Proposal to National Heritage Board on preserving Fort Canning as a national monument.

I would like to propose Fort Canning to be gazetted as a national monument. Firstly, I believe that criteria that determines what constitutes a deserving monument for preservation is as follows: historical value, revenue generation, whether it is put into good use and its state of preservation.

In my opinion, Fort Canning satisfies all of these criteria. Firstly, it has a huge historical value due to many reasons such as being a Japanese military base during World War II. Secondly, it generates revenue as Fort Canning Park is frequently used as a place to host concerts featuring many international and local artistes. One of the more prominent concerts is WOMAD, the largest music festival in Singapore. This generates revenue as this will bring in tourists and fans to watch the performances. Thirdly, it is put into good use at it not only hosts concerts, it also serves as a park, where people can take relaxing walks and get in touch with nature. Some also take wedding pictures at Fort Canning. Lastly, it is in excellent state of preservation. Buildings such as Raffles' House are still quite well-preserved.

This is why I believe Fort Canning should be gazetted as a national monument.

SOURCES: http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/history/birth_of_saf/v03n02_history.html


http://www.rasel.com.sg/galleries/weddingGallery2/fortGateIndex.html

How 3 other countries balance their key priorities

With a little bit of research, it can be seen that the challenges Singapore faces in preserving its heritage are not unique to us. Therefore, we can look to the examples of other countries facing similar problems for inspiration in resolving our own. I will elaborate below on three such countries.

Firstly, the United States of America. It is an example of how national heritage does not have to make way for economic development. Despite being the largest economy in the world, it does not forget its heritage.
One example of this would be the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the United States' government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that it deems worthy of preservation. A property listed in the national register or located within a national register historic district may qualify for tax incentives based on the cost of preserving the property. This would create an incentive for property owners to preserve their properties as heritage sites.

 

Old Slater Mill, the first property to be listed on the NRHP.

However, in the U.S. there is ample amounts of land space available, so heritage sites do not always have to make way for economic development. This brings me to my second example, Japan. It is the third largest economy in the world, but also has a population density of 337.1 people per square kilometer, among the highest in the world. However, this does not impede the conservation of national heritage in Japan. To protect its national heritage, it has a heritage register, Cultural Properties of Japan. It covers tangible properties, such as structures and works of art or craft, intangible properties, like performing arts and craft techniques, historic, scenic and natural monuments, cultural landscapes; and groups of traditional buildings. Through this, the heritage of Japan is preserved.

 

Himeji Castle, designated tangible cultural property under the Cultural Properties of Japan.

Lastly, Hong Kong. Though not really a nation, being China's dependent territory,it is still relevant to Singapore, as it has a high population density and is one of Asia's top economies. Hong Kong uses a grading system to determine the level of importance of a certain heritage site. They are as follows:
Grade I: "Buildings of outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible."
Grade II: "Buildings of special merit; efforts should be made to selectively preserve."
Grade III: "Buildings of some merit; preservation in some form would be desirable and alternative means could be considered if preservation is not practicable."

This idea of a grading system for heritage sites is an excellent idea, as it establishes which sites have a higher priority for preservation, and therefore how many incentives they get to preserve the property.

 

The Former Marine Police Headquarters Compound, a declared monument, which is being transformed into a heritage hotel.

In conclusion, these three examples show that balancing heritage preservation with key priorities in nation building, such as economic development, is very much acheivable

Challenges Singapore faced in preserving our heritage.

1) Rapid economic growth. In order to facilitate economic growth, many heritage sites are being demolished and closed down due to the lack of land space in Singapore. Especially because of this lack of land space, the development of economy boosting industries require the tearing down and redevelopment of some older areas that are not as efficient in land use. However, these are not mutually exclusive priorities. In order to preserve heritage, gazetting monuments is a method of preventing heritage sites from being destroyed or taken down due to development. Also, land reclamation also allows the heritage sites to be preserved while developing economically.

2) Traditional minded people. These usually form the grassroots of a society. These people are very traditional and do not want much changes happening. They believe that living peacefully is the key. Therefore, if development is planned near an area populated by these people, there might be many complaints and the grassroots community will not be happy.

3) Ownership of land/property. Some land owners might not want keep their properties as heritage sites as some big companies might have offered a high amount of money to buy the land or property for development.