Minister for Manpower & Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng,

Board directors of Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre,

Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Media Group Ms Lee Huay Leng,

Editor of Lianhe Zaobao Mr Goh Sin Teck,

Managing Editor of Chinese Media Group Ms Loh Woon Yen,

Executive Editor of Lianhe Zaobao Ms Han Yong May,

Owner of Qiu Zhai Art Studio Mr Chan Kok Hua,

Friends from our arts and cultural community,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening to all of you.

A very warm welcome to our Guest-of-Honour Dr Tan See Leng and all our distinguished guests to the opening ceremony of the 100 Years of Singapore Art exhibition co-organised by Lianhe Zaobao and SCCC presenting collections from Qiu Zhai Art Studio and The Chinese Media Group.

This year marks the centennial year of Lianhe Zaobao. As part of its celebrations, SCCC is honoured to co-organise this exhibition with them and have this exhibition as part of our Cultural Extravaganza line-up this year, a yearly festival by the centre.

The theme of this year’s Cultural Extravaganza is “传承” – the passing on of our culture to the next generation. The exhibition brings out the essence of the theme where we will get to admire the glory of Singapore’s art history over the past 100 years with around 170 art pieces by 80 artists from the first generation till today. The art pieces include oil paintings, pastels, watercolour, ink paintings and calligraphy. 

This exhibition is a continuation of SCCC’s efforts to highlight the richness of our local arts scene. Last year, SCCC and Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations held the Treasures of the Clans exhibition to showcase the art collections of our local clans.   

Qiu Zhai Art Studio has always been known for its ink painting collection from China. This is the first time it is putting up a visual feast focusing on Singapore art. Like all of you, I am excited to learn more about the history of Singapore art through this collection.                                                                                 

Besides around 150 art pieces from Qiu Zhai Art Studio’s collection, we will also get to view around 20 pieces from The Chinese Media Group Art Collection. This will provide us with the opportunity to see a collection which is rarely displayed publicly, and go on a journey to discover Singapore art.

To further promote and support our visual artists, SCCC regularly provides venue support for local art societies to hold their exhibitions. We also support local artists by showcasing their works in our public spaces, such as the previous Life Is Sweet: Ang Ku Kueh Girl exhibition and Boh Beh Zao: Dialect Illustrations by Kuan Eng exhibition. To nurture budding artists, SCCC also commissions them to create our roof garden art installations and red packet designs. We look forward to your support of their works.

I sincerely express my gratitude towards Lianhe Zaobao and Mr Chan Kok Hua for making this exhibition a success!

Thank you.