanity.
Using heritage to develop common ground across communities has always been part of our core mission. By engaging people in heritage-related activities and discussions, we can promote empathy and mutual respect within and across communities, particularly in a time when differences can lead to hostility and intolerance. In this next phase, we aim to create even greater access to heritage all around Singapore, and enable it to form bridges between Singaporeans from all walks of life.
Going forward, we want to further equip Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds to jointly create heritage-related content and projects. We believe that heritage belongs to everyone, and we want to empower and engage Singaporeans to tell our stories and advocate for our rich multicultural identities. With greater co-ownership of our heritage, Singaporeans will feel more invested in promoting and celebrating our histories, and we as a society can be collectively enriched by a richer well of experiences and insights, and build a better future together.
Enlivening Our Heartlands through Heritage
Our heritage is an important part of what makes Singapore unique, and we believe that everyone should have the chance to learn, experience and enjoy our heritage. Hence, NHB will work closely with the community to create more places where people can experience and participate in heritage across Singapore.
In the first heritage master plan, we successfully launched Community Galleries in Kreta Ayer and Geylang Serai. In this next phase, we aspire to go beyond the historic precincts and seed Heritage Activation Nodes in neighbourhoods across the island. We will partner interested stakeholders to activate these spaces through programmes such as street festivals, guided heritage walking tours, and pop-up installations and exhibitions. We also plan to extend and enhance our existing heritage assets, including our Street Corner Heritage Galleries and Heritage Trails, to cover new areas.
Finally, our aim is also to grow the pool of heritage champions, equipping them with skills and involving them in the co-curation of spaces at the selected nodes. By empowering communities to participate in the creation and delivery of heritage activities, we can increase our sense of ownership and pride in our shared history, and build a stronger, more resilient and cohesive Singapore.
Inspiring Youth and Harnessing Youthful Energy
We want to cultivate lifelong heritage enthusiasts from a young age who will appreciate and value the significance of our cultural practices and traditions. As such, our heritage offerings have always taken into account our young audiences, whether it is in designing education packs or conducting school tours.
Under HP2, we will deepen our engagement with youths and create more opportunities for young people to contribute to heritage-related causes. Our goal is to provide more platforms for youths to share their perspectives and insights, such as through the creation of the first Youth Heritage Blueprint. Driven by the NHB Youth Panel, the blueprint will offer guidance on how to strengthen and sustain youth interest and involvement in museums and heritage – as recommended by youths themselves.
To empower young people to take an active role in preserving Singapore’s heritage, we will increase youth participation through exciting and new ways, such as by exploring youth takeovers of our social media platforms. We will also establish a grant to provide funding to youths who are keen to kickstart projects that promote heritage to their peers. Through these efforts, we hope to inspire, nurture and build the capabilities of the next generation of heritage enthusiasts who will provide fresh perspectives, drive change and become advocates of Singapore’s rich cultural heritage.
Pioneering Heritage-based Interventions for Health & Well-being
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Experiencing heritage in its various forms, such as admiring the beautiful artefacts in a museum or enjoying street opera and traditional music, can excite our senses and stimulate our minds and bodies. Participating in heritage activities, like visiting historic sites, learning traditional crafts or volunteering for a heritage causes, can make us feel more confident, hopeful and connected to others.
With this in mind, we want to use our heritage resources to improve the personal well-being of Singaporeans. We will develop more heritage-based intervention programmes to support well-being. For example, we will work with hospitals and social care partners to introduce heritage programmes that promote social bonding and physical well-being for people in their care.
To better understand the benefits of heritage, NHB will also commission research into how heritage participation translates into positive health outcomes, and how such learnings could be applied to develop heritage programmes and activities as social prescription that can support the well-being of Singaporeans. These efforts will also contribute to Healthier SG initiatives and aid in cultivating a caring society for all.
Engendering Volunteerism
Volunteers are important ambassadors for heritage. Whether they act as guides, interpreters or advocates, volunteers work hard to keep history alive and share heritage experience with others. Over the years, NHB’s family of volunteers has continued to grow from strength to strength, counting amongst them museum docents as well as individuals who are simply passionate about Singapore’s history and heritage.
Because volunteers are such key advocates, we want to further grow and diversify our volunteer pool and volunteer opportunities — so that we can reach out to as many demographics as possible on different platforms. This includes exploring digital volunteering opportunities to reach out to people who consume heritage content online.
We will also train interested volunteers to become Inclusivity Champions who are skilled in working with persons with disabilities. These Champions will assist museums and heritage institutions in creating programmes that are more inclusive and accommodating for visitors with special needs. With their support, we can break down barriers to access to heritage, so that everyone in society can enjoy the benefits of experiencing and participating in our shared heritage.
Strengthening Community Capabilities
Our community is more than just an audience for heritage content. We have talented and dedicated individuals who can take on roles such as advocates, researchers, writers, curators and project leaders. NHB wants to empower more people to not only participate in heritage programmes, but also create their own heritage projects for other Singaporeans to enjoy. As more people contribute their unique perspectives and efforts, our heritage scene will become more dynamic, vibrant and exciting.
To support and strengthen community capabilities, we will create more opportunities to bring together grassroots organisations, community groups and volunteers to share heritage information and develop networks for new ideas. NHB will also provide guidance on how to scope, start and sustain heritage projects, providing a practical resource for anyone interested in starting a heritage project. Our goal is to encourage more people to kick start their own heritage initiatives and contribute to a vibrant and thriving heritage scene.
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