http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/414625/1/.html
Chinese, Malay, Indian heritage centres get $30m funding boost
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 March 2009 2057 hrs
Photos 1 of 2
Malay Heritage Centre
Video
Three heritage centres get $30m funding boost
SINGAPORE: Three of Singapore's ethnic heritage centres will receive cash and expert help from the government.
The Malay, Chinese and Indian heritage centres will get a total of S$30 million to help fund their future development and operations.
Besides money, the centres will also get expert help from the National Heritage Board (NHB).
The ethnic centres, while assisted by the government, have largely been sustained by the efforts of their communities.
They are at differing levels of development - from the refurbished Malay Heritage Centre to the long-standing Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and the still-to-be-built Indian Heritage Centre in Little India.
But now the government has stepped in with funding, as promised in this year's Budget. It will provide S$29 million for development and recurring costs. The communities will raise the remaining S$1 million. The breakdown of funding for the three groups has not been established yet.
While the community heritage institutions will continue to be owned and led by the various communities, the NHB hopes that with the additional funding, they will develop into centres that will match the museums at the national level.
Besides money, the government will also help in areas like curatorial and programming direction, and overseas links.
Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Malay Heritage Foundation, said: "With all the goodwill and all the resources we have at the Malay Heritage Centre, it cannot match what we have at the national level - whether NHB or MICA.
"And it's about expertise, resources, connectivity. The network that they have with the world through NHB and MICA is now available to us directly."
A new division has also been set up within the National Heritage Board to oversee this. For a start, tenders have gone out for business plans on how to develop these centres further.
- CNA/ir
Chinese, Malay, Indian heritage centres get $30m funding boost
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 March 2009 2057 hrs
Photos 1 of 2
Malay Heritage Centre
Video
Three heritage centres get $30m funding boost
SINGAPORE: Three of Singapore's ethnic heritage centres will receive cash and expert help from the government.
The Malay, Chinese and Indian heritage centres will get a total of S$30 million to help fund their future development and operations.
Besides money, the centres will also get expert help from the National Heritage Board (NHB).
The ethnic centres, while assisted by the government, have largely been sustained by the efforts of their communities.
They are at differing levels of development - from the refurbished Malay Heritage Centre to the long-standing Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and the still-to-be-built Indian Heritage Centre in Little India.
But now the government has stepped in with funding, as promised in this year's Budget. It will provide S$29 million for development and recurring costs. The communities will raise the remaining S$1 million. The breakdown of funding for the three groups has not been established yet.
While the community heritage institutions will continue to be owned and led by the various communities, the NHB hopes that with the additional funding, they will develop into centres that will match the museums at the national level.
Besides money, the government will also help in areas like curatorial and programming direction, and overseas links.
Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Malay Heritage Foundation, said: "With all the goodwill and all the resources we have at the Malay Heritage Centre, it cannot match what we have at the national level - whether NHB or MICA.
"And it's about expertise, resources, connectivity. The network that they have with the world through NHB and MICA is now available to us directly."
A new division has also been set up within the National Heritage Board to oversee this. For a start, tenders have gone out for business plans on how to develop these centres further.
- CNA/ir
