Singapore is currently celebrating this year’s Tamil Language Festival (TLF). The TLF this year will be celebrated from the 1st April to 30th April. The official launch of the TLF 2023 took place at The Theatre, Mediacorp at 9pm on Saturday, 1 April 2023, and was broadcasted “live” on Vasantham and meWATCH.
The Tamil Language Council (TLC) is pleased to present ‘Azhagu’ (Beauty), as its new theme for the Tamil Language Festival (TLF) 2023. The theme was finalised after a public poll determined the community’s theme preference for TLF 2023. After presenting virtual festivals for the past three editions since 2020, this year’s TLF will be organised with most programmes presented in-person in physical format, as Singapore exits the acute phase of the pandemic.
All programmes delivered in conjunction with the festival will be based on ‘Azhagu’, so that the TLC can harness the collective effort of all partners, to highlight the richness, magnificence, and beauty of the Tamil language, for all to appreciate and enjoy.
To represent ‘Azhagu’, this year’s key visual features a peacock feather as a symbol of beauty and grace. The feathered quill illustrates the skyline of Singapore in a continuous line drawing, creatively depicting a community engaged in reading and conversation. The visual also conveys the TLF as a nationwide movement to promote the Tamil language.
“The Tamil Language Council places great importance in engaging the especially the young in the community, to speak and use the Tamil language. To better calibrate its promotional efforts, the TLC has taken deliberate effort to reach out and engage the Tamil speaking public in Singapore,” says Mr S Manogaran, Chairman of the TLC.
He adds, “We thank members of the public for their enthusiastic response towards voting for their preferred theme and mascot design, and we hope that everyone will continue to support the TLC as we work hard to roll-out relevant initiatives to support the community’s appreciation of our Tamil language. Transitioning from last year’s theme of ‘Innovation’, we look forward to the creativity by our programme partners as they deliver a full calendar of programmes based on ‘Azhagu’.”
Tamil Language Festival 2023
This year’s TLF will feature 42 programmes by 43 partners, as the community comes together to present a variety of literary, oratorical, arts and cultural programmes. These programmes will encourage everyone to “Love Tamil, Speak Tamil”, embrace their mother tongue, and use the language in their daily lives.
The TLF continues to be supported by new partners, who deliver programmes to suit different interests and segments in the community.
Tamil Murasu will be conducting a one-day translation workshop and newsroom tour for tertiary students, where participants can develop their translation skills, and also gain insights to how the translation is applied in news presentations.
VK Arts will be presenting a dance performance titled Samnidhi – From the
times of the Kurunthogai. The presentation integrates olden day and modern day music compositions to portray love, friendship and culture, as it brings out the meaning and beauty of the poems in Kurunthogai, which was based on the lifestyle of the people who lived in the Sangam period (Golden era).
Geylang Serai IAEC will present Pattimandram, also known as “Tamil Debate”. This debate promises a showdown of oratorical skills and wit, infused with elements of humour. The speakers will be pit against each other in the different rounds, as they discuss topics and content related to Singapore and our local culture.
For full details on all TLF 2023 programmes, visit the TLC’s Facebook page at facebook.com/tamillanguagecouncilsinsingapore or follow the TLC’s Instagram handle @TamilLangFestival or check out the website at www.tamil.org.sg.
TLF Mascot Design Competition
In an effort to promote the TLF and the use of Tamil in Singapore, especially among the younger generation, the TLC organised a mascot design competition in December 2022. The one-month competition received close to 40 submissions from members of public. After a round of evaluation by the judging panel, three submissions were shortlisted for public voting and the design for Anbu by Mr JS Sasikumar garnered the highest votes. The winning design was further enhanced by Mr Jegannath Ramanujam, who also created Azhagu.
With all the collective efforts, the celebrations of the Tamil Language Festival is now in full swing.
Information and photos: TLC’s press release14.3.2023