SINGAPORE – Within the Waterway Point mall in Punggol is a cluster of boulder-like sculptures sporting paint-splattered handprints and brushstrokes.
Made of canvas, the sculptures are part of an interactive art installation meant to represent Punggol’s rocky shoreline.
Punggol residents and their children can draw and paint on them as part of an experience to reimagine what is a central part of their neighbourhood.
The installation, titled Colours on Shore, is part of a new heritage initiative that will run from June 6 to 15 in the town.
It is being launched under the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Activation Nodes (HAN) initiative, which aims to involve the public and local communities in celebrating the heritage of Singapore’s neighbourhoods and organising their own heritage programmes.
Punggol is the third town where this initiative has been launched, after similar runs in Katong-Joo Chiat and Clementi in 2024.
The Punggol initiative’s curator John Tung said the Punggol area was once known for its pig farms and for housing Singapore’s first zoo, although the town’s identity has evolved, and residents have different interpretations of the town now.
“There is a part of Punggol that is historical, for example, the changing history of Punggol Beach, but it’s not a fishermen’s block any more,” said Mr Tung.
Once a rural fishing village with poultry and pig farms, Punggol began clearing out its pig farms in the 1980s. Construction of the first Housing Board flats began in the late 1990s.
Other heritage programmes being organised in Punggol as part of this initiative include one called Where Punggol Meets Plate, which allows participants to create a three-course food experience using local ingredients such as Nipah palm trees near Punggol Reservoir.
There is also a listening and drawing workshop titled Attuning to Nature that will allow participants to learn about the natural and environmental histories of Punggol and Coney Island.
These programmes are co-organised with more than 10 community partners, and in partnership with art organisation OH! Open House.
Interested participants can sign up at: go.gov.sg/han-whats-on
NHB’s director for education and community outreach, Mr Gerald Wee, hopes the initiative will bring Punggol’s history to life, and highlight natural spaces like Coney Island, as well as landmarks such as Punggol Jetty and Punggol Settlement.
Mr Wee said previous launches of the initiative have drawn good feedback and “brought together diverse communities to uncover and share neighbourhood stories”.
“As we launch HAN@Punggol with OH! Open House, we look forward to expanding this vibrant community of heritage enthusiasts, and deepening connections between communities and their neighbourhood’s heritage,” he said.
Ms Chua Sze Hwei, 37, a homemaker who has lived in Punggol for about a decade, is looking forward to the heritage programmes.
“I think it would be great if the initiatives can attract people to see how young and how vibrant the community is in Punggol,” she said.
Children trying their hand at the interactive art experience called Colours on Shore at Waterway Point on June 6.ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
OH! Open House and NHB also plan to go further with the initiative. In July, they intend to mobilise volunteers to go door to door around Punggol to invite households to have their portraits drawn and gather stories about their neighbourhood.
This will be part of a three-year community initiative to create a directory of local stories that can be displayed in Punggol’s public spaces.
OH! Open House’s artistic director, Mr Alan Oei, said: “Heritage isn’t just something we visit in a museum – it’s in the stories passed down at void decks, in the everyday rituals we don’t even realise we’re part of.”
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