Singapore’s very foundation as a nation is deeply intertwined with its maritime identity, shaped by its strategic location at the crossroads of major sea trade routes. Today, it has grown into a modern bustling port from the sleepy fishing village the British came and claimed as a colony some 200 years ago. However, while our journey of economic progress is often envied by others, our record on retaining our culture and heritage has been wanting.
In Asia’s relentless march towards economic prosperity and its bid to catch up with the developing world, many fundamental values important for evolution of the human condition and wellbeing are often cast by the wayside. This includes (amongst others) the arts, preservation of natural capital (the world’s stock of natural assets, which makes life possible), culture, and heritage.
Asian parents—pushier than their western counterparts—besiege their children to eschew the liberal arts and social sciences in favour of the hard sciences. Their exclusion from the gross domestic product (GDP) in measuring economic development is a serious shortcoming. In this article, my focus is on just one small part of this broad spectrum of fundamental values: Our nation’s afore-mentioned maritime heritage. It is a subject I am familiar with, given my background in maritime space.
The ideology and relevance of heritage in the search and articulation of identity is not new. The noted 18th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was quoted to have said “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. In the case of Singapore, it explains the genesis of our multicultural past and forms the cornerstone of a multiracial identity, which engenders social responsibility, inclusiveness and a common sense of place. Weaving our maritime heritage into other cultural and economic aspects of our society enables us to resonate with our past and gives us a compass for moving forward as a community.
One would have expected that with maritime trade so firmly entrenched in Singapore’s economic lifeblood from ancient times until today—Singapore remains the world’s busiest port when measured by shipping tonnage—that some sense of maritime or seafaring ethos would become embedded into our cultural DNA. Sadly, this is not the case. While the body of knowledge and public policy involving heritage and conservation on terra firma is generally healthy, thanks to agencies such as the Singapore National Heritage Board, the state of its maritime cultural landscape is in desperate need of a makeover.
Our maritime heritage warrants effective management at a national level. Industry laments young people aren’t interested in coming into the maritime workforce which is in dire need of manpower. To be sure, this isn’t the kind of cushy industry typical Singaporeans yearn to be in, but the lack of strategic overview and public policy surrounding the maritime cultural landscape certainly does not help. This lack of a maritime identity in the Singaporean cultural psyche is a stumbling block to its stated goal of becoming an international maritime centre.
Witness the other end of the spectrum, where Scandinavians (Norwegians and Danes in particular) have a clearly engendered maritime cultural identity rooted in their Viking past, which they proudly articulate. That these great seafaring nations can maintain a dominant position in global shipping up to today is due in no small measure to the link with their maritime cultural heritage.
Singapore’s predicament of getting young people into the maritime workforce can be neatly summarised in the following quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea”.
In developing markets, early adopters to boating are typically the well-heeled. It’s no wonder then that in these countries, boating is promoted as a luxurious and exclusive lifestyle for the wealthy. The promotion of boating as an elitist activity is a worldwide phenomenon, but developing countries take it to the extreme.
There are many examples. One close to my home is Thailand, where boat tax was introduced soon after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis (although the tax has since been repealed). Another is China, where a luxury tax has been introduced and is still in place. When capitalism replaced egalitarianism in China, it unleashed a pent-up demand for those who could afford it, to stand out from the crowd. Boats were sold as trophies for their owners to show that they were the alpha players in the new social order. This conspicuous display of ostentatious wealth highlighted the wealth gap and was clearly unacceptable to the government.
Even World Sailing acknowledges the dangers that elitism poses. It started life as the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU). Changing with the times, it rebranded itself as the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in 1996. Then, in 2005, it had another makeover and re-morphed as World Sailing. With each transformation, the association had repositioned itself to be more inclusive to represent the broader base of sailing rather than just the elite sports aspect. In doing so, it acknowledged that if the broad public appeal and participative base in sailing diminishes, sailing as an Olympic sport could eventually be side-lined in favour of other competing sports gaining popularity.
The issue—the perception that boating benefits only the few—is prevalent not only in new markets. In developed countries, where the waterfront is invariably a scarce resource with multiple stakeholders, marinas often have taken on the perception of being exclusive, limiting public access to the waterfront.
To be sustainable and to engage government effectively, boating needs to be branded as an affordable healthy outdoor activity for all.
To promote industry outreach and engage government, the industry needs to get organised. It takes collective effort to organise a voice for industry, which governments take seriously. Individual companies battling alone are a lost voice in the wilderness. There is a need for marine industry associations that can offer representation—in Asia, few countries, other than Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand, have such associations.
Singapore is a full ICOMIA (International Council of Marine Industry Associations) member with Arthur Tay, Chairman and CEO of SUTL Enterprise—developer, operator and consultant of integrated marinas all over the world under the ONE°15 Marina brand—as a Board Member.
Formed in 1966, ICOMIA is an international non-profit membership organisation serving the recreational boating industry. It brings together in one global organisation all the national boating federations and other bodies involved in the recreational marine industry—to represent them at the international level as a voice of the recreational marine industry worldwide.
Topmost on ICOMIA’s list is promoting recreational boating as being fun and available for all, and the concept of it being in harmony with a clean and attractive marine environment, with environmental stewardship as part of its core values.
While accessibility is key to altering the aura of exclusivity surrounding recreational yachting, promoting environmental stewardship is an important first step. When framed as a vehicle for informed investment, thoughtful events and festivals can help showcase yachting as a model for sustainable innovation. These deliver the experience of a yachting lifestyle for discerning consumers while serving as platforms to inspire and engage a wider audience to develop a sense of shared ownership over the marine environment.
As recreational sailing gains popularity in Singapore, it has the potential to foster a deeper connection with the marine environment among the local community.
The original article was published on the March/ April 25 issue of Longitude, ONE°15 Marina’s Club magazine. Read it here.
