Launch of the Tamil Heritage Collection

You can now easily access archives of 50 years of local Tamil literature - ranging from published novels to poems to short stories - in public libraries and on NLB's BooksSGportal!

In commemoration of SG50, a collection of 350 Tamil literary works of Singapore from 1965 to 2015 has been digitised as the Indian community’s gift to the nation. This unprecedented ground-up initiative led by the Tamil Digital Heritage Group in partnership with the National Library Board (NLB) has come to fruition following the launch of this project in 2013. This effort is also supported by the National Heritage Board (NHB), the National Arts Council (NAC), the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS), as well as the Tamil writers.

On 22 August 2015, the Tamil Digital Heritage Collection was launched at the National Library Building, and the occasion was graced by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister S Iswaran. The 600 seat Drama Centre was filled to the brim with distinguished members of the Tamil literary community.

The launch of the Collection was the culmination of many months of work, led by the indefatiguable Mr Arun Mahiznan. Many Tamil authors contributed their works to the collection for posterity and for the benefit of Tamil language students and readers. 

Download the Media Release here.
View photos here.

More information on the Tamil Digital Heritage Collection can also be found here.

DPM Tharman launched the Collection by inserting the quill (modified with a USB pen-drive) into the USB port on the podium.




There were also several performances of music, dance, acting, and book readings, which added to the festivities.


Mr R Ramachandran, Executive Director of NBDCS, with Ms Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer, National Library Board.