Singapore
First Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils: A Living Record of The Community’s Rich History and Heritage: President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on August 2nd launched the Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils (EST), a first-of-its-kind online resource documenting the life, contributions and times of the Tamil community in Singapore over the past 200 years. A collaboration between the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) and NLB, the EST is available in both English and Tamil, making the resource more accessible and discoverable to the wider community, including educators, researchers, and members of the public. President Tharman was hosted by Minister for Digital Development and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo, at the launch, where they were joined by the editors of the EST, along with about 600 guests, including partners and volunteers.
Published in conjunction with SG60 and NLB’s 30th anniversary, the EST contains more than 350 entries that cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to historical events, arts, community organisations, journalism, education, politics, and personalities. It places special emphasis on lesser-known aspects such as Tamil organisations and publications. A dedicated team of CSTC volunteers, comprising working professionals, retired educators, freelance writers, and more, collaborated with NLB on this milestone project. NLB provided technical expertise in areas such as cataloguing, image curation, and quality checks, among others.
The EST is a significant addition to NLB’s existing Tamil resources and materials. It complements the material collected through the Tamil Digital Heritage Project, another successful collaboration with CSTC which concluded in 2019. This project digitally preserved meaningful aspects of Singapore’s Tamil cultural heritage, including theatrical performances, musical traditions, and dance forms. The EST also builds upon Tamil Cholai, our Tamil literary collection launched in 2022, comprising over 20,000 works including classical texts, award-winning titles, and significant works by Singaporean authors. While most of the items are in Tamil, there are also about 1,000 specially-curated works in English, Chinese and Malay so that anyone keen to learn more about Indian arts, culture and traditions can access the material.
As a collaborative, community-driven project, CSTC and NLB have designed the EST to be a living document, allowing for continuous updates and new entries to ensure relevance and accuracy. Members of the public are invited to contribute to the EST. Additional information or corrections can be submitted via a feedback form for editorial review and possible inclusion. Explore the EST here: http://go.gov.sg/nlb-est.
Following the launch, a roving exhibition will tour four venues across Singapore from August 2025 to February 2026, showcasing key aspects of Singapore’s Tamil heritage through interactive panels and displays. Presented in both English and Tamil, the exhibition will include facts that may be lesser-known to the wider community about Tamil publishing, postage stamps, schools, as well as signages. More information can be found in the Annex.
The exhibition schedule is as follows:
- 3 to 31 August 2025: National Library Building, Exhibition Space, Level 7
- 1 September to 16 November 2025: Woodlands Regional Library, Exhibition Space, Level 2
- 18 November 2025 to 4 January 2026: Indian Heritage Centre
- 5 January to 28 February 2026: Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre
NLB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong said: “The EST is designed as a dynamic, living document that will continue to evolve and be updated through careful curation, so that it remains relevant and meaningful to all. We are grateful to CSTC and their community volunteers whose invaluable contributions have enriched not just this project but also our broader Tamil resources. As NLB looks ahead, we hope to forge more such community partnerships, so that our collective stories of Singapore remain accessible and continue to be a source of inspiration for future generations.”
EST’s Chief Editor and CSTC’s Chief Executive, Mr Arun Mahizhnan, said: “The EST marks a strong beginning in addressing the longstanding lack of a comprehensive historical record of the Singapore Tamil community, and ensures accessibility to a broad audience, both at home and abroad. Besides preserving our history, it can also inspire younger generations to appreciate and connect with their heritage.”
NLB is also collaborating with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Malay Studies to showcase inspiring stories of Singapore’s Malay community leaders and changemakers through a new online database called, Prominent Malays of Singapore. This will be launched in October 2025 and more details will be shared in due course.
