Thaipusam shortled Singapore for nomination to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage l

Thaipusam, a temple festival celebrated here every year Hindus of Tamil descent, is among the 10 elements shortled Singapore for nomination to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) l.
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The colourful festival dedicated to Lord Subramaniam, also known as Lord Murugan the deity of youth, power and virtue, is an occasion of repentance held between January and February during the full moon in the 10th month of the Hindu calendar.
Also on the shortl is the annual Chingay parade held after the Lunar New Year celebrated the Chinese community here.

The other eight elements in the shortl are birthing traditions, Malay musical art form dikir barat, getai (live singing drama), the making and sharing of kueh (cake), orchid cultivation, Peranakan (people of mixed heritage with indigenous Malays) beadwork and embroidery, traditional medical practices and yusheng and its associated food heritage and social practices for celebrating Chinese New Year.
The National Heritage Board (NHB) will consult the public in the coming months before deciding on the country’s second nomination for inscription to UNESCO’s Representative L of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, said Youth Low Yen Ling, the Miner of State for Culture, Community and Youth on Thursday.

Low said about 170 participants attended focus group discussions held NHB between June last year and January, including ICH practitioners, heritage business owners and academics.
“Through these conversations, we heard a clear preference for our second nomination to be multicultural in nature, and relatable to Singaporeans,” The Straits Times quoted Low as saying.
Singapore’s first inscription to UNESCO’s ICH l, a food-court based hawker culture was announced in December 2020.
Meanwhile, Culture, Community and Youth Miner Edwin Tong said the NHB is working towards gazetting the Padang a national monument on National Day this year.

The move recognises the horic significance of the Padang, a field in the central business drict, which witnessed the inaugural National Day Parade in 1966, said the Minry of Culture, Community and Youth.
“The site is an instantly recognisable, enduring testament to our hory as a people,” Tong said.
A notice of intention will be served to the Padang’s occupiers, the Singapore Recreation Club and the Singapore Cricket Club, this July.
Thereafter, the Padang will be granted legal protections similar to that of gazetted monuments.
Low said the NHB will also call for public feedback for its second Our SG Heritage Plan later this year. The plan will guide developments in the heritage sector for five years from 2023.
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