Spotlight Singapore Delhi (2019)
Vietnam 2023
Mexico City 2015
Bratislava and Prague 2012
Cape Town 2011
Moscow 2008
Tokyo 2006
Hong Kong 2006
Spotlight Singapore in Delhi 2019
Business with a Cultural Handshake
A 50-year-old friendship
25 years of dialogue relations
A 5-day programme for the future
The 7th edition of Spotlight saw a delegation of 42 businessmen, artists and students from Singapore embarking on a five-day exchange to the capital of India, Delhi. Through a curated series of cultural tours, industry visits, networking sessions and feasts, the trip served as a glimpse to the Indian way of life. Some highlights of the cultural tours included a visit to the Gandhi Smriti, a museum devoted to documenting the humble and noble life of leader of India’s non-violent 1930 independence movement against British rule, Mahatma Gandhi, a romantic rickshaw ride through Old Delhi’s buzzling market, Chandni Chowk and an awe-inspiring visit to the 7th Wonder of the World, the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.
We had the chance to meet with Delhi-based entrepreneurs, creatives and artists through the networking session at the Opening Ceremony of Spotlight Singapore in Delhi which was graced by Shri Arun Goel, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture in India, H.E. Mr Lim Thuan Kuan, High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore to India, Mr Imnatiba, Minister of Nagaland and we hosted close to 130 delegates from both countries. The programme included speeches, rousing collaborative music performance between Singapore (Tan Qing Lun on the Chinese flute, Riduan Zalani on the Malay percussion and Lee Ein Ein on the keyboard) and Indian musicians (Pt Sunil Saxena on the sitar and Mohit Raj on the tabla) to an inspiring panel discussion on ‘Bridging Borders and Building Communities in a 21st Singapore-India Relationship’ with Ms Anita Kuan, Deputy Principal of Temasek Polytechnic and Ms Ann Teo, Landscape Artist from Singapore and well-known hotelier Mr Maneesh Baheti and Mr Sabyasachi Dutta, founder of Asian Confluence from India.
Furthermore, the industry visits were insightful in providing us a glimpse into Indian businesses and the arts industry. Delegates particularly appreciated the visit to India Habitat Centre, an agency that aims to raise awareness of environmental issues, for its state-of-the-art infrastructure, non-profit contemporary arts organisation KHOJ Studios based in urban village Khirki for its advocacy of providing safe spaces for artists and migrant and refugee communities to make art, revolutionary F&B concept Circus for its food and innovative dining ideas, bespoke fashion designer Raghavendra Rathore, and a visit to sustainability social enterprise, Development Alternatives Group for its work in the field of sustainability and empowerment of the community.
We left Delhi very much inspired by the determination and single-mindedness of our counterparts in the cultureal of the city to achieve their mission. The 2019 Spotlight Singapore programme was truly a humbling experience to learn more and imagine a closer Singapore-India friendship through culture and business.