The honour is bestowed on recipients who have significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance
It is not every day that we have Singaporeans receiving prestigious awards or accolades from overseas. So when they do, it is certainly a cause for celebration.
Just recently, Singapore had an occasion to celebrate when the French Government bestowed Kennie Ting, a homegrown writer and the director of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) with the prestigious conferment of the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for his outstanding contributions to strengthening the cultural ties between both France and Singapore.
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The distinguished award has three tiers, namely, Chevalier, Officier and Commandeur. Ting was honoured with the French Chevalier Award.
The award was established in 1957 by the French Minister for Culture and is meant to recognise significant contributions to the arts and literature. To be awarded, recipients, who can be both French or otherwise, need to have significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance.
Some notable recipients of this award have been people such as filmmaker Guneet Monga, singers Elton John, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder as well as poet T.S. Eliot.
For Ting, the honour was bestowed on him for the way he brought French and Singaporean culture closer together with his work at ACM.
“Under his leadership, the museum has expanded its scope to explore important links and connections within and beyond Asia. France is looking forward to further cooperation with Singapore in forefront cultural areas such as digital innovation and creative industries thanks to the agreement inked by our Ministries of Culture,” said Marc Abensour, the Ambassador of France to Singapore in a statement on the Embassy’s website.
In particular, a 2018 exhibition called Angkor: Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City which was presented at the 2018 edition of the Voilah France Singapore Festival in partnership with the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts in Paris was highlighted.
The exhibition was one that inspired the second cultural agreement that was signed in November 2019 between France and Singapore’s Ministers of Culture. The agreement focuses on co-creations, co-curations and co-productions between institutions, artists and practitioners between the two countries.
In honour of one of Singapore’s own receiving this prestigious honour, Tatler sat down with Ting to find out what he feels about winning as well as to talk about his work at the museum and how Covid-19 has reshaped it.
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How do you feel about receiving the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres? What was your reaction?
Kennie Ting (KT): My first reaction when I received the formal letter from the French Embassy in Singapore was a wide-eyed surprise and a wee bit of confusion. I had been so focused on work, and on adjusting to the new normal these past two years that I wasn’t expecting news like this at all.
I never dreamed that I would receive such an honour. It seems like such a big honour for me. I feel such immense gratitude to His Excellency, Ambassador Marc Abensour, in particular, and his colleagues at the French Embassy who have been strong supporters of ACM. I’m deeply humbled though I have to admit I’m still getting over the shock.