As the carols along Orchard Road ring loud and Serangoon Road prepares to light up for Pongal, we find ourselves at the close of an exciting year that felt like a decade’s worth of history packed into 12 months. It wasn’t just another year around the Sun for us, it was a year when our past, present, and political future collided in the most public of ways.
We began the year with SG60, a milestone that prompted us to ask: Where does the Singapore Indian community fit in the Diamond Jubilee? Perhaps the answer was found at the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC), which celebrated its 10th anniversary in November.
Walking through the IHC’s galleries this year, seeing the 60 newly rotated artifacts – from WWII registration cards to heirloom mehendi applicators – reminded us that the “Singapore Story” is written in ink, but also in turmeric and spice.
As Prime Minister Lawrence Wong noted at the IHC gala, our diversity isn’t just a “feature”; it is our greatest source of resilience. Like the Indian community, the city-state is a tapestry woven from many threads – multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural, he highlighted.
The declassification of the “Albatross File” this December – and the accompanying exhibition at the National Library – gave us a raw, “real-time” look at the anxieties of our founding fathers. It showed us that independence wasn’t just a sudden, tearful accident; it was a hard-fought, negotiated survival strategy. For the Indian community, whose pioneers navigated those tumultuous 1960s, these files are a reminder that our place in Singapore was earned through grit and strategic foresight.
The year was defined as much by the ballot box as by heritage. GE2025 in May served as a significant test of the 4G leadership. For the Indian community, the election wasn’t just about party lines; it was about representation. With a record number of new faces and a focus on the “Forward Singapore” social compact, we saw a community deeply engaged in debates over the cost of living and job security.
Backing convictions with commitment, was the formation of a new high-level committee to steer the Indian community forward for the next five years, chaired by Senior Minister of State Murali Pillai and Minister of State Dinesh Vasu Dash. Already starting its intensive focus group sessions with various socio-cultural organisations, the committee is now focusing on issues like recidivism, social mobility, and organisational succession. This committee ensures that our community’s progress is not just visible, but deeply structural, and inclusive of every voice, from the heartlands to the high-rises.
Now, as we hit the pause button for Christmas, the theme of “giving back” takes on a deeper meaning. Whether you are visiting the IHC or The Albatross File Exhibition, volunteering for an SG60 initiative, or participating in community outreach work, 2025 proved that our Singaporean community is the steady heartbeat of this 60-year-old nation.
We are no longer just pioneers or newcomers – we are the architects of the next 60 years.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers!
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4 Dec 2025 13:56
