At the seminar, apart from Brunei, folk cultural exchange representatives from 9 other ASEAN countries all made active speeches. They talked about the current situation and general overview of the development of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in their respective countries, as well as the pressing issues that need to be resolved.
Lai Suschun from Singapore's Oral History Centre raised a new topic in ICH inheritance and preservation: "Can intangible cultural heritage be restored?" This restoration refers to how to recreate folk arts from over a hundred or even hundreds of years ago when there are no more inheritors. Lai mentioned that Singapore is leading the way in this area; protection and inheritance do not come easily, and require prior collection of materials. They have designed restoration rooms for video documentation, turning oral histories into written archives, using these materials as a basis to restore original cultures. For example, the unique Singapore street theatre, which was recently on the verge of disappearing, had all its related materials collected in the 1980s. By January this year, a group of young students interested in reconstructing and presenting Singapore street theatre came to the archives to understand and perform restorative shows. This is a new form. Therefore, even if there may be a break in the continuity of Singaporean theatrical performances, young people can refer to the archives to reproduce past local performances and re-present former art forms.
Regarding oral history, Lai Suschun also mentioned, "We have strong ties with Yunnan. Since 2009, we have collaborated, providing training here, while people from Yunnan have interned in Singapore. There will be another batch going this year as well. We use and learn oral history methods to rescue the ethnic minority cultures of Yunnan because many ethnic minorities in Yunnan do not have written scripts and rely solely on oral transmission."
ASEAN countries actively apply for World Heritage status
Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and other ASEAN countries are nations rich in intangible culture. In terms of protection and inheritance, they have all discussed the current state of ICH development and protection in their respective countries. A common feature is that much of their intangible cultural heritage is related to agrarian culture, such as traditional songs and dances. The governments highly support the inheritance and protection of ICH and are actively applying to join the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. "Cambodian Royal Ballet and Shadow Puppet Art" has been actively applying for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status, and Thailand has also submitted applications to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Thailand recognizes the importance of international-level ICH protection and has held a series of international forums.
Since 2008, Thailand has enacted the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Regulations," with over 80 projects listed as part of the country's intangible cultural heritage. The Thai Ministry of Culture believes that actions like "finger snapping," costumes, and pre-performance rituals to honor the dance deity in traditional Thai dances possess distinctive "Thai-style" characteristics and can independently and formally apply for World Heritage status.