TRENDING

SS Sarma Event
25 Jun 2025

Celebration of S. S. Sarma: An epoch in Singapore Tamil Theatre

A tribute to a Theatre Doyen

Join us as we celebrate the legacy of S S Sarma, a towering figure who has shaped the  Singapore Tamil theatre landscape over decades. At 95, Sarma remains an enduring inspiration, exemplary director, actor, writer, and producer, whose pioneering works gave voice to the Singaporean Tamil experience.

In this special event, coorganised by the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) and Avant Theatre, with the support of the National Library Board, today’s leading theatre practitioners, G Selva, Vadi PVSS, Pugalenthii, and Ganesh Subramaniam, with Karthikeyan Somasundaram as facilitator, come together to pay tribute to this doyen. The programme also features a specially produced video interview with Sarma by CSTC, offering rare insights into his artistic journey.

Join us on 5 July 2025 at 5:00pm at The POD, National Library (100 Victoria Street). Register here!

14 Jun 2025

Cultural Echoes of Our Very Own – A Timeless Fusion of Raagas and Rhythm

On 14 June 2025, two sessions of the cross-cultural music programme Cultural Echoes of Our Very Own – A Timeless Fusion of Raagas and Rhythm were held at the Esplanade Concourse.

VK Arts organised this show with the support of the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC). This special evening celebrated the harmony that emerges when diverse musical traditions — Indian, Malay, and Chinese — come together in dialogue. The event was a vibrant testament to Singapore’s multicultural identity and the creative possibilities born from collaboration.

The programme was curated and composed by Cultural Medallion recipient Dr Ghanavenothan Retnam.

Beyond Multiculturalism Panel
16 Nov 2024

Beyond Multiculturalism: Being Intercultural in Singapore

In multicultural Singapore, crossing cultural boundaries does not occur commonly. Going beyond multiculturalism, Singaporeans need to enter the Other’s sphere to appreciate it better, even embrace it. This event brought together four talented intercultural individuals who are expert practitioners of art forms outside their customary ethnic cultural space: Malik Mazlan, a Malay who practices Chinese calligraphy; Govin Tan, a Chinese who has dedicated himself to Indian percussion instruments including the tabla; Evan Eng Yu Fan, another Chinese who has made a serious hobby of Javanese dance and gamelan music; and Amritha Devaraj, an Indian trained in Carnatic Music, who has crossed over into the world of Xinyao — a genre of Mandarin songs originating from Singapore.

TM-EST-Thaipusam
25 Nov 2023

Singapore Sikhs

 
It is one of the world’s youngest major religions, dating back to the late 15th century. Yet, the 25 million adherents of Sikhism are distinctly visible worldwide, including the 12,000 to 15,000 in Singapore.

The Sikh, meaning a ‘disciple’ or ‘learner’, is committed to the core tenets of Sikhism, which is a way of life that uniquely weaves together art, culture and faith. This amalgamation is deeply influenced by the principles of equality, social justice, service to humanity and tolerance for other religions.

Poster
18 Mar 2023

Singapore Malayalees

CSTC, NLB and some Malayalee community organisations collaborated to provide a special introduction to the Singapore Malayalee community – a rich and diverse sub-ethnic group among Singapore Indians. Our audience got a glimpse of Malayalee cultural practices, artefacts, dance, music and, of course, a taste of their unique cuisine! 

There are two videos of the programme.  The first part contains the introductory talk by Dr Anitha Devi Pillai, the principal curator of this programme, and cultural exhibits and a multi-generation traditional dance. See https://youyu.be/ophQwUgQmBy

The second part features the discussion among the panellists and with participants. See https://youtu.be/tue-_47Q8LM 

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13 Aug 2022

Ramayana Retold in Chinese

The great Indian epic Ramayana has crossed many oceans to make an impact and leave an imprint on many cultures beyond India. In this English video presentation, Dr Chua Soo Pong shares some fascinating insights into his own efforts to retell the Ramayana story  in Chinese, in different performance modes.  Dr Chua is a doyenne of the Chinese opera world in Singapore. His retold Ramayana is a compelling  guide to crossing  boundaries across cultures. 

23 Jul 2022

Kamban: One of World’s Great Poets

The literary wealth in the Tamil language is immeasurable. One of the greatest Tamil epics is Kamba Ramayanam! One of the greatest Tamil poets is Kambar. Prof George Hart is an exemplary scholar of both Tamil and Sanskrit. He has written extensively on premodern Tamil, its relationship to classical Sanskrit, and South Indian religion and culture. In this talk, Prof Hart spoke and discussed why Kamban is considered one of the world’s greatest poets.

Poster
14 May 2022

Building Bridges: Translating Chinese Literary Masterpieces into Tamil Malay Publishing Houses

Translating between two of the oldest languages in the world is a big challenge. Translating creative works is even more so. This talk in English will reveal the actual experiences of someone who translated the oldest Chinese classic and a Chinese Nobel Laureate’s novel into Tamil

Poster
16 April 2022

Dravidian and Indus Valley Script By Professor Asko Parpola

Tamil is considered by many scholars to be the oldest spoken language in the world and is believed to have its roots in the Indus valley civilization.  The Indus Valley scripts were discovered in 1921 and even after 100 years they have yet to be deciphered conclusively unlike Middle Eastern scripts like Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, etc.

Poster
26 March 2022

Interior Landscapes, Intercultural Explorations: Curiosity, Openness, Pleasure

The speaker says: “This dialogue is inspired by A.K. Ramanujan’s The Interior Landscape: Classical Tamil Love Poems and by the work of the Intercultural Theatre Institute and the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture

Poster
26 February 2022

Munshi Abdullah: The Making of a New Man in the Malay World

Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796-1854) was a leading intellectual of his time whose legacy and contributions are still remembered and recognised today. Though Melaka-born, it was in Singapore that his illustrious career bloomed

Image
About CSTC

The Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture

CSTC is a modest, but hopefully, effective, response to this challenge. For now, it is only focused on Tamil-Singaporeans and their culture because the founding group doesn’t have the means to address other ethnic groups and identities. If the CSTC survives and flourishes, then we will consider expanding our efforts to include the larger cultural canvas.

LATEST
ANNOUNCEMENTS

13 Aug 2022

Ramayana Retold in Chinese

The great Indian epic Ramayana has crossed many oceans to make an impact and leave an imprint on many cultures beyond India. In this English video presentation, Dr Chua Soo Pong shares some fascinating insights into his own efforts to retell the Ramayana story  in Chinese, in different performance modes.  Dr Chua is a doyenne of the Chinese opera world in Singapore. His retold Ramayana is a compelling  guide to crossing  boundaries across cultures. 

23 Jul 2022

Kamban: One of World’s Great Poets

The literary wealth in the Tamil language is immeasurable. One of the greatest Tamil epics is Kamba Ramayanam! One of the greatest Tamil poets is Kambar. Prof George Hart is an exemplary scholar of both Tamil and Sanskrit. He has written extensively on premodern Tamil, its relationship to classical Sanskrit, and South Indian religion and culture. In this talk, Prof Hart spoke and discussed why Kamban is considered one of the world’s greatest poets.

Poster
14 May 2022

Building Bridges: Translating Chinese Literary Masterpieces into Tamil

Translating between two of the oldest languages in the world is a big challenge. Translating creative works is even more so. This talk in English will reveal the actual experiences of someone who translated the oldest Chinese classic and a Chinese Nobel Laureate’s novel into Tamil

Poster
16 April 2022

Dravidian and Indus Valley Script By Professor Asko Parpola

Tamil is considered by many scholars to be the oldest spoken language in the world and is believed to have its roots in the Indus valley civilization.  The Indus Valley scripts were discovered in 1921 and even after 100 years they have yet to be deciphered conclusively unlike Middle Eastern scripts like Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, etc.

Poster
26 March 2022

Interior Landscapes, Intercultural Explorations: Curiosity, Openness, Pleasure

The speaker says: “This dialogue is inspired by A.K. Ramanujan’s The Interior Landscape: Classical Tamil Love Poems and by the work of the Intercultural Theatre Institute and the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture

Poster
26 February 2022

Munshi Abdullah: The Making of a New Man in the Malay World

Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796-1854) was a leading intellectual of his time whose legacy and contributions are still remembered and recognised today. Though Melaka-born, it was in Singapore that his illustrious career bloomed

Image
About CSTC

The Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture

CSTC is a modest, but hopefully, effective, response to this challenge. For now, it is only focused on Tamil-Singaporeans and their culture because the founding group doesn’t have the means to address other ethnic groups and identities. If the CSTC survives and flourishes…

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Our events aim to deepen understanding of Singapore cultures and help cross boundaries. 

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Our events aim to deepen the learning about Tamil culture as well as develop an appreciation of other cultures

Connecting with community

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Our events aim to deepen the learning about Tamil culture as well as develop an appreciation of other cultures

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Our projects focus on preserving Tamil language and culture while educating the community of its various aspects

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Our projects focus on preserving Tamil language and culture while educating the community of its various aspects

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Our projects focus on building knowledge of Singapore cultures and providing interesting insights.

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photos, videos, interviews, speeches

Media

Here you will find digital records and publicity materials, capturing our events and activities

photos, videos, interviews, speeches

Media

Here you will find digital records and publicity materials, capturing our events and activities

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eight directions

About the Logo

The logo is made up of eight arrows and three primary colours. The big and small arrows depict the  “eight directions,” which in Tamil connotes all directions, from which Tamil culture has been influenced in big and small ways. Tamil culture is a distillation of such multidirectional influences. Likewise, Tamil culture has influenced others in many directions. The arrows are arranged with gaps in between to indicate the open and dynamic nature of Tamil culture, instead of being fossilised in a closed, exclusive environment. Just as the three primary colours of Red, Green and Blue, when combined, create a multitude of other colours, so are the numerous cultural manifestations based on a few fundamental values of the culture. 

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eight directions

About the Logo

The logo is made up of eight arrows and three primary colours. The big and small arrows depict the  “eight directions,” which in Tamil connotes all directions, from which Tamil culture has been influenced in big and small ways. Tamil culture is a distillation of such multidirectional influences. Likewise, Tamil culture has influenced others in many directions. The arrows are arranged with gaps in between to indicate the open and dynamic nature of Tamil culture, instead of being fossilised in a closed, exclusive environment. Just as the three primary colours of Red, Green and Blue, when combined, create a multitude of other colours, so are the numerous cultural manifestations based on a few fundamental values of the culture. 

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Our documentation captures digital records and media coverage of our events and activities.

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From All, To All

About the Logo

The logo is made up of eight arrows and three primary colours. The big and small arrows depict the “eight directions,” from which all cultures have been influenced in big and small ways. Culture is a distillation of such multidirectional influences. Likewise, each culture has influenced others in many directions. The arrows are arranged with gaps in between to indicate the open and dynamic nature of culture, instead of being fossilised in a closed, exclusive environment. Just as the three primary colours of Red, Green and Blue, when combined, create a multitude of other colours, so are the numerous cultural manifestations based on a few fundamental values of the culture.