Hawker culture in Singapore comprises hawker centers, hawkers, and hawker food. It is a living heritage shared by those who prepare hawker food and those who dine and mingle over hawker food in “community dining rooms” called hawker centers. It encompasses people from all walks of life, a wide range of affordable multicultural food, and common shared spaces. While similar food practices can be found in neighboring countries and internationally, they each have their respective historical contexts, cultural influences, and sociocultural functions.\nHawker centers in Singapore are naturally ventilated premises that are accessible and integral to the everyday lives of people in Singapore. Hawker stalls, selling food from different cultures, usually line both sides of the center, with an open communal dining space in the middle. At a typical hawker center, one can often experience sights and sounds, such as the sizzling of wok fire and rising steam from boiling pots, as hawkers whip up freshly cooked, made-to-order dishes at their hawker stalls. It is common to hear friendly exchanges between hawkers and patrons in the various languages spoken in Singapore, over a bustling atmosphere as families, colleagues and friends chat and bond over hawker meals.

Nikhil Joshi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Educated at the University of Pune (India), University of York (UK) and National University of Singapore (Singapore). His research interests include cultural heritage management; traditional building materials and techniques; and community participatory approaches. Before joining NUS, Nikhil worked and taught in India, UK, and Malaysia for over a decade. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, UK, and recipient of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings – Lethaby Scholarship, UK. He has been an active speaker in various conferences throughout the world and has several publications to his name. His main recent publications include Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya: Constructing sacred placeness, deconstructing the ‘great case’ of 1895 (2019); Managing change: Urban heritage and community development in historic Asian cities (2018, edited); Community voices: Preserving the local heritage (2016); People + places: Exploring the living heritage of Songkhla old town (2016, edited)

Mr Yeo Kirk Siang is currently the Director of the Heritage Research and Assessment Division (HRA) at the National Heritage Board (NHB) of Singapore. The division focuses on the research, documentation and commemoration of Singapore’s tangible heritage and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, in partnership with non-government organisations and public agencies. He is also the coordinator for the “Our SG Heritage Plan”, which outlines the broad strategies for the five years of Singapore’s heritage sector (2018 to 2022). Kirk Siang is currently a member of the Evaluation Body established under the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH for the period of 2021 to 2024.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, governed under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). First formed on 1 August 1993, the goals of the agency are to encourage the preservation and protection of historic environments relating to Singapore, and to promote the respect for and knowledge of historic environments. It also ensures that Singaporean heritage is accessible to all citizens, as well as to spread information about that heritage.

Vietnam_Picture_Tugging Rituals and Games:Anh Keo mo

Three Mother Goddesses: Mother Goddess of Heaven (in the middle, red color), Mother Goddess of Forest (on the left, green color), and Mother Goddess of Water (on the right, white color). \n2014. Photo by Dương Hồng Đức; \n©2014 Viet Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

For generations, the cheongsam has been an emblem of power dressing and a statement of one’s cultural identity. Its versatility is evident in the way its style has evolved over the years, with fashion designers continuing to be inspired by it. The garment is still worn today on special occasions such as Chinese New Year and weddings, and even as formal work wear. The practice of tailoring custom-made cheongsams is a treasured and intricate ICH practice.

In Singapore, there had been strict restrictions on social, cultural, business activites during the "Circuit Breaker" period from April to June 2020. Yeo Kirk Siang shares the ICH activies during "Circuit Breaker" period and showed the role of ICH in COVID 19 pandemic. \n\nYEO KIRK SIANG is currently the Director of the Heritage Research and Assessment Division (HRA) at the National Heritage Board (NHB) of Singapore. The division focuses on the research, documentation, and commemoration of Singapore’s tangible heritage and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, in partnership with non-government organisations and public agencies. He is also the coordinator for the “Our SG Heritage Plan”, which outlines the broad strategies for Singapore’s heritage sector from 2018 to 2022.

This is an excerpt of a Tuồng play, called “Trảm Trịnh Ân” (Trịnh Ân was beheaded), which can be called “Tống Thái Tổ Túy Sát Trịnh Ân” or “Đào Tam Xuân loạn trào”), one of the classical Tuồng works. This excerpt is a conversation between Trịnh Ân and his son while walking to Trịnh Ân to an execution ground. Being unjustly convicted, Trịnh Ân had to endure that conviction. Because he did not want his son to witness his execution, he advised his son to go home. However, his son was grief stricken and did not want to leave his father. The melodies in this excerpt include Nam bình, Nói lối đạp Ai qua nói lối Ai, Hát khách, Nam ai, and Nói lối thường.

Lưu thủy trường is one of the series of six Bắc pieces belonging to the twenty principal musical pieces of Đờn ca tài tử art. It consists of thirty-two eight-bar phrases. Among the six Bắc pieces, Lưu thủy trường is considered the typical one played for opening Đờn ca tài tử performances. The tempo is moderate and musical characteristics are joyful and strong. This is a solo performance of the tranh (sixteen-string zither) performed by master musician Vĩnh Bảo—a famous teacher of Đờn ca tài tử in Ho Chi Minh City. The tranh is a plucked string instrument without a neck. It is made of wood and has rectangle-shaped resonator. On the surface, the bridge is put at one end and the pegs at the other end. The sixteen strings are typically tuned to a pentatonic scale and suspended over bridges and secured through a gauge, which is located in the middle. The gauge is not fixed and is adjusted to modify the sound and change the musical scale according to the piece. The players use the left hand to press the strings and the right hand to pluck the strings. It can be plucked by using fingernails or artificial nails made of metal, plastic, or tortoiseshell.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 35 is 'ICH and City Festivals.'

ICHCAP, in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok Office, held the Intangible Cultural Heritage Webinar Series from June to August 2020 with a total of four sessions. Beginning with the first session discussing the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) during COVID-19, the 23 speakers from 18 countries met with the public to grapple with alternative practices and emergent modes of delivery in various areas such as heritage education in the universities, networking amongst educational institutions for ICH safeguarding, development of ICH curricula in times of crisis, as well as inter-regional cooperation for cross-cultural instruction and learning.\n\nThis collection includes the programs and presentations of all the four sessions of the ICH Webinar Series.