National Heritage Board

Formed on 1 August 1993, the National Heritage Board (NHB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The Board’s mission is to safeguard and celebrate the shared heritage of Singapore’s diverse communities, for the purpose of education, nation-building, and cultural understanding. It manages national museums, World War II heritage interpretative centres, and community heritage institutions. It also sets policies related to heritage sites, National Monuments, and the National Collection, amongst others. Through the National Collection, NHB curates exhibitions and presents programmes to connect past, present and future generations of Singaporeans.

As a key cultural institution of the government, NHB plays a significant role in the development and promotion of Tamil heritage in Singapore.  An example of its major contributions in this regard is the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC), which NHB established in May 2015. IHC stages exhibitions and programmes that trace the history of the South Asian community in Singapore and Southeast Asia.  Another example is the support NHB provided for the Tamil Digital Heritage Project (TDHP), which was led by the Tamil Digital Heritage Group and the National Library Board. The TDHP has already created four digital collections, covering literature, theatre, music and dance of the Tamil community in Singapore, all of which are available on the NLB portal. 

NHB also provides access to a wealth of heritage resources through its heritage portal, Roots.gov.sg. This portal features the National Collection, Heritage Trails (which includes the Little India Heritage Trail), National Monuments, and Intangible Cultural Heritage elements. The public can explore these and uncover more stories about the history of the Tamil people and their lives in Singapore.



For more information
“About Us.” National Heritage Board. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.nhb.gov.sg/who-we-are/about-us
“From the Coromandel Coast to the Straits - Revisiting Our Tamil Heritage.” Indian Heritage Centre. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.indianheritage.gov.sg/en/whats-on/exhibitions/from-the-coromandel-coast-to-the-straits---revisiting-our-tamil-heritage
“From the Coromandel Coast to the Straits.” Roots.sg. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.roots.gov.sg/en/stories-landing/stories/From-the-Coromandel-Coast-to-the-Straits
“Roots SG Education Resources.” National Heritage Board. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.nhb.gov.sg/what-we-do/our-work/community-engagement/education/resources/roots-sg
“Homepage.” Roots.sg. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.roots.gov.sg/
Sankaran, Chitra. “Pay It Forward.” BiblioAsia, Vol. 11, Issue 3, Oct–Dec 2015, 1 October 2015. https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-11/issue-3/oct-dec-2015/payitforward/
“Little India Heritage Trail.” Roots.sg. Accessed on 1 August 2025. https://www.roots.gov.sg/nhb/little-india-heritage-trail

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.