In a place as urban and fast-paced as Singapore, it can be easy to forget how rich our sunny island’s cultural heritage can be.
Beneath its big city surface, there is still a vibrant pool of people who are working hard to keep our many traditions alive — and maybe even elevate them.
To recognise these efforts, the National Heritage Board (NHB) will be awarding the Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Awards for 2024 to five recipients.
The award ceremony will be held at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium at National Gallery Singapore on April 2.
Each recipient will be awarded a trophy, certificate of award and $5,000 cash prize in addition to an option to get up to $20,000 in project funding (subject to approval).
Among the recipients of the award, which was launched in 2019, are three cultural stewards — each with their own unique way of preserving their respective craft and traditions in Singapore.
Nanyang tea culture with Pek Sin Choon
One of the oldest tea merchants in Singapore, Pek Sin Choon was founded back in 1925 and best known for their signature Nanyang tea — a unique blend of oolong tea from North and South Fujian that’s been tailored to the Singaporean taste.
According to their website, the family business has also made a considerable impact on local food culture — supplying tea to more than 80 per cent of the bak kut teh (pork rib stew) market in the 1990s.
The company is currently helmed by Kenry Peh, a fourth generation “tea man”, who has dedicated himself to preserving traditional tea culture in Singapore — and one of the ways that he does so is by balancing tradition with modernity.
Speaking to AsiaOne, he stated: “We stick to the traditional way of tea blending, at the same time with a modern touch.”
This is evident by their experimentation with innovative products like “tea beer” — a beer-like beverage that still retains the health benefits of tea. The product is no longer available as of the time of writing, though.
At the same time, they still retain much of the key traditions — such as wrapping and blending their teas by hand using olden woven bamboo trays.
And instead of seeing the rise of modern tea beverages and businesses like bubble tea and kombucha as competitors, he sees them as a stepping stone for promoting tea culture in Singapore further.
Sharing their experiences with bubble tea companies, Kenry explained that businesses have “made significant progress” to using quality tea in the past five to seven years as compared to 30 years ago when the use of flavourings and artificial colours were more popular.
“They upgrade, we do our part, and everybody [can] march forward together,” the current owner stated.
“So I think the bubble tea, kombucha, or you know, gelato with tea and things like that, or even carbonated tea, I think these are signs for how we can better enjoy tea, which is a healthier choice,” he added.
To help further promote and preserve the tea culture in Singapore, Pek Sin Choon has also come up with an annual Nanyang Tea Challenge where participants can win attractive prizes.
According to Kenry, for the first-ever instalment of the challenge in collaboration with NHB back in 2018, 80 per cent of the participants were “younger ones’ and only 20 per cent are “old-timers”.
Since then, the company has also created a digital version of the challenge — where participants can join in even outside of Singapore.
Kenry himself is an advocate of using social media as a platform to preserve and educate people on traditional tea culture, stating that “social media gives them (the younger generation) a lot of key information” which wouldn’t have been as easily obtained before the digital age.
Regarding being a recipient of the Stewards of ICH award, the “tea man” expressed: “We are deeply honoured and also humbled to receive this prestigous award. It’s a testament of our small little tea shop’s dedication to preserving tea culture in Singapore.”
Traditional Malay drums with Mohamed Yaziz
Another recipient of the ICH award is Mohamed Yaziz, a traditional Malay percussionist whose journey into the making and repairing of traditional Malay drums started back in 1997.
“I’m truly honoured and humbled to receive NHB’s ICH award,” he stated.
Sharing his story with AsiaOne, the traditional Malay percussionist said that there was one incident then that inspired him to get into the craft — when his drum skin got torn during a festival and a master practitioner, who then became his mentor, helped to repair the drum overnight.
“That was when I felt the importance of knowing how to repair first, and further, making drums,” he said.
Over the years, Yaziz’s craft has also adapted to the changing times.
In fact, it’s helped to make the pursuit of his passion much easier.
According to Yaziz, the most challenging thing about repairing and making the drums is getting raw materials like skins.
“Previously, you need to start from scratch. But now, you can actually order the parts and get them sent to you,” he stated.
And apart from animal skins, he also noted that there are now even more options and modern alternatives like fiber skin drumheads.
Another challenge that the traditional percussionist faced back then was the lack of easy communication — making it tough for him to receive feedback from other professionals in the community.
“Back then when technology was not readily available, with no social media, it was very hard to communicate with mentors and friends from overseas,” he shared.
This meant that he had to teach himself “the hard way” and was only able to get other opinions and tips during festival visits.
Fast forward to present day, there is now a vibrant community in the world of Malay drums and traditional music — and the craft might be even more popular than it seems.
“We can safely say it got more popular as compared to the early 1990s.”
We can see the indicators by the growth of younger generations picking up traditional music through structured lessons and their forming of new traditional Malay acoustic brands in Singapore through the years,” said Yaziz.
Aiming to further preserve the tradition of Malay drums and traditional music in Singapore, Yaziz has mentored young apprentice Ridzman Salleh, whom he trained under his wing through a programme by NHB — and hopes to continue nurturing more successors.
And he’s confident that the craft will continue to thrive – if it continues to evolve with the times.
“I’m sure if we maintain the uniqueness of the arts and adapt to the changes of the era that we live in, [Malay drums and traditional music] will live on,” he stated.
Rangoli art with Vijaya Mohan
For Guinness World record-holding Vijaya Mohan, combining modernity with tradition also plays a big part in her efforts to conserve traditional Indian rangoli in modern day Singapore — but it’s also important to remember the roots of the artform.
Speaking to AsiaOne, she shared that while she’s currently open to “more modern designs and adaptations” to bring the art to as many people as possible, the traditional aspect of it all remains “important and holds a lot of value”.
As a community artist and art therapist, Vijaya encourages the people around her to embrace the nuances in evolving rangoli art.
“I go to the latest [trends] and then tell them you can do it the modern way, but this is the traditional way [and] it has got so much value. So we can take a step [towards] the modern [adaptations] and then we can come back [to tradition],” she stated.
When it comes to Vijaya’s own rangoli art, she also incorporates a variety of innovative ideas to keep up with the ever-changing times.
While rangoli is traditionally made with powders like rice flour and chalk, she has created several art pieces with “as many unconventional materials as [she] can” — from CDs to lipsticks, sugarcane and even sarees.
To advocate for sustainability, she has also used recyclables like water bottles, caps and styrofoam boards.
Seeing as to how we’re now in the digital age, the artist also experimented with new-age technology like VR rangoli.
In 2021, the artist collaborated with an electronics company to create a “dancing rangoli” experience where a pad is attached to a screen, and when the participant dances, digital rangoli designs will show up on it.
According to Vijaya, it was very well received.
And while she recognises that the new concept might be attractive to many people, Vijaya doesn’t forget to emphasise the need to educate the public about the true essence of the artform and how it’s still appealing to the masses.
“I will talk to them, explain the spiritual, emotional, psychological [and] physiological value of rangoli. So that I can attract more people,” she shared.
As for the future of rangoli art in Singapore, Vijaya isn’t concerned.
According to the artist, on her visits to many schools around the country and even abroad, she’s seen an influx of interest coming from students from kindergarten to universities.
“Teacher, I saw you. How do you do all these things [rangoli], I want to learn,” she quoted some students saying.
As the founder of Singa Rangoli — a group dedicated to exploring innovative ideas and approaches to traditional rangoli in Singapore — Vijaya is also actively educating and expanding the community to preserve this tradition.
“Wherever I go, if anybody says I am interested [in rangoli], immediately I will bring them [in],” she stated.
“I started 10 years ago with about four to five people, now I have about 35,” the artist shared.
As a recipient of the ICH award, Vijaya feels “happy and honoured” as “it’s a recognition” of her work that would at the same time help spread the craft.
She hopes that it would encourage younger generations to “start developing the habit of creating”.
Other award recipients
The other two award recipients are Thomas Kwan and Thye Moh Chan.
As the second-generation owner of Foundation Jewellers, Thomas will receive the accolade for his craft of Peranakan-style jewellery — often worn with the Peranakan kebaya.
According to a press release, he “has been imparting his skills and knowledge of making Peranakan-style jewellery to his team of designers and craft practitioners working in his atelier, encouraging them to be creative and innovative in their designs of the craft”.
Pastry lovers are probably no stranger to the brand Thye Moh Chan — which has been serving up traditional handmade Chinese pastries like tau sar piah (mung bean paste pastry) and mooncakes since 1943.
They were acquired by the BreadTalk Group in 2012 — which helped to “codify the craft of making Chinese pastries, ensuring the continuity of Thye Moh Chan as a heritage brand and of making Chinese pastries as a food heritage practice”.
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