Lianhe Zaobao takes Singapore culture to Shanghai and Beijing with inaugural festival

SINGAPORE – A new festival showcasing Singaporean culture was launched in Shanghai on Sept 17 by SPH Media’s flagship Chinese-language daily, Lianhe Zaobao.

Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the festival will present a range of Singaporean cultural offerings to audiences in China’s two largest cities, Shanghai and Beijing, including music, film and food.

The festival will take place in Shanghai from Sept 19 to 20 and then move to Beijing from Sept 24 to 26. It aims to deepen mutual understanding between the communities of Singapore and China.

Lianhe Zaobao editor Ang Yiting said the paper does not only report news, but also engages deeply with Chinese-language education and cultural preservation.

“We hope that our first Singapore Cultural Festival will allow our friends in China to experience and appreciate the diversity, multifaceted nature and vibrancy of Singaporean culture through multiple senses and dimensions,” said Ang.

The launch ceremony drew a large attendance of more than 200 guests from Singapore and China, representing the government, business, cultural and media sectors. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo opened the festival alongside Ang.

In a post on Facebook on Sept 18, Neo said the festival is a celebration of the enduring friendship and cultural ties between the two countries.

He said: “Singapore’s cultural story is shaped by our multicultural society. Traditions brought by generations of Chinese migrants have taken root and evolved alongside the heritage and influences of our indigenous, Malay, Indian and other communities – giving Singapore a distinctive cultural character of its own.”

Audiences in Shanghai and Beijing can look forward to performances by two Singaporean musical ensembles, the Siong Leng Musical Association and Artusik, at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre and the Dahua City Performing Arts Centre in Beijing.

The Siong Leng Musical Association’s performance will combine traditional Nanyin – a music genre that originated as court music during the Han Dynasty – with Indian classical dance. Artusik’s multi-ethnic ensemble will blend traditional Malay instruments, Chinese music and Western elements.

Singaporean stories of family ties, identity, migration and social change will also be played out on the silver screen at Shanghai’s Film Art Centre and the China Film Archive in Beijing.

The curated showcase comprises Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers (2026), which was selected as Singapore’s Oscars entry for 2027, He Shuming’s Ajoomma (2022), the short-film anthology 667 (2017) and Ang Geck Geck’s Ah Girl (2026).

After each screening, the directors will share behind-the-scenes insights and take part in a question-and-answer session about their creative process.

Also on the menu at the festival will be a gastronomic experience put together by Singaporean chef Justin Quek and culinary researcher David Yip, charting the evolution of Singapore’s cuisine from colonial times to the present day.

The bespoke dining experience held at Jing An Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai and Kerry Hotel in Beijing will feature dishes blending Hokkien and Teochew culinary traditions brought by Chinese migrants, with later influences from Malay and Indian cuisines.

The Kerry Hotel in Beijing will also be host to a cultural seminar on Singapore’s distinct culture. The panel forum will feature Nanyang Girls’ High School principal Siau Fong Hui, Singapore Chinese Orchestra composer-in-residence Wang Chenwei and film-maker Eva Tang.

The festival will also feature an exhibition curated by the National Heritage Board, using interactive installations and multimedia presentations to show Singapore’s complex social fabric as a multiracial society.

Titled Singapore, In Perspective, the exhibition looks at national identity through places of worship, public housing estates, food, language, music and family life.

SPH Media’s Chinese Media Group editor-in-chief Lee Huay Leng said: “As the Chinese-language news media at the heart of this cultural ecosystem, we consider it our fundamental duty to deliver objective, balanced news reporting and our responsibility to promote cultural exchange.

“We have long held that cultural exchange cannot be confined to the printed page or the digital screen; it must be lived and felt through face-to-face engagement.”