Youth Heritage Champions develop a “thon” of Heritage Ideas

Five promising heritage projects shortlisted for development and implementation in 2025

Pictured: Participants celebrate the end of the ideathon, together with judges from Temasek Foundation, National Heritage Board, National University of Singapore, and Singapore Heritage Society

Seven weeks. 14 workshops. 56 participants. 12 groups. 12 great proposals. One ideathon. Five heritage preservation projects shortlisted for development.

The inaugural Temasek Foundation - National University of Singapore (TF-NUS) Heritage Champions initiative marked a significant milestone on 9 Nov 2024, with the successful conclusion of its first Ideathon, in which twelve participating groups presented their ideas for a community-based heritage project. This capped off a seven-week series of workshops and training sessions, led and hosted by NUS Libraries, running the gamut from Digital Scholarship to 360 video and photography, and even applying immersive reality and generative AI to heritage and culture. NUS Libraries also availed its collections for participants’ use, which proved to be an invaluable resource in the preparation of their Ideathon proposals.

Empowering Through Training

Pictured: Dr Johannes Widodo conducted the first workshop of the series, regaling participants with his extensive knowledge of cultural mapping

Following a public call for sign-ups, 56 applicants were selected and placed into 12 project groups that would brainstorm and come up with heritage project proposals. Applicants were then put through seven weekends of training workshops to introduce them to key heritage preservation practices, as well as practical training on how to develop proposals and market their projects. Workshops were led by a range of faculty and librarians from NUS, as well as experts from outside NUS, such as the National Heritage Board, and LASALLE College of the Arts. These workshops provided participants with a solid foundation to flesh out proposals for their own heritage projects.

"The workshops were really helpful, since we came into this programme not having a really clear direction in terms of what we'd like to do," says participant Ong Rae-Ann. "Even though we formed our group in advance, everyone had different ideas about where we wanted to go.  The workshops really helped us get a sense of what we could actually do, and helped sharpen our focus."

Fellow participant Eugene Teo agrees, adding, "I think the workshops gave us a lot of ideas for the tools that we could use, like Augmented Reality, app creation, and 3D modelling. That moulded and shaped our proposal, because it wasn't just about the topics and themes we could explore, but also about whether we could deliver this in a practical sense."

"It's really a pleasant surprise to see the really interdisciplinary approach that's being taken for the humanities, merging it with digital tools and practices," said participant Kaeven Lee. "One particularly memorable workshop was the one about virtual tours, which really opened my eyes to see the amount of work and thought that goes on behind the scenes in making these virtual tours actually come to life. It really helped us understand the real-world applications of these technologies."

Automatic Slideshow: Participants were put through a series of practical and theoretical workshops to equip them with relevant skills and knowledge, as well as to spark ideas for how they might bring their projects to life.

Showcasing a “thon” of ideas at the Ideathon

Having completed the workshop phase, participants then took several weeks to ideate and flesh out their heritage project proposals. Proposals in hand, the 12 groups convened for the Ideathon, where they presented their innovative projects to a panel of judges.

Pictured: The panel of Ideathon judges, from left (seated) – James Chan, Senior Director, Temasek Foundation; Jervais Choo (partially obscured), Deputy Director, Organisational Design and Innovation, National Heritage Board; Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian and Head of the Department of Communication and New Media, NUS; Associate Professor Miguel Escobar, NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; and Joseph Nair, Honourary Secretary, Singapore Heritage Society.

Each group showcased truly creative and unique ideas that spanned a range of topics, from food, to romance, and forgotten communities. While the topics differed from group to group, it was clear that every participant held a deep passion for Singapore's diverse heritage and a commitment to preserving it for future generations.

Automatic Slideshow: Ideathon participants delivered engaging presentations and fascinating proposals, to which judges provided meaningful feedback and comments.

Five Promising Projects Selected for Funding

With 12 impressive presentations done and dusted, the panel of judges had the daunting task of selecting just five projects that would receive funding and resourcing for development and implementation. After a great deal of deliberation, judges shortlisted the following projects:

"We've become very emotionally invested in this project, and it feels great that we've now got a chance to realise this and produce something tangible about our heritage, " said Sumaiya Azad, whose group proposal on the Orang Laut was selected for development. "There's already a lot of material out there about Singapore's colonial and pre-colonial history, which is romanticised a lot. As we dug deeper, we realised that while the Orang Laut have contributed so much to our history, but have been given short shrift in so many ways, which we feel is a real injustice. Hopefully we can help shed more light on their stories through this!" 

"I didn't really expect to be selected, but I'm excited that we were," said Lu Yijing, whose group's proposal focused on telling the stories of Chinatown's businesses. "This is really a first time for me, to have a proposal like this selected for funding on such a scale. I'm really glad that we can make this project a reality, especially since this is happening outside of school."

Another two projects were recognised with honourable mentions:

A Bright Future for Singapore's Heritage

For most participants, the end of the Ideathon was the final phase in their journey as Youth Heritage Champions. For the shortlisted groups though, this is just the beginning of an exciting journey! 

One group is already planning ahead and thinking about their next steps. "We're planning to visit the offshore islands that we want to feature in our project," said Ng Zheng Hong, whose group proposal focused on showcasing Singapore's offshore islands. "It's one thing to read up about these places, but you don't really get a sense of what it really is like until you actually visit and get a sense of the built environment and the character of the site."

Judges, workshop trainers and observers alike were impressed with participants’ passion for heritage. "I'm really amazed at the quality and range of proposals that these groups have come up with in the brief time they've had," said Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian, who conceived of the TF-NUS Heritage Champions initiative. "It's so heartening to know that youth in Singapore have such a passion for preserving and understanding our heritage, and that they're able to apply their newly-acquired skills to create innovative solutions that will help move the needle for understanding heritage."

"As a Masters student, I feel a bit like an 'old-timer', but it's been really inspiring working with younger students again," said participant Elaine Mok. "As someone who's been involved with the Singapore Heritage Society since I was 17, it's really heartening to draw a line from there to now, and see really young people who are passionate about history and heritage. I'd heartily recommend any young person who has some kind of interest of stake in heritage, whether it's about personal family stories or their communities, to join future rounds of this initiative!"