Client Research

CLIENT RESEARCH 18

NATIONAL HERITAGE BOARD (NHB)

Responsiblefor preservation, commemoration and to promote Singapore’s tangible andintangibleculturalheritage.

All for the purposeofeducation, nation-building andculturalunderstandingandto facilitatethe transmission of the nation’s heritageandculturallegacy. Much likethe Masterplans by URA, National Heritage Board(NHB) also hastheir own five year SG Heritage plans to preserve andcelebrateoursharedheritageasSingaporeans.The NHB curatesheritage programs ; presents exhibitions ; plan festivals and host community project suchas the Singapore Heritage Festival, harmony walks and languagecampaigns.

It also manages the nationalmuseumsandheritage institutions, and sets policies relating to heritage sites, national monumentsandthenational collection.These include centresandmuseumssuchasNational Gallery of Singapore,Indian HeritageCentre,and theAsianCivilization Museum.

NATIONAL HERITAGE BOARD (NHB)

The National Collection Through the National Collection, NHB curates heritage programs and presents exhibitions to connectthe past, present andfuture generations of Singaporeans.

Museums and Institutions NHB is in charge of museumsand institutions such as the National Museum of Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, Peranakan Museum, Malay Heritage Centre, andthe Indian Heritage Centre in Little India.

Preservation of Sites and Monuments ThePreservation of Sites andMonuments (PSM) is thenational authority that advises on the preservation of nationally significant monumentsand sites in Singapore. It is guided by the Preservation ofMonuments Act to provide "forthe preservation and protectionof National Monuments".

Role on Enriching Singapore Culture The National Heritage Board(NHB) plays a key role in the development of a vibrant and diversemuseum and heritage landscape in Singapore, throughthe cross-sharing of knowledge and expertise with fellow arts and heritage professionals. We aim to grow capabilities in the sector and encourage a culture of museum excellence, to lay a firm foundationfor Singapore’sheritage that willguide as well intothefuture.

Community Engagement NHB organizesfestivals,language campaigns,heritage trails, education programmes and community grants harness our partnershipswith thecommunity, establish long-standingrelationships that allow them to collectively recognise and celebrate our sharedheritage.

TRANSIENT WORKERS COUNT TOO (TWOC2)

Transient Workers Count Tooextends help to low-wagemigrant workers who have been injured, unpaid, or abused by employers. Low-wagemigrant workers constitute aboutone in fivepersons in Singapore. Doingjobs likeconstruction, sanitation and domestic work, they form the backboneofoursociety and economy.

Yet they are often treated badly by employers. Sometimes, salariesare notpaid, rest daysdenied, housed in unsafeand unhygienicplaces, physically and psychologically abused,andwheninjured,abandonedwithoutadequatemedicaltreatment orleft with no income.

Migrant workers haveno family in Singapore tofall backonfor help. Doinglow-wage work, they do nothavesavings totide themthrough difficulties. TWC2 triesto help by extendinga lifelineto those in need.

TRANSIENT WORKERS COUNT TOO (TWC2)

Social Work Assistance TWC2 providesadvice to foreign workers,assisting them inobtaining their rightfulsalaries, medicaltreatmentand injury compensation, and to navigate a bureaucracy that operates in a languageforeign to them.

Cuff Road Project Thefree meal programme is held from Mondayto Saturday in Little India. 300 to 400servings offood is given out daily.

Emergency Medical Fund This funding programme pays for medical treatment for workers abandoned by their employers. TWC2 tries to recover the treatmentexpenses when they can, butthefund permits operations, treatment and physiotherapy to go ahead without delay in order to alleviate suffering.

Farego Thisprogramme help totop-upEZ-link cards to subsidisetraveltrips to hospitals to ensure that workers meet their medicalappointments.

Discover Singapore Organise activities andfield trips for migrantworkers to travel around Singapore and visit attractions they were not able to visit duringtheir stay.

TRANSIENT WORKERS COUNT TOO (TWOC2)

Project Roof

Underthe law, employers arerequired to continue to housetheir former employees till their cases are concluded and they go home or they have found a new job.

However,some companies may try allmeans to avoid the cost of housing their workers by making itdifficult for them to stay. Many workers find it impossible to stay on incompany quarters as they are intimidated and are always in constant fear thatthe company would send in strong-armed repatriationagents in the middle of the night, seizing them and sending them offto the airportagainst their will. Thereare many first-hand reports of such repatriation tactics.

While thereareworkerswho flee the company accommodation that may borrow money from friends and relatives to rent a bunk space, thereare somewith neither willingfriends nor relatives in Singapore.

Project Roof helps to subsidise their rent. The men find their own accommodation and, subject to eligibilitycriteria andfinancial limits set out their programme andhelp pay for it. Most of them rent a typical bunk in a crowded tenement in Little India.

Top of thequeue would be those who have recently had majorsurgery or havesuffered a seriousinjury compromising his mobility and ability to help himself.