Greater community involvement fosters inclusiveness: PM
Lee
By S Ramesh
SINGAPORE: It's the biggest HeritageFest organised
so far in the last eight years and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
believes such events lead to greater community involvement and
build shared ownership.
Mr Lee launched the Heritagefest 2011 with the theme "Home-What We
Love About It" in Ang Mo Kio on Sunday.
For the first time, HeritageFest has moved from the city to the
heartlands.
It's an event that celebrates Singapore's multi-cultural heritage
through exhibitions, performances and competitions.
The Singapore HeritageFest has two objectives. One is to let the
people know about the olden-day trades that they were involved in;
and second, it's to let Singaporeans know about the history of the
places where they are staying - and that's the key objective of the
Ang Mo Kio heritage trail.
100 students volunteered to be trained as facilitators and helped
create the Community Heritage Trail.
"What is particularly fascinating was how Ang Mo Kio grew because
it used to be of limited size. It used to have only Hokkiens but
now it has Malays and Indians, and (Singapore) is a very
multi-cultural society," said Goh Hui Yee, student at St Nicholas
Girl's School.
"I learnt that there was actually a Grand Prix in Singapore before
the Formula One Grand Prix, and motor racing began in the 1940s,
which I was not aware of before this trail," said Yosef Ng from
Anderson Secondary School.
This is the sixth community trail launched by the National Heritage
Board. The others are the Balestier Trail, Jalan Besar Trail, Bukit
Timah Trail, Queenstown Trail and the Yishun-Sembawang Trail.
So what's in the name "Ang Mo Kio"?
PM Lee said: "Until the early part of the 20th century it used to
be called "Amokiah", not quite sure what it means but Ang Mo Kio in
Hokkien means tomatoes, so Seng Han Thong (MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC)
has made tomatoes the logo for his corner of Ang Mio Kio, but in
fact there were no tomatoes in Ang Mo Kio."
So Mr Lee wants to encourage every constituency to create similar
trails as greater community involvement is the key to building a
strong home for all Singaporeans.
He said: "We are outward looking, we are a global city, we track
the winds which blow the world. Singaporeans travel widely and many
of them live and work overseas. But this is our home and a home for
all, of regardless of race, language or religion.
"And home means you must have some memories, you must have shared
experiences and you must have some sense of where we came from, why
we are here what it means to us. Through the Heritage Board and
heritage trials and projects, we will connect to one another,
connect to our parents and past, and to our children and
future."
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the
Arts, said: "We will continue to roll out this because we think it
is important at the local level. Constituencies take ownership of
their heritage and they obviously need some help from MICA and the
Heritage Board, and we will continue to do so.
"(The) most important thing is to build up capacity at the local
level so that they understand what they can do to enthuse the
community. We have an understanding with PA (People's Association)
and this is something we will continue to roll out
progressively."
The HeritageFest aims to attract two million visitors this
year.
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