Speech by Minister Lawrence Wong at the Architectural Heritage Awards
Oct 19, 2015
I’m very happy to join you this afternoon for the Architectural Heritage Awards.
Some years ago, I visited the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. I don’t know how many of you have seen the chapel; it is a 770 years old monument erected by Louis IX to house his collection of religious relics. It’s considered one of the masterpieces of medieval Gothic architecture.
Unfortunately, a big part of the chapel was damaged during the French Revolution. If you go and see the chapel now, it is grand and beautiful. A lot of it was restored, rebuilt over the years. In fact, the restoration work is still ongoing. There has been a massive effort to restore the chapel to its former glory, including the breath-taking stained glass windows which have just been completed.
During the visit, I was struck at how much pride the French took in the restoration of their old buildings. The restoration work was done with great sensitivity to the historical features and aesthetics of the building. The work was driven not by the government. In fact, most of the work was done through private initiative and most of the funding came from private donors or philanthropists.
Our context in Singapore is of course, very different. Our history as a nation is much shorter. We do not have 700-year-old buildings. Our oldest buildings will not have the same historical significance as the monuments in the great civilisations of the world.
But whatever we have in this little red dot is ours; it belongs to us. Buildings are part of who we are, and they help to anchor our sense of place and identity. So even though we are a very young nation and may not have monuments that you see in the great civilisations of the world, it’s still very important that we pay attention to our built heritage.
That’s why over the years, we have indeed placed more emphasis on the conservation of buildings, as an integral part of our urban masterplan.
Today, we have gazetted more than 7000 buildings for conservation and nearly 70 sites as national monuments.
In July this year, we also inscribed the Singapore Botanic Gardens as our very first UNESCO World Heritage site. That signals out commitment as a nation, to preserve this green oasis as a heritage treasure, not just for ourselves, but for all of humanity; not just for the short term, but for posterity so that everyone can enjoy this world heritage site.
All of these protected buildings and sites that we have in Singapore are our “sacred spaces” in the city. They connect us to our past, and they help strengthen our emotional attachment to our nation.
For our conservation efforts to be successful, the government cannot do it alone. We need the cooperation of our building owners, architects, engineers and contractors. And that’s what this award is about – it is about recognising those of you who have gone the extra mile in restoring our heritage buildings and giving them a new lease of life.
The award ceremony this year is especially meaningful for me, not just because it’s my first time officiating as MND, but also because two of the winning projects today were under my charge when I was in MCCY – the National Gallery, and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. I can assure you that the projects were chosen independently and I had no say in this. I should also say that I can claim no credit for them being given this award because the work was done by a very dedicated team of architects, engineers and professionals. They worked very hard in these two projects and put in tremendous effort to carry out their work. They restored the beautiful building sensitively and meticulously. For them, it was not just a building project; it was really a labour of love to leave behind a lasting legacy for future generations.
In fact, we all know that these are sites where some of Singapore’s most defining chapters in history were written. The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is our oldest performing arts venue with a long and distinguished history – it served as a makeshift hospital during WW II; it was also the venue where the PAP was founded and held its inaugural meeting in 1954. The former City Hall witnessed the surrender of the Japanese at the end of WWII. The City Hall Chamber was the venue where our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his first Cabinet took their oaths in 1959, and the grand staircase at the front of the buildings has been used as the grandstand for many National Day Parades, including the one this year.
So these are historical places that really have a place in Singapore’s history. They are, in many ways, the birthplace of modern Singapore and now we see them beautifully restored, incorporating elements of old and new, well integrated in a harmonious and tasteful manner.
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is now the home of the SSO and has already established itself as one of the most sought-after performing arts venues in town. The schedule is fully booked and the Esplanade people who manage the venue tell me that it is very hard to get slots here because it is so popular. Likewise, the National Gallery of Singapore will be opened next month and will be the largest visual arts centre in Singapore and the region, showcasing the best of Singaporean and South East Asian art. These sights will be opened to Singaporeans for them to enjoy the arts and learn about our past, and build shared memories together.
These are some of the things that government agencies are doing to make our conserved buildings and national monuments more accessible to the public. But the Government does not own Singapore heritage. We need broader support to protect and restore our buildings, and keep alive their history.
That’s why I am very happy that the other two winning projects today involve our community and private sector partners. One of them is the Alkaff Upper Serangoon Mosque. To keep pace with the growth of their congregation, the custodians of the mosque decided to refurbish the building. They raised funds and carefully implemented the refurbishing works to ensure that the historic character of the mosque is preserved, and the legacy of the philanthropic Alkaff family is safeguarded.
We are also recognising the work done on the set of Black and White bungalows at Rochester Park. These former British military housing have been restored as a lush and serene corporate training facility by BASF South East Asia.
I would also like to commend the team behind 11 Buckley Road, which is given a Special Mention for their thorough research and skilled craftsmanship involved in restoring the bungalow’s details. So let’s give a big round of applause to all the award winners. Congratulations!
Year after year, the efforts of owners and professionals have raised the standards of our Architectural Heritage Awards.
The Awards is now in its 21st year. To celebrate this milestone, URA’s conservation department has published a book compilation of the winners of the past 10 years. This will complement the first volume that covered the first 10 years of the awards. So, if you look at both volumes, you will be able to see all the winning projects and how standards have improved over the years.
In fact, there’s a lot of painstaking work that goes into a successful restoration project. Those of us who are just laymen see the outcome of it and we see that it is done beautifully. But behind the scene, a lot of meticulous work goes into research, architectural design and project implementation. To help convey what happens behind-the-scenes, URA has partnered young filmmakers from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information to produce short documentaries on past winners. I’ve seen some of the work which are available online. They are very good and I’m glad that URA and NTU intend to continue this partnership to produce more of such films.
I would also like to acknowledge the support of various volunteer groups, I think some of you are here - the Friends of the Museum, Tiong Bahru Heritage Volunteers and the Singapore Heritage Society. It is one thing to have the façade and building and infrastructure restored, but it is also very important that we have the software in place such as guides and docents who help introduce these places. All of you have contributed selflessly to raise the appreciation and awareness of heritage buildings amongst Singaporeans. So thank you very much as well.
Finally, to this year’s award winners, once again I would like to say congratulations, well done and a very big thank you. Your dedication in restoring the heritage buildings entrusted to your care will benefit all Singaporeans now and well into the future. Your efforts are an important investment in our heritage – to link us to our past, strengthen our sense of place, and to remind us always of the shared memories and history that unite us as a nation. So thank you very much and have a very good evening.