Bobby Chin, Chairman URA;

BG Tan Yong Soon, CEO URA;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen.

Our past conservation efforts have successfully enabled many architecturally and historically significant buildings to be retained and given a new lease of life, even as we continued to develop our modern city. Whether it is a grand building such as the Fullerton Hotel or the rows of modest shophouses that line the streets in Chinatown, heritage buildings add much charm and character to our city and help contribute to Singapore’s distinctiveness.

But these buildings are more than just impressive pieces of architecture or bricks and mortar, they are also icons of our collective memories as a people who share Singapore as a home.

Over the years, as our society advances and matures, interest has grown steadily in conservation issues. Having seen the results of our earlier conservation efforts, Singaporeans have developed a greater appreciation of these old historic buildings. We have learnt to understand that the value in keeping these buildings go beyond the bricks and mortar that they are made of. Increasingly more people are now interested in the conservation agenda. They ask: what is identity that is worth keeping? How do we decide on what is unique, historical, authentic, or meaningful to people or groups of people?

In the past, before the general public became keenly interested in the built heritage, government agencies along with some passionate opinion leaders rallied the cause for built heritage. Collectively, they help shaped the agenda, and agencies like URA and Preservation of Monuments Board worked to articulate and carry out the task.

This process has worked well in the past, but moving forward, the task of deciding which buildings are to be conserved, can no longer rest alone on the government’s shoulders. We need to allow for more scope for public participation so as to better understand and take in the views of professionals and the community on such issues. We have to develop a process that will facilitate fruitful discussions such that the decisions that are made, will achieve the greatest shared benefit.

Increasingly, we hope to involve the people in two ways:

Firstly, through dialogues and consultations, either privately or publicly with building owners, before deciding on gazetting heritage buildings. Dialogues and consultations help facilitate a meeting of minds - they provide an opportunity to highlight to building owners, the conservation merits of their buildings and at the same time, allow owners to raise their concerns.

Secondly, to sound out conservation proposals with the newly formed Conservation Advisory Panel. Comprising members from diverse backgrounds such as the building industry, education and journalism, the panel will help the government to reach out to more people, and gather a wider spectrum of views. It can also raise the public’s appreciation of our rich built heritage. We hope that the panel will help contribute to a more transparent and participatory process in gazetting buildings for conservation.

I am heartened to hear that the Conservation Advisory Panel is already hard at work, having just been formed at the beginning of June. It has considered URA's proposal to conserve the former NCO Club at Beach Road, Blocks 1 and 14 at the Former Beach Road Camp and the Former Beach Road Police Station. A recommendation on the conservation status of these buildings would be made soon.

The next phase of conservation will also consider buildings that were built after World War II up to 1970 and local landmarks such as the Serangoon Fire Station. Many of these buildings represent a significant period of change in our island state and our early nation-building efforts. We are looking forward to working with the panel to study, discuss and debate these proposals.

Let us now turn our attention to why we are here today. The annual Architectural Heritage Awards recognize those who have gone the extra mile in restoring heritage buildings and in giving them a new lease of life.

I am pleased to present this year’s Architectural Heritage Awards to four deserving projects. Let me commend the owners, architects, engineers and contractors for a job well done and for all your hard work in sensitively and meticulously restoring these beautiful buildings. It was a labour of love. By doing so, you have helped to conserve our rich and precious heritage and architectural legacy.

The four recipients today represent a good and interesting mix of various types of conservation buildings:

• Sun Yat Sen Villa, a two-storey Victorian bungalow with its long and illustrious history that has been carefully restored and turned into a memorial hall and visitor centre that will be used and remembered for many years to come;
• The Central Fire Station, Singapore’s oldest functioning fire station rejuvenated to meet modern fire-fighting needs while retaining its original spirit and character;
• 165 Penang Road, a pair of semi-detached Victorian houses delightfully restored and integrated with a new development, whose decorative features are set against the clean lines of the modern building;
• And finally, a row of 18 shophouses at Joo Chiat Place rehabilitated from dilapidation and revived as part of an exclusive private condominium with a rich Peranakan flavour.

My congratulations once again to the winners this year. You have managed to see with your creative eyes beyond the disrepair and decay of these old buildings to make them beautiful and useful again. You have succeeded in restoring and re-interpreting these buildings in a new light so that more can discover and re-discover the richness of our built heritage. On behalf of the past and future generations of Singaporeans, I thank you.

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