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The Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award

The Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award

The Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award aims to recognise practitioners (individual and groups) of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) who are dedicated to the promotion and transmission of their practices, and have made outstanding contributions in their field.

This award is conferred by the National Heritage Board (NHB) and is one of NHB's key ongoing efforts to safeguard ICH in Singapore.

ICH elements practised by the nominated practitioners need to be part of NHB's ICH Inventory, which consists of six categories:

  • *Social Practices, Rituals and Festival Events
  • Knowledge and Practices concerning Nature and Universe
  • Oral Traditions and Expressions
  • Performing Arts
  • Traditional Craftsmanship
  • Food Heritage

    • *The scheme excludes practices that are overtly religious or spreads the teachings or beliefs of any one religion

     

    PRIZE

    Each recipient (individual or organisation) will be presented with a trophy, certificate of award, and S$5,000 cash prize.

    Each recipient will also have the option to tap up to S$20,000 in project funding. This is subject to the approval of the proposed project. Please click here to find out more.

    Award Categories & Eligibility

    Individuals:

    1. Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, 18 years old and above.

    2. Must be a practitioner with minimum 10 years in vocation and a respected member of the practising community.

    Note: Award will only be conferred upon individuals who are ICH practitioners - researchers, advocates, and/or managers of ICH organisations who do not themselves possess ICH knowledge and practice ICH skills are not eligible for the Award.

    Groups/Organisations

    1. Must be based in Singapore and headed by a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident

    2. The group must have been practising for a minimum of 10 years.

    3. The group must be a formally registered society or company.

    Note: Awards will not be conferred posthumously.

    Nomination Methods

    Self-nomination and public nomination

    Evaluation Criteria

    Nominees are evaluated according to how they have demonstrated the following criteria:

    Active Transmission of Skills and Knowledge

    • Displays outstanding and ongoing efforts to transmit skills and knowledge to the next generation

    • Regular engagement with the wider community to raise awareness of the practice

    Mastery of Skills and Knowledge

    • Displays excellence in the application of both knowledge and skills

    Long-Term Dedication to Transmitting Practice

    • Long-term commitment to sustaining knowledge and skills of the practice

    Positive Impact and Influence

    • Serves as a positive example by encouraging cultural exchange

    • Displays efforts to serve the wider community through the practice

    Individual and group/organisation applications will be evaluated as separate categories of applicants, although all applications will be assessed based on the above criteria.

    Evaluation Panel

    Nominations will be reviewed and assessed by an Evaluation Panel, which comprises ICH practitioners, academics, leaders of community organisations, and representatives from NHB.

    For the 2023 Award cycle, the members of the Evaluation Panel are:

    Chair Ms Yeoh Chee Yan
    Chairman, National Heritage Board
    Deputy Chair Ms Chang Hwee Nee
    CE, National Heritage Board
    Members  Dr Azhar Ibrahim
    Department of Malay Studies, NUS
      Mr Chan Kian Kuan
    Vice-President, Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations
      Ms Julia D’Silva
    Representative, Eurasian Association
      Dr Koh Keng We
    Department of History, NTU
      Mr Low Sze Wee
    CEO, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre
      Dr Norshahril Saat
    Chairman, Malay Heritage Foundation
      Mr Rajakumar Chandra
    Chairman, Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association
      Ms Serene Lim
    Director (Sector Development – Performing Arts), NAC
      Mdm Som Said
    Artistic Director, Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts
      Ms Sunitha Janamohanan
    Lecturer, LASALLE College of the Arts
      Mr Victor Yue
    Exco Member, Singapore Heritage Society
      Prof Vineeta Sinha
    Department of Sociology and South Asian Studies, NUS

    Application Process and Deadline

    1. Download the relevant Nomination Form.

      2. Individual Nomination

      Group Nomination

    2. Complete Nomination Form and prepare all supporting documents for submission.

    3. Submit the complete set of nomination documents through either of these methods:

      1. E-mail all documents to nhb_stewards@nhb.gov.sg by 21 July 2023 (Friday), 2359 hours:

        Please ensure that the size of the e-mail and attachments should not be larger than 10MB. Supporting documents that are large in file size should be uploaded via file-sharing platforms. Please indicate the web link(s) inside the nomination documents.

      2. Send the nomination documents to the following address by 21 July 2023 (Friday), 1800 hours:

        Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award Secretariat
        National Heritage Board
        Stamford Court
        61 Stamford Road #03-08
        Singapore 178892


        Please note that only photocopies of supporting documents are required. All submitted documents are non-returnable and you may be required to produce the original documents for verification.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    For any queries or questions regarding the nomination process, please refer to the FAQs below. For any further clarifications, please reach out to NHB via the contact details provided at the end of this page.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Notification of Outcome

    NHB will inform all nominators and nominees about the outcome of their nominations by October 2023.

    Contact

    nhb_stewards@nhb.gov.sg OR 6982 1173.