Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth & Trade and Industry Ms Low Yen Ling

Singapore Chinese Cultural Contribution Award Judging Panel Chairman Mr Lim Jim Koon

Board Directors of Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Friends from our arts and cultural community

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening! A very warm welcome to the Opening Ceremony of the Cultural Extravaganza and Presentation of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Contribution Award.

First, let me start by congratulating this year’s SCCCA recipients.

Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre set up the SCCCA to recognize the efforts by individuals and organisations who made extraordinary contributions to the promotion, enrichment, and development of Chinese Singaporean culture.

Our individual recipient Mdm Yan Choong Lian has always been playing an active role as an arts educator to promote dance in the community and nurture young talents. Through her leadership as founder and artistic director of local dance troupe Dance Ensemble Singapore, DES has continuously pushed artistic boundaries while creating works that reflect the multicultural spirit of Singapore through diverse styles and infusing Malay and Peranakan elements into Chinese dance.

Our organisation recipient – Nine Years Theatre – has grown over the years to become a major player in the Singapore Mandarin theatre scene. They have staged original works that feature local Chinese culture, such as “Dialects and Dialectics”, which are two plays adapted and staged in local dialects. They are deeply involved in the training of local actors, and constantly stretch the potential of theatre through multi-disciplinary works and creative use of spaces.

I would like to thank judging panel Chairman Mr Lim and members the judging panel for their hard work in making the final shortlist and commend both recipients for their deep commitment to our local Chinese arts and cultural scene. Congratulations to them again!

Let me now continue in Mandarin.

首先，恭贺今年新加坡华族文化贡献奖的两位得主。文化贡献奖的设立是为了表扬为新加坡华族文化的传承和发展，做出卓越贡献的个人和团体。除此之外，中心也将继续与各方伙伴紧密合作，推广新加坡的华族文化。

中心正在和国家艺术理事会合作，为本地的传统戏曲团体提供更多支持，帮助他们提升整体水平，获得更好的发展。这个试点项目将从几个指定的团体开始，希望能于2025年，由中心举办的“传统戏曲节”上，展示成果。

另外，中心也将推出一项艺术联盟计划，希望召集所有对推广本地华族文化有兴趣的艺术团体，群策群力，加强互助。我们会先从我们的平台做起，利用中心现有的管道推广他们丰富多彩的华族文化活动。

今晚同时是中心年度旗舰项目“华彩2024”的开幕仪式。

今晚的开幕演出将由上一届华族文化贡献奖得主南华潮剧社呈献，剧目是《典妻》。这是一出融合传统潮剧和现代剧场元素的表演，幕后团队更是曾在国际上获奖的制作团队和本地人才。

除此之外，今年的“华彩”一共准备了10项由各个艺术伙伴呈献的跨领域、跨文化和跨时代的精彩节目，必定能让观众尽兴而归。

其中包括中心和新加坡华乐团合作的新系列“文化巨人”。我们希望通过与新加坡文化贡献杰出的艺术家，以跨文化、跨领域的撞击和交融，试图创造出富有新加坡独特风格的华乐作品，讲述新加坡的故事，让世界聆听感动！为这个系列拉开序幕的是新谣代表人物梁文福先生。他的两场音乐会门票早已售罄，非常感谢大家的支持！明年，我们的主题是视觉艺术，将和103岁的国宝级画家林子平先生合作，敬请期待。

自成立以来，新加坡华族文化中心不忘推广本土华族文化的宗旨，并做出了不同的尝试，推动本地华族文化的发展和传承。中心将继续努力，发扬新加坡的华族文化。

谢谢大家！