Rooting for the Future: Views for the Heritage Sector in Singapore

Throughout history, great philosophers, leaders, and scholars have espoused culture and the arts as a vital ingredient in shaping a moral, well-rounded, and forward-looking people that can build and sustain a society beyond the immediate future. Indeed, the greatest cities and societies were not just centres of political or economic power; they were also the gathering grounds for cultural advancement. During the golden age of every civilization, these cities were hubs for intellectual and artistic creation that attracted the best minds from near and far.

Today, the myriad surveys conducted by influential magazines such as Forbes and Monocle have continued to espouse the positive impact of arts and culture on city rankings. In the face of intense competition among cities to attract talent, it is indisputable that culture and the arts are crucial to the making of a vibrant, distinctive global city, and that one's experience of the culture and heritage of a city can be the tipping point for deciding what constitutes that elusive "quality of life" that makes a particular city a good place to work and live in.

Over the past few decades in Asia, it can be said that, in the imperative for survival and the pursuit of the economic dream, some societies may have overlooked the timeless importance of heritage and culture. No blame should be cast for this, because providing for the basic needs of one's people is the most important requirement of good governance. The good news is that for the young cities and societies that have previously pursued economic priorities and succeeded, the time has come for the pursuit of a "golden age" of creative and cultural revival.

A City and its Foundation

In any construct of a successful, liveable city, culture plays a significant role. This role can be understood through the analogy of a building and its foundation. A building is perceived as aesthetically pleasing, an icon to be celebrated, to be lived in, to be experienced, to be a work place; which we can marvel and wonder at. We are prepared to spend heavily on the material finishes so that it can be a highly sought after and tradeable commodity. What often goes unnoticed is the foundation on which these buildings are built on. Most of us forget about the pilings that go deep into the ground and how they are made, the way it anchors itself on solid ground to provide the core strength and stability to keep the creation above standing. More often than not, we look for the most cost and time efficient way to construct the foundations because they cannot be seen, whilst we spare no expenses for expensive finishes for the building above.

Similarly, the anchors of a country lie in its pillars of foundation, rooted in the solid ground of good governance that ensures the effective functioning of society. Just like a building, a society that lacks a strong foundation of values, traditions, and heritage, will be easily swayed in times of stress. In particular, for a multicultural society like Singapore, its past and heritage form the bridge to the cultural understanding of its people. The pillars of this cultural understanding are tolerance and acceptance of diversity. Like a building's foundation, it is the shared heritage and culture that sustains a society as it grows, evolves, and navigates new challenges.

However, in the ideals of modern societies — which are often premised on the concept of financial returns and shareholder dividends — one will find that promoting and preserving one's heritage to build the pillars of cultural understanding is an intangible and immeasurable goal. Indeed, one cannot measure the "performance and returns" of cultural understanding, or put into numbers how much a society loves and treasures its heritage. Therein lies the tension for policymakers that have been entrusted with the mission of promoting culture. To the cultural sector, the intrinsic value of the arts is beyond measure. To the economists, the arts and cultural sector is typically perceived as a "bottomless pit", with no tangible or immediate returns on investment. This perception...