Welcome Remarks by Mrs Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer of the National Library Board, at the National Library and National Archives of Singapore's Donors' Appreciation Night on 3 May 2018
Minister for Communications and Information Mr S Iswaran
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Good evening. A very warm welcome to all of you and thank you very much for joining us at this occasion, where the National Library Board, the librarians and the archivists gather to honour, appreciate and thank all our donors for your wonderful contributions to our collection of Singapore’s heritage. Thanks to all of you, the National Library and the National Archives have been able to continue building our rich collections on Singapore and South-east Asia. You play a tremendously critical role as we continuously seek to grow our repository of collections for people to use.
2. Tonight, we have on display materials donated by you. As you browse through some of the collections, we hope you will be able to exchange stories with one another. Our librarians are on hand to share the nuggets and the wonderful stories behind the collections as well.
3. Through your generous donation, we have been able to add significant materials to our collections. One example is the family of pioneer artist Liu Kang, who have donated over 7,000 materials that paint a picture of Singapore’s art history and the start of the Nanyang Artists. Later, Mrs Gretchen Liu, the daughter-in-law of Liu Kang will also share with you more about his collection. I would also like to mention Ms Patimah Jaludin, who wrote under the pen name Rosemala, who donated her collection comprising award-winning radio play scripts and short stories while Tamil author and educator, Dr. Thinnappan, donated hand-written articles and manuscripts on Tamil literature and culture. We are also grateful to Ms Linda Georgina Locke for donating digital images of Ms Agnes Joaquim, who managed to successfully cross-breed and create Singapore’s national flower. We have also received some wonderful contributions that tell us much more about the Nature Society Singapore, the Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution, pioneer legislator Sir Song Ong Siang, and the Singapore Lam Ann Association which recently hosted a wonderful signing agreement which has been well-covered by the media. These are just some highlights of the 18,000 generous donations that we have received last year.
4. All these primary materials and publications are of great value to anyone who want to learn more about Singapore’s history and heritage. I would like to assure all of you that NLB will continue to actively promote all our collections through many different ways, such as through publications, programmes, research fellowships, and exhibitions. We will also continue to grow our collection, by reaching out to other social community groups, some of which have been connected to us by some of you.
5. Once again, thank you very much for your continued support and generosity. Please enjoy this evening.