“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

Those were the wise words of our favourite superhero Superman, the late Christopher Reeves.

Thousands of people were seen at the annual Singapore Heritage Fest at Suntec City Tropics Atrium held during 12-27 July 2008, with ‘Heroes’ being the theme for this year. This year’s event is organized by the National Heritage Board and partners.

Heroes can be ranging from the people who have made Singapore a vibrant country on her own, to the people you met everyday who personally has touched your lives.

The official opening ceremony was done at Causeway Point on the 12 and 13 of July, Tribute was paid to three performing heroes of our grandparent’ era; Joanna Wong, Som Said and Santha Bhaskar.

Exhibitions showing the olden days of Singapore were all around the Atrium, ranging from artifacts to large-sized posters of comics. Various important people who made Singapore proud were also featured in posters like football legend, Fandi Ahmad to let visitors learn more about the qualities they possess.

Everything being exhibited here brings visitors down to memory lane, where Singapore was still in the developing process.

Janet, a housewife in her fifties, was glad she came with her son, who informed her about this event.

“This is a great opportunity for me and also the others to remember their childhood days. Television sets were different those years, I remembered enjoying watching variety shows in black and white!”

When asked about her hero, she said that Lee Kuan Yew should be the ultimate Singapore’s hero, because without his guidance, Singapore would not be what it is today.

Another visitor, Aidil, thought that such events should be held more frequently.

“I prefer to watch various cultural performances from different ethnic groups, rather than having artists from overseas to come over for road shows. What do we benefit from that? Might as well we expand our knowledge about the Singapore culture.”

One cultural performance Aidil was talking about was the “War Drums”, originally from Taiwan, performed by the Wenyang Lion Dance Troupe.

The leader of the troupe, Carey, was satisfied with the amount of audience that came down to Suntec City for this event.

“This allows more people to acknowledge and enjoy the performance that we have shown.”

It took the troupe approximately a month to train for this particular event. The high-speed drumming definitely got the audience engrossed and their adrenaline pumped up to the whole performance.

Other activities held includes ‘Fun on Foot’, which is a heritage marathon for contenders to discover more about their heroes thorough a marathon, and also ‘Vintage Car Grand Prix & Concours’, an exhibition and also a demonstration to check out the racers’ skills as they maneuver their way down Connaught Drive.

It is good to remember our ancestors who founded and developed Singapore into a vibrant country full of harmony. With that, always ask yourself, who is our real hero?