The National Heritage Board has lined up a number of activities and programmes for February and March 2022.
Unearth the lesser-known stories of Singapore during the Second World War with this year’s Battle for Singapore initiative, where a thrilling series of guided tours and programmes await.
For history junkies, be sure to try out the “Hike-and-Seek” online activity on the I Love Museums Facebook page to test your knowledge of significant WWII-related sites and win exclusive Museum Label merchandise!
Celebrate Malay culture and heritage with the Malay Heritage Centre one last time before the centre closes for a planned revamp later this year. Showcasing stories from the Malay community in Singapore and the Malay Archipelago, Cerita beckons one and all to reflect on the past and imagine the future together with a specially curated collection of over 80 artefacts.
An exciting lineup of programmes and activities is in store at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall as we usher in the new year of the Tiger!
Indulge in the festivities at this year’s Wan Qing Festival of Spring with family-friendly workshops, heritage trails, guided tours, craft activities. Do also check out the Nian Hua: Of Guardians, Deities and Auspicious Art Exhibition and Festive Installation: Blessings Come A-Knocking showcasing both traditional and contemporary takes on the beautiful art of woodblock printing.
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022 HIGHLIGHTS
Battle for Singapore 2022
Venue: Various venues
Date: 12 February – 6 March 2022 (Weekends)
Time: Various timeslots
Admission fees: Varies
More details will be released on https://go.gov.sg/bsg2022
Marking the 80th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, the National Heritage Board (NHB) will be partnering Museum Roundtable members, heritage experts, academics and interest groups to organise Battle for Singapore 2022 – a series of guided tours and programmes featuring stories and places that relate to Singapore’s experience during the Second World War (WWII).
From 12 February to 6 March 2022, members of the public can participate in a series of WWII-related activities offered by NHB and partners, including specially curated limited-run tours to special access WWII sites, tours to the newly-revamped Changi Chapel & Museum and Reflections at Bukit Chandu, as well as WWII-themed talks/webinars focusing on lesser-known stories and accounts.
For those who want to test your knowledge of significant WWII-related sites, look out for the “Hike-and-Seek” online activity on the I Love Museums
Facebook page and solve clues to win exclusive Museum Label merchandise!
Programmes by the Malay Heritage Centre
Launch of Cerita (Stories) Special Exhibition & Malay CultureFest 2022
Venue: MHC Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/
Date: 28 January 2022
Time: 8pm onwards
Join the Malay Heritage Centre on Facebook as it launches its newest Cerita (Stories) special exhibition and Malay CultureFest 2022!
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Cerita (Stories) Special Exhibition
Venue: Malay Heritage Centre
Dates: 29 January – 31 July 2022
Time: 10am – 6pm (last admission at 5.30pm, and closed on Mondays)
Over the years, MHC has presented an array of exhibitions and programmes along the four thematic categories of Bahasa (Language), Adat (Culture & Customs), Nilai (Values) and Bangsa (People/Nation).
At the heart of this approach was the desire to promote discussions on who are the Malays i.e Melayu, what is the ‘Malay language’, and survey Malay culture through cultural and heritage materials from the vast Nusantara or Malay Archipelago.
Envisioned more as a pit-stop on a journey that will continue after the planned museum revamp, this exhibition is a timely occasion for all of us to reflect on the past and imagine the future together.
Cerita shines the spotlight on the shared stories as well as the role of the storyteller via a survey of selected artefacts and signature collaborations that MHC has presented over the past decade.
Guided by the two signposts of Kita (Us/ We) in Gallery 1, and Me-reka (Them /Crafting) in Gallery 2, this exhibition hopes to indulge both returning and new visitors, to discover fresh insights and perspectives on Malay culture and heritage.
What’s Nenek’s Occupation?
Venue: Malay Heritage Centre
Dates: 29 January – 31 July 2022
Time: 10am – 6pm (last admission at 5.30pm, and closed on Mondays)
Free
Put on your detective hat because Agent Laila has a mission for you! Uncover the occupation of Laila’s grandmother through this detective game where you would need to solve riddles and quests in the mission cards. The answers will be clues that will lead you to a location in the exhibition for the grand reveal.
Are you game to take up this operation, little detective agent?
Students and families can explore the Malay Heritage Centre’s latest exhibition, Cerita (Stories) through this self-exploratory hunt game and learn about various aspects of Malay culture, heritage and arts that.
Available in English and Malay.
Lintas Nusantara x Silat: Balada Nusantara
Venue: MHC Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/
Date: 30 January 2022 (Showcase #1), 4 February 2022 (Showcase #2)
Time: 8pm
Admission: Free
The 10th installation of Lintas Nusantara is a love letter to silat – an ancient martial art form practiced across the Nusantara. Explore silat’s influence on dance in the region through magnetic performances.
Showcase #1
1. Pajaga Makkunrai, Malkassar: Performed by Ida El Bahra Arts Management feat.
Daeng Serang Dakko and Guru Tenri
2. Galuik Kumango, Jakarta: Performed by Benny Krisnawardi and Sigma Dance Company
Showcase #2
1. Dauliti, Singapore: Performed by The Kaizen and Seri Setia Pulau Singa Silat and the Bawean Community: Featuring Persatuan Bawean Singapura and
Sanggar Seni Dharma Pasuruan
Tales of Sang Kancil (Interactive Workshop and Theatre Performance)
Venue: SISTIC Live Stream
Dates: 8 October 2021 – 31 March 2022
Admission: $300 (for the full programme which includes 1 performance, 2 workshops,
student worksheets and parent/educators’ guide)
Visit https://www.sistic.com.sg/
information
Sang Kancil is a small and clever mousedeer who uses its wit and intelligence to triumph over creatures more powerful than itself in the animal kingdom. The Tales of Sang Kancil is a compilation of folktales for children based on adventures of Sang Kancil in the Malay world.
Combining elements from two cultural art forms, Indian Dance (e.g. Bharatanatyam) and
Malay Dance (e.g. Inang and Zapin) to depict characters in the forest, this programme comprises a performance video and two traditional dance workshop videos. The programme is designed for children aged 4-8 years old to experience the various art forms and be introduced to traditional Malay musical instruments.
Tales of Sang Kancil will also be available from November 2021 in an accessible format that includes Singapore Sign Language interpretation as well as closed captions.
Programmes by Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Nian Hua: Of Guardians, Deities and Auspicious Art Exhibition
Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Date: 21 January – 25 September 2022
Time: 10am – 5pm (last admission at 4.30pm, closed on Mondays)
Free admission for all Singaporeans and PRs
Visit www.sysnmh.org.sg for more details
Nian Hua: Of Deities, Guardians and Auspicious Art is a collaboration with the Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum and showcases new year prints produced in China from the Qing dynasty to the 1980s. A close examinationof the iconography of these prints, which are deeply rooted in popular beliefs and folk customs, provides insights into the rarely-documented attitudes and values of the common people in China.
Public Lecture – Tua Pek Kong: A Very Short Introduction
Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Date: 12 February 2022
Time: 2pm – 3:30 pm
Free Admission
The arrival and settlement of Chinese migrants not only transferred popular deities and native-place gods from China to Southeast Asia, but also led to the invention of new gods in the migrant society.
In this talk, the speaker will explore the proliferation of Tua Pek Kong’s cult among the Overseas Chinese communities. Far from being a standardized god in a bureaucratic pantheon of Chinese deities, Tua Pek Kong was considered as a “personal being,” offering protection to those who relied on him.
This talk will also examine the multifaceted cult of Tua Pek Kong in three forms: a symbol of sworn brotherhood, a Sino-Malay deity, and a Sinicized god.
Jack Meng-Tat Chia is Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Buddhism and Chinese popular religion in Southeast Asia, transnational Buddhism, and Sino-Southeast Asian interactions. His first book, Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea, won the 2021 EuroSEAS Humanities Book Prize.
Conducted in English. Only 20 seats available, on a first-come, first-served basis. No registration required.
Public Lecture – Nian Hua Beyond Chinese New Year: Singapore’s Forgotten Qixi
Festival and How Youths Can Help Revive It
Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Date: 13 February 2022
Time: 2pm – 3:30 pm
Free Admission
Through Nian Hua, associated art forms, as well as social memories gathered first-hand, a local millennial Lynn Wong shares her journey in rediscovering the Qixi festival which has disappeared in Singapore for over half a century. She will explore the lesser-known aspects of this festival that was once even grander than the Lunar New Year, and discuss how youths can help revive and reimagine it.
Lynn Wong is on a mission to uncover, document, and revive Singapore’s disappearing foods, festivals, and heritage. Her research focuses on the Chinese diaspora in Singapore and their involvement in historical places of worship, clan associations, as well as everyday customs.
Conducted in English. Only 20 seats available, on a first-come, first-served basis. No registration required.
Wan Qing Festival of Spring 2022
Venue: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Dates: 11 January – 13 February 2022
Time: 10am – 5pm
Free Admission
Visit https://www.sysnmh.org.sg/en/
Celebrate the Year of the Tiger at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall with Wan Qing Festival of Spring 2022! Join us for a rousing weekend as we usher in the Lunar New Year with an exciting line-up of programmes and activities, suitable for all ages.
Expect family-friendly offerings such as lion dance and festive drumming workshops, heritage trails, guided tours, craft activities for the little ones, and more!
Delve into the world of nian hua, woodblock prints used to decorate Chinese homes for the Lunar New Year for centuries, at our Nian Hua: Of Deities, Guardians and Auspicious Art special exhibition.
Watch artworks come to life at our annual thematic installation, Blessings Come A-Knocking (????) and capture your Lunar New Year OOTD with us!
Online programmes will also be available on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sysnmh). Catch a livestream of our annual lion dance performance on the first day of the Lunar New Year and a traditional face-changing performance during the festival weekend. Finally, keep a lookout on our social media channels for a chance to win limited-edition merchandise!
Festive Installation: Blessings Come A-Knocking
(Supported by Tik Ka)
Date: 11 January – 24 July 2022 (daily)
Time: 10am – 9pm on 28 – 30 January 2022, 1, 2, 12,13 February 2022
Admission: Free, no registration required
During the Lunar New Year, Chinese households worldwide would often decorate their homes and doorways with red banners, spring couplets, paper cuttings, Chinese zodiac decorations, new year prints etc.
These new year decorations add to the festive spirit and, in the case of new year prints, are believed to bar bad luck from entering, to offer protection and to attract blessings for their households for the upcoming year.
Titled “Blessings Come A-Knocking”, this lawn installation is a collaboration between the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and artist Ng Tik Ka (Tik Ka From East), a Hong Kong artist, illustrator and designer.
It features two of the artist’s artworks “Eat Good West” and “Big War” and showcases his signature style of depicting familiar pop culture figures in the traditional style of new year prints.
This installation represents the memorial hall’s wish for protection against the trials and tribulations brought about by the pandemic for Singapore, and personal protection for Singaporeans against the COVID-19 virus.
It also embodies our hope to enjoy more healthy and prosperous years, and gives thanks as Singapore continues to persevere on its path to live with COVID-19.
