SPH Media Trust's Chinese Media Group and SCCC renew partnership to promote Chinese culture
More people can participate in events organised by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) and SPH Media Trust's (SMT) Chinese Media Group (CMG) following the renewal of their strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The MOU was signed by SCCC chief executive Low Sze Wee and CMG editor-in-chief Lee Huay Leng at SCCC on Thursday (March 17).
The organisations will continue to work together over the next two years to promote Singapore's cultural and creative activities.
Since the first MOU was inked in 2017, Lianhe Zaobao, SMT's flagship Chinese newspaper, has organised about 30 cultural activities at SCCC under the banner Zaobao Cultural and Creative Space. The activities included workshops, talks and film screenings by local arts and cultural practitioners.
Mr Low noted that, while the Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted some plans in the past two years, both parties still managed to carry out several events.
He said: "Under our renewed partnership, we will continue to explore new approaches, such as infusing more multicultural elements into our events and expanding the scale of some events so more members of the public can participate."
Lianhe Zaobao is responsible for the curation of events, planning, organisation and publicity, while SCCC provides the venue, onsite arrangements and planning, as well as publicity via its channels.
Ms Lee said that promoting the creative and cultural scenes is an ongoing journey.
"Our programmes have to be innovative, weaving in new elements to sustain greater interest and attract a wider audience. I am very happy that SCCC shares the same ideals with us, and we look forward to continue working with SCCC to achieve our objectives," she said.
Under the renewed partnership, the smaller monthly creative workshops will be replaced by four large-scale events to cater to bigger audiences of up to 200 people.
The first event will be a talk on April 9 this year, exploring how Housing Board void decks are community spaces that are closely intertwined with Singaporeans' lives, and how they have also been transformed into creative spaces.
Interested members of the public can sign up for the free talk now at this website.
The public can also look forward to an inter-racial performance combining dikir barat - a style of Malay choral singing - and 24 Chinese festive drums, as well as a session exploring the different features of local Chinese dialect folk songs. These events will be held quarterly and admission is free. The dates for these events will be announced later.
Up to four smaller workshops on local creative culture for 20 to 50 participants each will also be held between these bigger events. There is a nominal fee to attend the workshops.
Another signature event - the Singapore Creator Festival, which had to be held virtually last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic - will return at the end of July with a new, on-site creative flea market.
It features well-known local and overseas creators, industry leaders and creative brand founders sharing their brands and experiences.
The public can also participate in various talks, workshops and sharing sessions as part of the festival.
The MOU signing coincides with SCCC's fifth anniversary this year, with inclusivity and accessibility as its twin goals.
SCCC was opened by its patron, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in May 2017. It collaborates with arts and cultural groups and community partners to promote and develop local Chinese culture.
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