Preserving
Singapore’s
National Monuments ‘We may wake up one day to find our historic monuments either bulldozed or crumbling to dust through neglect. As new Singapore is being built, we must not let the worthwhile part of older Singapore disappear’
By Foo Min Li Assistant Manager (Research & Education) Preservation Monuments Board & Joyce Lee Assistant Manager (Policy & Communications) Preservation Monuments Board images: Preservation Monuments Board 68
APRIL - JUNE 2010
Are Singapore’s National Monuments just old buildings and structures? Think again. Our buildings and structures are permanent landmarks in a constantly changing landscape. They serve as a reminder that Singapore has always been at the crossroads of trade routes, attracting immigrants from all nationalities and walks of life. Singapore’s 61 National Monuments in particular stand testament to Singapore’s growth and development since its colonial days. They give Singapore’s landscape a sense of history and time and are preserved under the Preservation of Monuments Act (revised in 2009). However, these buildings and structures are undoubtedly subjected to wear and tear. Hence, what and who keeps them alive? The Preservation of Monuments Board The Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB) is the custodian of Singapore’s National Monuments. Formed in 1971 with the parliamentary reading of the Preservation of Monuments Act (PMA), PMB is tasked to identify monuments worth preserving, that are of historic, traditional, artistic, architectural, archaeological, social and national significance. The PMB was born out of a realization that Singapore needed to preserve parts of its past as the nation moves forward with new developments. This was reflected in Mr Edmund William Barker’s, the thenMinister for National Development, speech at the reading of the Preservation of Monuments Bill in 1971.