Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the Opening of Gemilang Kampong Gelam 2025

Feb 21, 2025

Good evening. I am delighted to join you for the opening of this year’s Ramadan Bazaar at Kampong Gelam, Gemilang Kampong Gelam 2025.

Legal Formation of Kampong Gelam Alliance

Kampong Gelam is one of our most historic districts, forming an integral part of what we call the “cultural heartlands”.

It is a vibrant confluence of cultural life, traditional activities and heritage businesses that come together to form collective memories as Singaporeans.

Many of you feel deeply connected to this place, Kampong Gelam, and are working hard to ensure that it retains its unique “soul” and character.

Over the past three years, the Kampong Gelam Alliance (KGA) has been working very closely with its advisor, Minister of State Faishal Ibrahim, as well as my URA colleagues and other partners to formulate plans to sustain and enhance this historic district.

We engaged more than 1,600 people from diverse walks of life who provided their insightful feedback and ideas, and worked together on what we call the Kampong Gelam Place Plan.

This Place Plan was launched in July 2023. It sets out a strategic vision to enhance the heritage, offerings and experiences in Kampong Gelam, for both current and future generations of Singaporeans.

The Kampong Gelam Alliance and our government agencies are actively using the Place Plan to shape future developments for the district.

For example, Nos. 45/47 Sultan Gate will be turned into a dynamic space for community activities and promotion of local businesses.

Through collaborative partnerships with One Kampong Gelam and various other stakeholders, agencies can launch various exciting community events like this Ramadan Bazaar.

Today, I am happy to share that KGA has been officially constituted as a Company Limited By Guarantee, being guided by MOS Faishal. This new entity will be led by Mr Saeid Labbafi, Mr Zaki Ma’arof, and Mr Ibrahim Tahir, three of our well-respected and distinguished community leaders who have volunteered to take on this important responsibility.

As a Company Limited By Guarantee, KGA will be more widely recognised as a representative of the Kampong Gelam community, and enhance its capacity to manage the community’s resources more effectively, and to pull everyone together.

With the support of key stakeholders, KGA has been working hard to coordinate various projects under the Place Plan. Some are already underway, such as infrastructure improvement works to enhance walkability within Kampong Gelam.

KGA will share more about its initiatives later this year, so stay tuned.

The Government will support KGA’s efforts to build up its organisational capabilities and membership.

This will lay the groundwork to transform Kampong Gelam into a more dynamic community hub, that balances heritage preservation and enterprise development.

Inter-Agency Task Force for Heritage Businesses, Traditional Activities & Cultural Life

Apart from Kampong Gelam, the other historic districts of Chinatown and Little India also form part of our cultural heartlands. They collective provide cultural ballast to our city state.

Our historic districts are home to numerous heritage businesses that provide time-honoured goods and services.

They serve as important community and heritage anchors, synonymous with the character and identity of the area.

These heritage businesses nurture strong community ties and sustain the spirit of enterprise in our historic districts. Some have even become our Singapore brand ambassadors.

However, these businesses face a number of challenges.

Some struggle with rising costs, increasing competition, and changing consumer preferences.

Others risk the loss of their craft, as artisans find it difficult to attract and retain younger talent.

This is why my colleague Minister Edwin Tong and I discussed, and are establishing an Inter-Agency Task Force to support heritage businesses, traditional activities and cultural life.

This Task Force will be jointly led by Minister of State Faishal Ibrahim of MND and Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling of MCCY.

It will bring together key agencies, community partners and heritage business owners, to grow and sustain businesses and activities that play a crucial role in keeping our heritage areas vibrant for future generations to come.

Now what will the Task Force focus on? It will focus on two key areas.

First, it will study various ways to provide sustainable support to our heritage trades and traditional activities, in areas such as skills transfer, manpower support and business transformation.

Second, this Task Force will look at the spaces, infrastructure and placemaking initiatives that may be needed to sustain our cultural heartlands.

This may include reviewing our current policies to improve the mix of uses and activities within our historic districts, support cultural, community and enterprise activities, and build up placemaking capabilities of local stakeholders.

In the coming months, this Task Force will speak with partners and stakeholders, such as local associations, community leaders and business owners, to develop our plans for heritage businesses and traditional activities.

We will share more about these plans when they are ready.

Conclusion

Protecting and sustaining our heritage, including our heritage businesses in our heritage districts is not just about safeguarding the past, but it is also about ensuring that our heritage footprint continues way on into the future.

Your feedback, ideas and suggestions have been most valuable and will continue to be so. And I hope that many of you will continue to share your ideas with us – or better still join us, work with us, and let’s make things happen together.

I look forward to enjoying the sights and sounds of Gemilang Kampong Gelam with all of you this evening. And I wish all of you in advance, a blessed Ramadan. Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadan.