GEIS-新闻详情

Over $15m in NHB funding awarded to support heritage projects in last 10 years

2024-03-18 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – Death, a taboo topic for most people, is the subject of an upcoming book that explores the evolution of cultural and religious practices in Singapore.

Titled Death And The Afterlife: Multidisciplinary Perspectives From A Global City, the upcoming book documents and examines how death rituals have evolved with urbanisation.

It is one of the over 550 projects supported by the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Grants Scheme since its launch in 2013. The scheme has awarded over $15 million so far to community-led projects including publications, exhibitions and podcasts that promote local heritage.

The scheme comprises minor and major project grants. The minor project grant supports community heritage projects for up to 50 per cent of total project costs, or a maximum of $50,000.

The major project grant supports larger-scale projects with the potential to make a lasting contribution to Singapore’s heritage landscape. It funds up to 50 per cent of total project costs, or a maximum of $150,000.

Death And The Afterlife was awarded the minor project grant in April 2022.

It showcases research and discussions by scholars and practitioners from multiple disciplines including sociology, history, community arts, literary studies, and photography.

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“I was particularly intrigued by how death is at once present yet seldom mentioned in our part of the world, and this is especially so when we consider how reluctant the Chinese community is to engage with the topic of death,” said Dr Lye Kit Ying, senior lecturer at Core Learning, College of Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

“This reluctance inevitably leads to a loss of knowledge about the community’s religious and cultural practices in handling the dead,” said the 38-year-old, who specialises in death in South-east Asian literature and culture.

She edited the book with Dr Terence Heng, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Liverpool.

The 182-page book, to be launched in June, brings together the research and discussions of 10 researchers and practitioners, including Dr Lye and Dr Heng.

Dr Lye Kit Ying and a picture which will be included in the upcoming book Death And The Afterlife: Multidisciplinary Perspectives From A Global City. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

“There are many interesting findings, but I think one that came to many of us working on the topic is how the Chinese live their lives in preparation for death and the afterlife, even as they see death as taboo,” she noted.

For example, some Chinese conduct rituals for the deceased to ease their transition into the afterlife, while earning merit for themselves so that they will be able to enjoy a better afterlife when they die.