Katong-Joo Chia heritage to take centre stage at two-day festival

Launch on April 20 kicks off initiative to showcase culture of neighbourhoods

- Ng Keng Gene

Ms Tan Li Ming, 35, has lived her whole life in the Katong-Joo Chiat neighbourhood, an area commonly associated with Peranakan culture and heritage.

While she was always curious about the history that surrounded her, it was not until the avid traveller was exposed to the many different cultures of the countries she had visited that she developed a strong desire to learn and tell others about the neighbourhood she grew up in.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented an opportunity.

Ms Tan, an associate scientist who analyses satellite images at the National University of Singapore, created an Instagram account (@katong.joochiat) to showcase the neighbourhood's businesses and draw customers to them amid bans on dining in.

But she wanted to do more. So she responded to an open call by the National Heritage Board (NHB) for volunteers to get involved in the board's new Heritage Activation Nodes initiative, which seeks to involve community partners in celebrating the heritage of Singapore's neighbourhood's.

Come April 20, Ms Tan will be among 122 volunteers helping to run a two-day festival comprising 29 programmes that will mark the launch of the first node, which will be at Katong-Joo Chiat.

Another node will be launched in Clementi later in 2024. NHB is in the process of identifying the remaining two nodes to be established in 2025.