Singapore: Thai Poosam, a temple festival celebrated here every year by Hindus of Tamil descent, is among the 10 elements shortlisted by Singapore for nomination to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) list.

The colourful festival dedicated to Lord Subramanian, also known as Lord Murugan the deity of youth, power and virtue, is an occasion of repentance held between January and February during the full moon in the 10th month of the Hindu calendar.

Also on the shortlist is the annual Chingay parade held after the Lunar New Year celebrated by the Chinese community here.

The other eight elements in the shortlist are birthing traditions, Malay musical art form dikir barat, getai (live singing drama), the making and sharing of kueh (cake), orchid cultivation, Peranakan (people of mixed heritage with indigenous Malays) bead work and embroidery, traditional medical practices and yusheng and its associated food heritage and social practices for celebrating Chinese New Year.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) will consult the public in the coming months before deciding on the country’s second nomination for inscription to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, said Youth Low Yen Ling, the Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth on Thursday.

Low said about 170 participants attended focus group discussions held by NHB between June last year and January, including ICH practitioners, heritage business owners and academics.

Through these conversations, we heard a clear preference for our second nomination to be multicultural in nature, and relatable to Singaporeans, The Straits Times quoted Low as saying.

Singapore’s first inscription to UNESCO’s ICH list, a food-court based hawker culture was announced in December 2020.