Are you a Heritage Entrepreneur? Hi2P is here for you!

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If you’ve always wanted to start a museum, showcase your collections, or even publish that book that’s been in your head for ages but just don’t have the money to get started, maybe it’s time you got “hip”.

On Monday (Sep 29), National Heritage Board announced the launch of Hi2P, which stands for Heritage Industry Incentive Programme. Pronounced as “hip”, this programme hopes to attract and encourage new and innovative heritage-inspired products and services with seed funding of $8 million over the next five years.

RAdm(NS) Lui Tuck Yew launching Hi2P

I was at the launch of Hi2P at the National Museum of Singapore and gained interesting insights of the business of heritage from the many participants and ideas showcase.

Panel Discussion on the Hi2P experience

Let me share some examples of heritage-inspired products and services that received seed funding during the pilot stage of Hi2P.

This series of children’s books is one of the projects funded with the Hi2P funds. They vividly illustrate the lifestyle and culture of Peranakans in Singapore. During the sharing session by the author, Adeline Foo, even I was attracted to the stories and was curious to learn more about the Peranakans through the eyes of Puteh, the little girl in the stories. And I ended up buying one copy of each book from their booth!

Set-up at Ideas Marketplace

I love the way Adeline has crafted the stories accompanied by colours of the beautiful illustrations by Lee Kowling! I’m definitely going to share these books with kids that visit my home.
Another Hi2P project funding was for the development of two new heritage tours commonly referred to as Pub Walks. Yes! And I mean Pub - the place you go to drink and unwind! Caught your attention already? If you’ve not heard of the Pub Walks, well, it’s because they’ve only just been launched.

These two routes are the Boat Quay Pub Walk and the Clarke Quay Pub Walk. These walks incorporate visits to a museum, colourful descriptions of surrounding historic landmarks and visits to pubs! And when you’re there, of course you’ll also be able to get a taste of the drinks served.

If you would like to find out more about the walks, you can find them here.

The last project I’m going to share is one of those which attracted my attention. VeeV TV, which will launch sometime in 2009, will have a dedicated Heritage Channel using IPTV technology. Subscribers of VeeV TV will not only be able to enjoy their pick of entertainment and news from their range of programmes on offer, but they can also learn more about Singapore’s past on the Heritage Channel. Hi2P is supporting the production of a special 10-episode series centered on Singapore’s pioneer artists such as Liu Kang and Georgette Chen.

The user interface they had on the cool HP Touchsmart PC was very interactive and pretty well constructed. But I was told the real thing will be even better! I’m looking forward to the launch.

So… is your mind flooded with many innovative and creative ideas that’s heritage-inspired? Take advantage of Hi2P and make your dreams come alive! Hi2P supports up to 50% or $100,000 (whichever is lower) of development costs for private heritage and museum projects. You can find out more on the website here.

Sharing few more shots I got during the event…

A heritage-inspired boardgame for the kids by Monsters Under The Bed

Mint museum of toys at the Ideas Marketplace

She holds the key to a Singapore Children’s Museum!
Plans are in the pipeline. I’m super excited about it!

The crowd inside Ideas Marketplace

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