風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
尚達曼總統在2024年新春招待會上的講話“深化我們的多元文化”
https://singaporeccc.org.sg/media_room/deepening-our-multicultureism-transcript-of-remarks-by-president-tharman-shanmugaratnam-at-the-spring-reception-2024/
各位部長、國務部長、市長、議會秘書、議會議員，
新加坡華族文化中心主席黃紹權先生，
新加坡宗鄉會館聯合總會會長蔡永康先生，
蔡天寶先生，新加坡華族文化中心創會主席兼宗鄉總會名譽會長
宗鄉總會理事會成員及新加坡華人文化中心董事局成員
大使
女士們，先生們
1. [用中文致辭。]
2. 我和夫人很高興再次出席新加坡宗鄉會館聯合總會和新加坡華族文化中心的聯合慶典。 這是一個春季招待會，是華人社區團聚的時刻，也是我們不同社區之間團結的時刻。
3. 我讚揚 Ng Siew Quan 先生和 Thomas Chua 先生的深思熟慮的演講。 你們兩個組織都以互補的方式尋求推廣新加坡華族文化並促進我們多元化社區之間的團結。 這樣做，他們正在幫助加強我們的國家認同。
4. 正如蔡先生所指出的，新加坡宗鄉會館聯合總會（宗鄉會館）正在進軍新領域，並以現有優先事項為基礎。 您希望幫助老年人駕馭數字設備現在用於多種用途的世界。
重要的是，您想要促進可持續生活，並打算動員您的年輕成員提出倡議和想法來傳播保護自然環境的精神。
5. 重要的是，你們繼續建設一個包容和富有同情心的社會，並加強種族和諧。 這是您多年來一直在做的工作。 事實上，這在過去幾年中非常明顯，並且您正在繼續這項工作。 例如，新加坡廣東會館、永春會館等會館在疫情期間非常積極地支援各階層、各族群的弱勢群體。
6. 新加坡華族文化中心（SCCC）一直與您的合作夥伴積極、富有創意地合作，以保護和弘揚充滿活力的新加坡華族文化。
7. 黃紹權先生所提到的建立一個全麵的本地中華藝術文化在線資源庫的倡議，將幫助我們的年輕一代了解和重新發現我們本地中華文化的優勢和獨特之處——不僅僅是文化 傳統意義上的，而是社區的實踐和習慣以及我們的流行文化。 這是一個非常好的舉措。
8. 與此同時，新加坡華族文化中心一直積極培育新加坡的多元文化。 您一直在促進人們更好地了解我們每個社區的文化和價值觀，包括我們共同的價值觀。 重要的是，SCCC 還一直在促進新加坡不同文化的藝術家和團體之間加強交流與合作。
9. 宗鄉總會和新加坡華族文化中心默默地做的事情，沒有大張旗鼓，沒有敲鑼打鼓，是很重要的。 這是我們發展國家認同的一部分。
10. 尊重我們多元化的傳統和生活方式是新加坡和平多元文化的基礎。 這是基礎——尊重不同種族、文化和宗教。
11. 作為一個獨立國家，我們現在正處於一個發展階段，已經過去了六十年，我們可以在此基礎上，在我們作為一個民族的曆史和經驗的基礎上，走得更遠，深化我們的多元文化主義。
12. 我們的多元文化主義的深化有兩個方麵。 首先，我們必須保持並加強新加坡多元文化的活力。 其次，促進不同文化的更大程度的交叉，以及在彼此文化中的更大程度的合作和參與。
13. 挑戰在於實現這兩個目標，而不是以犧牲另一目標為代價來實現其中一個目標。 我們不需要也不應該為了深化多元文化主義而犧牲或淡化我們各自的文化。 如果我們這樣做，我們的心跳就會減弱。 但我們也不應該生活在不同的文化領域，以保持我們獨特的文化的活力和強大。 我們必須促進這種交叉，以便我們的每種文化在不斷發展的同時吸收其他文化的影響，這些影響來自新加坡的多元文化環境。
14.我們必須放眼長遠。 想象一下 10 年、20 年、30 年後我們想要的新加坡，以及我們想要成為的人。
15. 新加坡多元文化的深化將有助於我們增強每個傳統的獨特特征，包括新加坡華人、新加坡馬來人、新加坡印度人和其他傳統文化。
補充。 它將增強我們每個傳統的新加坡特色。 它還將有助於發展更大的文化靈活性，特別是對於越來越需要與周圍世界接觸的新一代新加坡人。 但最重要的是，它將增強我們作為新加坡人的身份，並在未來幾十年加強我們的社會和諧。
16. 事實上，我們看到了這方麵非常令人鼓舞和富有創造性的努力。 我和我的妻子最近參加了新加坡華樂團的春季狂想曲音樂會，這是一場迎接農曆新年的年度音樂會。 這是一個充滿活力的夜晚，一場新加坡華族文化的慶典。
17. 有一個項目特別獨特——它是對中國傳統新年歌曲“大地回春”的新鮮演繹。 它是由一位才華橫溢的年輕新加坡人 Dayn Ng Chee Yao 創作的。 Dayn 畢業於 NAFA 和皇家音樂學院，之後獲得 NAC 獎學金前往伯克利音樂學院（西班牙）深造。
18. 他對《又是春天》進行了全新的演繹，保留了原來的旋律，但在旋律中融入了不同的新加坡民族節奏和新加坡馬來、印度和中國風格的輕快節奏。 這不僅僅是campur-campur。 原來的旋律依然存在，它所創造的優雅和內心的激動，但帶有多元文化的味道。 由新加坡華樂團精心創作並以非常吸引人的方式演奏。
19. 這是一種方法，我相信它有很大的希望——保留我們各自的文化，讓它們保持活力，但注入其他新加坡文化的元素。
20. 這不是唯一的方法。 我們還看到第二種方法，即來自不同社區的藝術家之間進行更深入的合作，開發新的音樂、舞蹈和歌曲的整體作品，同時保留我們不同傳統的獨特元素。 不是簡單地將所有東西融合在一起，使原始文化變得麵目全非，而是編織出一幅新的布料，同時明顯地保留了我們不同文化的不同線索。
21. 例如，新加坡華族文化中心幾年前與巴斯卡藝術學院合作，推出了中國經典民間故事《梁祝》的全新改編版本。 巴斯卡藝術學院製作了該項目，結合了中國樂器、印度婆羅多舞者和粵劇藝術家。 音樂由世界著名的印度作曲家和中國本土藝術家創作。 再說一次，這不僅僅是坎普爾坎普爾。 你可以看到不同傳統的線索，每個傳統都有自己的真實性，但以一種非常吸引人的方式編織在一起。
22. 第二種方法的另一個例子是來自不同社區的藝術家之間合作創造新的形式，新加坡華族文化中心幾年前設立了一個獎項以鼓勵跨文化歌曲創作。 2019 年的獲獎作品是一首馬來華語歌曲。 該歌曲由 Jamiel Said 製作，並與林偉斌先生共同作詞。 他們想創作一首反映南利和鄧麗君影響的歌曲。 他們稱之為 Ku Mahu Zaihu (Ku Mahu 在乎)，是馬來語和中文單詞的組合，意思是“我想關心”。 再次，由Regine Han 和Jamiel Said 精心創作並用中文和馬來語演唱。 在歌曲中你可以感受到南利和鄧麗君的靈魂。
23. 這就是第二種方法——我們合作，融合不同的傳統，創造一種新的結構，但我們不同傳統的線索仍然清晰可見。 確保整個表演悅耳、悅目、悅心。
24. 還有第三種方法，我們也可以在未來幾年中發展這種方法，而且我認為值得更加重視。 這是為了保留我們不同的傳統，但讓我們跨越彼此的文化，無論是在音樂、舞蹈還是藝術方麵。 我們可以恭敬地學習彼此文化的複雜性，尋求實踐並精通它們。 對於一些人來說，當他們進入另一種新加坡文化時，甚至可以培養天賦和精湛技藝。
25. 譚慶倫就是一個很好的例子。 他現在已經30多歲了。 當他接受印度著名長笛演奏家 Ghanavenothan Retnam 教授如何演奏印度長笛（維努）時，他已經掌握了中國笛子。 譚慶倫後來成為印度長笛大師，甚至贏得了印度音樂比賽的最高獎項之一。 他和Ghanavenothan經常一起演出，演奏經典的中國和印度歌曲。 他們是藝術家的絕佳典範，他們沒有失去自己的文化——事實上，他們是自己文化中的領先代表——而是跨越了我們的另一種文化，並發展出了真正的才華。
26. 我們是
現在我們必須讓我們的年輕一代有可能、自然地更多地跨入其他文化。 我們學校的 CCA 是實現這一目標的沃土。 不是淡化我們的文化，而是努力學習彼此的文化並提高一些能力。
27.深化多元文化主義的所有這三種方法都必須有空間。 我們不能強迫我們的多元文化主義發展。 文化必須有機地發展。 但我們可以鼓勵我們努力發展我們的文化，將彼此的元素融入其中，讓我們的年輕人和各個年齡段的人自然地融入彼此的文化，並在這樣做時感到充實。
28.我們必須承認，在其他社區中，對我們每種不同文化的欣賞是相當膚淺和薄弱的。 過去，20 世紀 60 年代我們有 Aneka Ragam Ra’ayat。 年紀足夠大的人都會記得——人們去不同的社區聚集點觀看多種族的表演。 事實上，1959 年李光耀先生在植物園舉行的發布會有超過 22,000 人參加。 但那是在電視出現之前的日子。 人們蜂擁而至觀看這些 Aneka Ragam Ra'ayat 表演以獲取娛樂，同時也了解了一些彼此的文化。
29.我們再也回不到從前的日子了。 但我們現在可以找到新的方法來深化我們的多元文化主義，鼓勵更多的交叉——我們不同文化的藝術家之間更多的合作，以及更多的個人和團體跨越彼此的文化。
30. 如果你仔細想想，新加坡人很容易接受西方文化。 有些人花了數年時間掌握西方音樂或舞蹈，無論是古典音樂還是流行音樂，還有更多人對此產生了濃厚的興趣。 這並沒有什麽問題。 它展示了新加坡人的開放思想，也展示了我們的才華。 但如果我們能如此輕鬆地對待西方文化，我們就能對我們自己的新加坡文化產生更強烈的興趣——加強交叉，並加深我們的國家認同。 我相信我們可以。
31. 最後，我再次讚揚新加坡華族文化中心和新加坡宗鄉會館聯合總會積極進取地保存和發展新加坡華族文化，並加強我們的民族認同。
32.這將是一個持續的旅程。 但沒有什麽旅程比加強新加坡的心跳更值得的了。
33. 我希望龍年能夠滿足您和我們共同的願望。 [中文致辭]
"Deepening Our Multicultualism"Remarks by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Spring Reception 2024
Ministers, Ministers of State, Mayor, Parliamentary Secretaries, Members of Parliament,
Mr Ng Siew Quan, Chairman, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre,
Mr Thomas Chua, President, Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations,
Mr Chua Thian Poh, Founding Chairman, SCCC and Honorary President, SFCCA
The respective Council Members of SFCCA and Board Members of SCCC
Ambassadors
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. [Opening greetings in Chinese.]
2. My wife and I are very happy to be here once again at this joint celebration by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre. It is a spring reception that is a time for reunion within the Chinese community, but also a time for unity amongst our diverse communities.
3. I commend both Mr Ng Siew Quan and Mr Thomas Chua for their very thoughtful speeches. Both your organisations are, in complementary ways, seeking to promote Singaporean Chinese culture and to foster unity amongst our diverse communities. And so doing, they are helping to strengthen our national identity.
4. The Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA) is moving into new areas and building on existing priorities, as Mr Thomas Chua has laid out. You want to help seniors navigate a world where digital devices are now used for so many things.
Importantly, you want to promote sustainable living, and intend to mobilise your younger members to come up with initiatives and ideas to spread the spirit of conservation of the natural environment.
5. And importantly, you continue to build an inclusive and compassionate society, and to strengthen racial harmony. This is work that you’ve been doing for many years. In fact, it was very evident in the last few years and you’re continuing this work. For eg, our clan associations such as Singapore Kwangtung Hui Kuan and Eng Choon Hway Kuan were very active during the pandemic in supporting the vulnerable from all walks of life and all ethnic groups.
6. The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) has been working actively and creatively with your partners to preserve and promote a vibrant Singapore Chinese culture.
7. The initiative which Mr Ng Siew Quan spoke about, to develop a comprehensive online repository of local Chinese arts and culture, will help our younger generations to understand and rediscover the strengths and the unique features of our local Chinese culture – including not just culture in the traditional sense, but community practices and habits and our popular culture. It’s a very good initiative.
8. At the same time, the SCCC has been actively fostering multiculturalism in Singapore. You have been promoting greater understanding of the cultures and values of each of our communities, including the values which we share. And importantly, SCCC has also been promoting greater exchange and collaboration between artists and groups from our diverse cultures in Singapore.
9. What both SFCCA and SCCC have been doing quietly, without too much fanfare, without the beating of cymbals and drums, is important. It is part of how we evolve our national identity.
10. Fundamental to our peaceful multicultural Singapore, is respect for our diverse traditions and ways. That’s the foundation – respect for different races, cultures, and religions.
11. We are now at a stage of development, six decades on as an independent nation, where we can build on this foundation, build on our history and experience together as a people, to go further, to deepen our multiculturalism.
12. There are two strands in this deepening of our multiculturalism. First, we must keep alive and strengthen each of our diverse Singaporean cultures. And second, to foster greater criss-crossing of our different cultures, and greater collaboration and participation in each other’s cultures.
13. The challenge is to achieve both of these strands, not achieve one strand at the expense of the other. We need not and should not sacrifice or dilute our respective cultures in order to deepen multiculturalism. If we do that, we will just be weakening our heartbeats. But neither should we live in separate cultural spheres in order to keep our distinctive cultures alive and strong. We must foster that criss-crossing, so each of our cultures evolves whilst absorbing influences from others, the influences that come from a multicultural Singapore environment.
14. We have to take a long view. Imagine the Singapore that we want, and the people that we want to be, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now.
15. This deepening of Singapore’s multiculturalism will help us enhance the distinctive character of each of our traditions, Singapore Chinese, Singapore Malay, Singapore Indian and our other traditions. It will enhance the distinctive character Singaporean character of each of our traditions. It will also help develop greater cultural flexibility, especially among new generations of Singaporeans who will increasingly have to engage with the world around us. But most important, it will enhance our identity as Singaporeans, and strengthen our social harmony in the decades to come.
16. We are in fact seeing very encouraging and creative efforts in this direction. My wife and I recently attended the Spring Rhapsodies concert by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, an annual concert to usher in the Lunar New Year. It was an evening full of spirit, a celebration of Singapore Chinese culture.
17. One item was especially unique – it was a fresh rendition of the traditional Chinese New Year melody “It’s Spring Again” (大地回春). It was composed by a talented young Singaporean, Dayn Ng Chee Yao. Dayn graduated from NAFA and the Royal College of Music, before getting an NAC scholarship to go to the Berklee College of Music (Spain).
18. He gave “Its Spring Again” a whole new rendition, keeping the original melody but infusing different Singapore ethnic rhythms and lilts Singapore Malay, Indian and Chinese styles – into the melody. It was not just campur-campur. The original melody was still there, with all its elegance and the stirring of the heart that it creates, but with a multicultural flavour. Skilfully composed, and performed by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in a very appealing way.
19. That is one approach, and I believe it has a lot of promise – retaining our respective cultures, keeping them vibrant, but infusing them with elements from other Singapore cultures.
20. It is not the only approach. There is a second approach we are also seeing, which involves deeper collaboration amongst artists from our different communities, to develop new whole compositions in music, dance and song, yet retaining the distinctive elements of our different traditions. Not simply fusing everything into one such that the original cultures are unrecognisable, but weaving a new cloth while retaining quite visibly the different threads of our diverse cultures.
21. For example, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre collaborated a few years ago with Bhaskar’s Arts Academy to present a new, reimagined version of the classic Chinese folk tale Butterfly Lovers. Bhaskar’s Arts Academy produced the item, combining Chinese musical instruments, Indian Bharatanatyam dancers, and Cantonese opera artists. The music was composed by a world-renowned Indian composer and a local Chinese artist. Again, it was not just campur campur. You could see the threads of the different traditions, each with their own authenticity, but woven together in a very appealing way.
22. Another example of this second approach, involving collaboration between artists from our different communities to create new forms, was seen when Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre introduced an award a few years ago to encourage cross- cultural song compositions. The winning entry in 2019 was a Malay-Chinese song. It was produced by Jamiel Said, who also composed the lyrics together with Mr Lim Wei Bin. They wanted to compose a song that reflected the influences of P. Ramlee and Teresa Teng. They called it Ku Mahu Zaihu (Ku Mahu 在乎), a combination of Malay and Chinese words meaning ‘I want to care’. Again, skilfully composed, and sung by Regine Han and Jamiel Said himself, in Chinese and Malay. You could feel the souls of both P. Ramlee and Teresa Teng in the song.
23. So that is the second approach – where we collaborate, blend our different traditions, create a new fabric but one where the threads of our diverse traditions are still visible and distinct. And ensuring that the whole performance is appealing to the ear, to the eye, and to our hearts.
24. There is a third approach, which we can also grow in the years to come, and in my view deserves more emphasis. It is to retain our different traditions, but for us to cross into each other’s cultures, whether in music, dance or art. we We can respectfully learn the intricacies of each other’s cultures, seek to practice them and be proficient in them. And for some, to even develop flair and virtuosity when they cross into another Singapore culture.
25. A good example is Tan Qing Lun. He is now in his late 30s. He had already mastered the dizi, the Chinese flute, when he was taught by Ghanavenothan Retnam, a leading Indian flautist, how to play the Indian flute, the venu. Tan Qing Lun went on to become a master of the Indian flute, in fact even winning one of the top awards at an Indian music competition. He and Ghanavenothan have often performed together, playing classic Chinese and Indian tunes. They are wonderful examples of artists who have not lost their own cultures – they are in fact leading exponents within their s own cultures – but have crossed into another of our cultures and developed a real flair for them.
26. We must now make it possible and natural for our younger generation to do more of this crossing into other cultures. Our school CCAs are fertile ground for achieving this. Not diluting our cultures, but taking the effort to learn each other’s cultures and develop some proficiency.
27.There must be space for all these three approaches to deepening of multiculturalism. We cannot force the evolution of our multiculturalism. Culture has to evolve organically. But we can encourage efforts to evolve our cultures in ways that infuse elements of each into the other, and make it natural for our young and people of all ages to cross into each other’s cultures, and feel enriched in doing so.
28.We must admit that appreciation of each of our different cultures, among other communities, is quite superficial and weak. In the old days, we had Aneka Ragam Ra’ayat in the 1960s. Those of you who are old enough will remember – people went to different community gathering points to watch multiracial performances. In fact, the launch in 1959 by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, at the Botanic Gardens, was attended by over 22,000 people. But that was in the days before television. People flocked to these Aneka Ragam Ra’ayat performances for entertainment, but also learnt a little of each other’s cultures.
29.We can’t go back to those old days. But we can find new ways to now deepen our multiculturalism, encourage more criss-crossing – more collaboration between artists of our different cultures, and more individuals and groups crossing into each other’s cultures.
30. If you think about it, Singaporeans take very easily to Western culture. Some spend years mastering western music or dance, classical or pop, and many more take a close interest in it. There’s nothing wrong with that. It shows the openness of Singaporean minds, and it shows our talent. But if we can do it so readily with Western culture, we can take a stronger interest in our own Singaporean cultures – strengthen the criss-crossing, and deepen our national identity as we do so. I am sure we can.
31. Finally let me commend Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations once again for your active and progressive approach to preserving and evolving our Singapore Chinese culture, and in strengthening our national identity.
32. It will be a continuous journey. But there’s no journey more worthwhile than strengthening the Singapore heartbeat.
33. I hope the Year of the Dragon brings abundance in all that you wish for, and all that we wish for together. [Closing greetings in Chinese]
