130 events focusing on food and medicine

After being forced to go online last year, Singapore HeritageFest returns next month "making up for lost time", offering more than 130 physical and digital events focusing on medicine and food - two themes that have captured the nation's attention.

From May 3 to 30, festival-goers can expect tours to a goat farm, soya sauce-making workshops and an event where children from different ethnic groups in Boon Lay share about their family's cooking practices. Tours of Singapore General Hospital, the country's oldest hospital, and talks by healthcare volunteers at the Institute of Mental Health are also on offer to those whose interest in medical history has been piqued by the pandemic.

In its 18th edition, the festival differs from past iterations in significant ways. The dual-theme approach is a departure from programmes in past years that centred on particular precincts, allowing a greater reach across the island, from Chua Chu Kang to Changi.

Its topical nature should also get attendees to have more extensive discussions, lending it more "depth and breadth", festival director David Chew said yesterday.

He said: "This is a chance for residents to learn more about Singapore with travel borders still largely closed.

"We are moving towards a thematic approach, meaning that we are going to focus on emerging topics, every year, tied to national milestones. It's one thing to come and experience a programme but we also want people to talk about the different issues."

The medical heritage programmes pay tribute to the front-line doctors and nurses who have helped Singapore through the pandemic, and coincide with SGH's 200-year anniversary. Food has also been in the limelight, following Singapore hawker culture's inscription on the Unesco intangible cultural heritage list last year.

Mr Chew said food, beyond being "a topic that we all have a view on", has deeper implications. "Food sustainability has become a really important issue because of Covid-19. Through looking at what people eat at home, we can also understand resource constraints in that family, which is related to socio-economic inequality."

One of the featured enterprises is Cheng Yew Heng Candy Factory, Singapore's oldest sugar manufacturer. Its 90,000 sq ft building in Taman Jurong produces 1,000 tonnes of sugar every year, allowing Singapore to export sugar products to other countries.

Mr John Cheng, 39, the third-generation director of the firm, will be giving parts of a tour during the festival. One of his recent innovations is his Jewels rock sugar sticks, which are colourful, flavoured with tastes like blue pea and pandan chiffon and can be dipped in coffee and tea. He said: "Many young people think rock sugar is something only their grandparents will use but I want to make it relevant to them. During the tour, they will use our sugar to make kueh and taste the difference."

The programme this year also features three collectors, one of whom is Mr Jamal Mohamad, a programmer at the Malay Heritage Centre. The 40-year-old has been collecting daggers and blades, most at least two centuries old, for about a decade. His collection will be featured on the festival's website in a video series, one of the programmes that have nothing to do with food or medicine.

This is part of the Singapore HeritageFest team's efforts to seek out partners such as clan associations and people with interesting collections with whom they can build long-term relationships.