ARTS-SINGAPORE: The Next Regional Arts Hot Spot?

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Sheela Sarvananda

SINGAPORE, Mar 21 2000 (IPS) - First it aimed to be South-east Asia’s financial hub. Then came its plans to become the place to be in the region for information technology. Now Singapore has made known its ambitions to be a mecca for arts and culture as well.

The city state’s rather sterile image may make it hard for some people to imagine anything of that sort to happen here. But the little country is stopping at nothing to achieve its latest goal.

Indeed, it will be pumping 50 million dollars more in a span of five years into the local arts scene. This will double the country’s budget for arts and culture from 10 million dollars to 20 million dollars annually.

Minister for Information and the Arts Lee Yock Suan has also revealed a six-pronged strategy that is supposed to simultaneously transform Singapore into a global city for the arts and strengthen the country’s sense of national identity through local art.

“A vibrant arts scene can give us that creative buzz and stimulate our minds to think outside the box,” Lee told Parliament recently. “At the same time, it enlarges our leisure options and makes Singapore an attractive place for talent.”

Singapore’s current focus on the arts is by no means a product of capricious thinking. In fact, many see it as integral to the country’s plans to become a well-rounded, world-class city state — a sort of Utopia of the East.

Proof of just how seriously the government sees art is the length of time it took to formulate the strategy to revolutionise Singapore’s art scene — three years of consultations with members of the local arts community.

Among the six components of the strategy, as enumerated in the ‘Renaissance Report’ presented by Lee to the Parliament, are: to develop flagship arts companies, build an arts economy, nurture local audiences through arts education and groom talent by handing out more scholarships.

There are also plans to improve on current arts facilities and promote local artists overseas while strengthening the country’s cultural ties with other nations.

Singaporean arts enthusiasts are confident that all these can only lead to a more vibrant arts scene. They point out that a similar consultation done a decade ago had resulted in the creation of the National Arts Council and the Singapore Art Museum — today artistic strongholds in the country.

A special venue for various arts events — the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay — was another outcome of that previous review of the local arts scene.

The new plans, say the arts enthusiasts, will not only improve the quality of local art offerings, but will also enable Singaporeans to better understand and participate in artistic endeavours.

Currently, only one in four Singaporeans attend arts-related events, compared to one in three for Hong Kong residents.

Statistics from the Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA) also show that while Hong Kong spends an average of 24 dollars per person on arts-related activities, Singapore is shelling out only seven dollars.

The new allocation for the arts, though, will raise Singapore’s arts expenditure to some 10 dollars per capita. Among the beneficiaries of the added funds are arts groups as well as events aimed at increasing arts awareness.

The government is hoping that the money will free the arts community from worries about funds, thus enabling it to channel all its efforts toward improving its offerings.

At the same time, officials are banking on the support of younger Singaporeans, who seem to be more interested in the arts than their elders.

MITA research reveals that three-fourths of the audience of the Singapore Arts Festival, which is held annually to showcase local talents, are under the age of 40.

In line with this, the government is now putting more attention on arts education. Previously, the emphasis was on science-related disciplines. These days, though, there is equal regard for the opportunities offered by courses that belong to the arts.

Recently, a Harvard-style curriculum was implemented by the Arts and Social Sciences faculty of the National University of Singapore. The multi-disciplinary approach to learning is supposed to provide selected students with an opportunity to integrate the discipline of the sciences with the creativity of liberal arts.