Jean Wee

Ms Jean Wee has worked in the arts and heritage sector for over 20 years. Prior to heading up the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (PSM) division of the National Heritage Board, she was a curator at the Singapore Art Museum. She has been involved in shaping preservation policies as well as defining and driving the role of the PSM, as guided by the Preservation of Monuments Act, to ensure that Singapore’s built architectural heritage is protected and restored. 

Ms Wee has played a key role in Singapore’s efforts to gazette The Singapore Botanic Gardens as an inaugural UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, and represents Singapore at UNESCO World Heritage Committee meetings and associated fields of work. She is also Singapore’s National Focal Point for UNESCO. 

Apart from her core work, Ms Wee has served on the jury of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Architectural Heritage Awards and was also a governing board member of SEAMEO - Project in Archaeology in Fine Arts (SPAFA) from 2013-2020. She has edited and authored publications including Decoration & Symbolism in Chinese Architecture (2013) and Connections: History and Architecture, City Hall and Supreme Court (2016), and supervising an in-house technical guide for monument owners. 

Monument-related exhibitions Ms Wee has curated include The Istana Heritage Gallery, heritage corners at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, Raffles Hotel and 200 years of Healthcare at the Bowyer Block. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Singapore, having majored in double English and anthropology. 

Presentation Synopsis
HM 7 - A Global Heritage Accolade for Singapore
To date, 75 national monuments gazetted by the State, testify to Singapore’s modest beginnings, diversity and development. These include places of worship established by overseas immigrants who settled on our shores, stately civic structures that reflect the colonial phase in Singapore as well as the emergent young nation in its early decades. The effort to preserve our built heritage was motivated by the vision that whilst a new Singapore was being built, the old Singapore should not entirely disappear. Approaching Singapore’s 50th Year in 2015, there was an impetus to go beyond these efforts and commemorate the milestone with a prestigious global accolade - A UNESCO World Heritage Site listing. This talk shares the journey to Singapore’s inaugural inscription and some considerations and reflections along the way.

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