Singapore Continues To Develop Vibrant Arts And Culture Scene
The Arts and Culture Strategic Review Steering Committee has made preliminary recommendations to make the arts and culture a part of our everyday lives, said Minister Lui Tuck Yew.
One of the recommendations is to set up a network of heartland performing arts centres, with affordable rehearsal facilities for casual practitioners to hone their craft or to just come together to practice and to build social bonds.
MINISTER’S COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY 2011 SPEECH ON BUILDING AN ENDEARING HOME THROUGH ARTS AND CULTURE:
Mr Chairman, I thank the Honourable Members who have expressed strong support for the development of a vibrant arts and culture scene in Singapore. In responding to the Members, I will elaborate on the importance of arts and culture in making Singapore our endearing home and a leading global city.
An endearing home cannot be defined solely in terms of a thriving economy, business-friendly environment and well-developed infrastructure. It must also be a place we are proud of, love, and feel emotionally rooted to. Our arts and culture plays a central role in enhancing this sense of home and national identity, as it forms a part of our collective soul that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
State of Arts and Culture
In FY10, MICA spent approximately $235 million on arts and heritage, split almost evenly between both areas. This included funding to the National Arts Council (NAC), National Heritage Board (NHB), the Esplanade and the School of the Arts (SOTA). Over and above these, the National Library Board (NLB) received $175 million to support the operations of our public libraries.
Our investments in arts, heritage and libraries have borne fruit. In 2010, our people enjoyed an average of about 85 arts activities per day, a 2.6-fold increase from ten years ago. Ticketed attendances rose to 1.5 million, almost two-fold over the last ten years, while non-ticketed attendances for arts, heritage and library events rose two-fold over the last four years to about 20.5 million.
As announced by the Minister for Finance, government has committed to increase funding for arts and culture over the next five years. Of this additional investment, MICA plans to channel an average of almost $80 million per year to new initiatives under the Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR), something that was raise by Mr Zaqy Mohamad. Over 50% of this $80 million will be set aside for building fresh audiences and increasing support to community arts and culture initiatives. The remaining sum will go toward building content and enhancing capability development.
Government funding alone will never be sufficient. I acknowledge and support Ms Audrey Wong’s call for greater support from the private and people sectors. In this regard, I would like to specially acknowledge the generous support of donors who gave $41.8 million in cash, in-kind donations and sponsorship to arts and culture in 2010, which was a 33% increase from 2009. Going forward, we will continue to grow this pool of donors through our numerous stakeholder engagement programmes.
That being said, it is not just big donations that MICA is aiming for. Even a small contribution can go a long way, as it is not just the money, but more importantly, the spirit of giving and moral support you show for the arts and artists. MICA has set up a web portal “Give2arts.sg” to encourage public giving. To date, the portal has garnered $80,000 in donations from a wide spectrum of donors, and more importantly, it garnered us 1,600 volunteers.
Arts and Culture Strategic Review
Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Arthur Fong asked for updates on the Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR). Following my announcement last year, MICA formed the 19-strong ACSR Steering Committee, led by Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of the School of the Arts (SOTA). The ACSR Steering Committee has recently submitted an interim report on its progress. I will now share some of their preliminary findings and recommendations.
Value of Arts and Culture
The ACSR Committees reaffirmed the value of arts and culture and that it allows us to express who we are as a people, and strengthens Singapore’s position in the global competition for talent, investment and international mindshare. In our communities, the arts and culture fosters a sense of belonging by building shared memories and collective experiences. Arts and culture also provides platforms for interaction, fosters social cohesion, and bridges differences with our neighbours from different backgrounds. On a personal level, we know that it adds colour to our daily routines and improves our quality of life.
To illustrate, let me share the story of the “Taxi Sifu Reading Club”, which we believe is the world’s first reading club for taxi drivers. I think Mr Seng Han Thong will be glad to know it, as he had a large part to play in this as well. The club has about 70 members who meet regularly, and has covered a wide range of books, from literature classics to non-fiction and even motivational tomes. Over time, beyond simply participating, members have begun organising book discussions for the public, and some have even started to write. This reading club has also expanded the social networks of members, and provides practical help in other areas, such as finding relief drivers. Mr Koh Chwee Liong, a committee member shares, “Each time when I am asked to lead a discussion, I have to fully prepare myself for it and, along the way, I learn much more. I have been stretched through the numerous debates and sharing sessions.” This is a clear example of how arts and culture is not high-brow and inaccessible. And that it is available to the young or old, blue-collar or white collar, and the arts can be enjoyed by anyone.
Vision for the Future
The ACSR Steering Committee has put forward a vision of Singapore in 2025, that we should be a nation of cultured and gracious people, proud of our heritage, and confident in our Singaporean identity. The arts and culture will be an integral part of our everyday lives – a national pastime that feeds our minds, stimulates our senses, and expands our variety of leisure options. Singapore will also be home to many iconic cultural institutions, events, and star talent that represent the “peaks of excellence” that our people love and are proud of.
Preliminary Recommendations of the ACSR
To achieve its vision, the ACSR Committees have proposed preliminary recommendations under three broad themes – “Arts and culture for everyone, every day”, “Arts and culture everywhere”, and “Building capabilities and raising new peaks of excellence”. Let me just elaborate on some of their proposals.
First, arts and culture for everyone, every day. To reach out to Singaporeans from all walks of life and in all seasons of life, the ACSR recommends widening exposure to arts and culture from our childhood to our golden years, expanding avenues for hobbyists to create original works and to self-organise activities, and increasing access to training and support for practitioners. Under this theme, the ACSR is currently looking into how best to synergise community engagement efforts across different agencies.
Second, arts and culture everywhere. The ACSR envisions a trans-island arts and culture network, anchored in a downtown core, and extending to regional hubs, as well as civic and private spaces within our heartland neighbourhoods. Under this theme, the ACSR proposes setting up a network of heartland performing arts centres, with affordable rehearsal facilities for casual practitioners to hone their craft or to just come together to practice and to build social bonds.
Third, building capabilities and raising new peaks of excellence. To bring our arts and culture to the next level, the ACSR recognises that we must do more to maximise the creative potential of our people and institutions, and raise the quality of our cultural offerings. In particular, the ACSR supports the continued promotion and cultivation of different tiers of peaks of excellence, from national peaks like our orchestras, the Esplanade, to community peaks – community groups that have excelled, to emerging peaks in new art forms and genres.
I would like to thank the ACSR Committees for the good work that they have done so far. In the next phase of their process, the committees will be conducting focus groups and public consultations and we welcome the public and key stakeholders to come forward and share their views on the preliminary proposals. We look forward to receiving the final report of the ACSR in the second half of this year.
MICA’s Response to the ACSR Interim Report
Mr Chairman, MICA agrees in-principle with the broad directions of the ACSR. Even as the three Committees continue to refine their proposals, allow me to share MICA’s views on the issues raised in the interim report, and highlight a number of the preliminary recommendations that MICA is inclined to support, given the additional funding for the arts and culture in the coming five years.
Harnessing the Value of Arts and Culture
MICA recognises that there is untapped potential for the majority of our people to harness the benefits and value of arts and culture in our lives and in our communities. Can we realise this potential? Can we dream bold and big? I am confident that we can.
While the ACSR, and indeed MICA, is not going to focus as much on hardware and infrastructure, let me just share more about the Esplanade. When it was first mooted, the Esplanade was greeted with scepticism by both locals and foreigners. There were strong reactions against building two very expensive “durians” in the middle of the new downtown. It has been less than ten years since the Esplanade was opened. Today, it is hard to imagine Singapore or the Singapore skyline without the Esplanade. It has become a key platform for making arts and culture accessible and affordable to our people, for example, through its numerous non-ticketed shows and exhibitions.
Let me share the story of Mr Chen Mugen, who is a retiree. According to Lianhe Zaobao, during the Esplanade’s Huayi Festival, he was able to catch the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at a subsidised rate for seniors. At the same time, he also enjoyed many of the free outdoor performances, including percussion and singing of old songs. He said, “The atmosphere was very lively and provided good entertainment for old folks like us.”
I believe that with the ACSR recommendations, and going forward in the next 15 or so years, we can similarly spark an interest in arts and culture among our people, break down barriers to appreciation and participation, and we can bring our arts and culture to a new level in our next phase of development.
Realising the ACSR Vision
To bring the ACSR vision to life, we must dispel perceptions that arts and culture is elitist, expensive, and restricted to the “high art”, like ballet and the orchestras. We know that it is far more than that, and we need to help people realise that art needs to broaden its appeal and opportunities for participation, so that more people can appreciate the prevalence and pervasiveness of arts and culture in their lives and leisure activities. Arts and culture encompasses even hobbies with aesthetic elements or cultural underpinnings. One such hobby is photography, which has, in recent years, evolved into a form of visual arts that people of all ages can enjoy.
Take Ms Rose Oh for example. I think she is about 70 years old, and she is a pioneer member of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) Photography Interest Group. They meet regularly for photography outings. This interest group provides her the opportunity to meet people around her age with the same passion. In addition, she reshoots old photographs of her family members and converts them to digital images to make videos, which she then shares regularly at family gatherings. Over time, she has even upgraded her skills in lighting and learnt how to compose a better shot through the group’s activities. We need more examples like this. We need the arts to be able to infuse into the community and into the lives of people.
Building on the ACSR recommendations, and against the backdrop of a broader definition of arts and culture, over the next five years, MICA intends to direct most of the additional funding for arts and culture toward four areas: broadening opportunities, deepening engagement, raising peaks of excellence and building capabilities.
Broadening Opportunities
First, broadening opportunities for exposure to arts and culture. I agree with Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Arthur Fong, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang and Ms Audrey Wong among others that greater effort and resources are needed to allow arts and culture to touch the lives of more people, especially those living in the heartlands. We will therefore increase the range of touch points and step up audience development efforts for arts and culture.
As a start, MICA will bring arts and culture into our homes through broadcast and new media, by enhancing local arts content on free-to-air channels. Viewers can look forward to more local arts programming on okto, greater arts and culture elements in programmes on other free-to-air channels, as well as access to arts-related content on new media platforms such as Mediacorp’s xinMSN. MICA will also support the creation of more home-grown programmes that focus on traditional, youth and community arts, including coverage of events like the Singapore Youth Festival.
In addition, we will focus outreach to three target groups: Students, so as to cultivate an appreciation for arts and culture from an early age; working adults, because we know that students who were active in arts and culture in school tend to “drop out” on entering the workforce for a variety of reasons; and senior citizens, given that arts and culture can be less physically demanding than other activities and caters to a wide range of interests and abilities.
For students, MICA is working with the Ministry of Education (MOE) on the development of more innovative teaching approaches and resources that will provide students with the opportunity to enhance their learning through arts and culture. In addition, we will work with MOE to increase access to high quality artistic instruction for students, either as part of the curriculum or as part of their co-curricular activities (CCAs). This is critical because we know that we can spark children’s interest and open up opportunities for them to pursue their aspirations in the creative fields. In so doing, we hope to cultivate our children’s creativity, life-skills and appreciation for diverse cultures and complement the curriculum they receive in the classroom, recognising that not all that we need to learn, and do in life can be found within the covers of textbooks or be taught within the four walls of the classroom.
Ryhan bin Mohamed Astha is a student who has benefited from the exposure that MOE is giving students. He had innate talent but no formal musical training when he joined the band in Compassvale Primary School, where he started learning to play the trumpet. He improved so much within a year that he qualified for admission into SOTA. You would know that SOTA receives lots of applications, it is very selective in terms of how it picks its students. I understand that Ryhan is currently doing very well and continues to hone his skills through the specialised training provided by the school. We hope that more schools will provide such opportunities for latent talents like Ryhan to discover their interest in the arts and level up in their skills.
For working adults, one of the ways we can sustain lifelong interest in arts and culture is to set up a “Creative Lifestyle at Work” fund to encourage companies to organise arts and culture activities at the workplace. The fund could be tapped on to co-fund creative lifestyle activities, ranging from lunchtime concerts, to museum passes, to hands-on craft activities. This will create greater opportunities for our busy professionals to interact and to experience the value of arts and culture in improving mental well-being, stimulating creativity and enhancing capacity to see things from a fresh perspective.
For seniors, more can be done to integrate artistic and cultural elements into existing lifestyle and wellness programmes, and to bring arts and culture out to the heartlands. This will allow our seniors to appreciate and to understand arts and culture in an environment where they are comfortable. At the same time, arts and culture offers avenues to tap on our seniors’ wealth of memories, experiences and stories, particularly in transmitting and promoting our heritage, our values, and the traditional arts across generations. For example, we can envisage them as part-time guides for community heritage trails, reading mentors or handicraft instructors. This will add to their sense of fulfilment and socio-emotional well-being. We will want to work more closely with the People’s Association (PA) on this, on how best to offer such opportunities for our seniors in the years to come.
Deepening Engagement
Next, we must deepen engagement for those with an interest to do more – hobbyists, community groups and high-level amateurs – but who might be constrained by a lack of know-how, resources and training. In the year ahead, MICA will focus on seeding and sustaining community practitioners, enhancing community programmes and strengthening community infrastructure.
Seeding and Sustaining Community Practitioners
MICA intends to seed more interest groups in the community by providing the necessary start-up funding, equipment and facilities. These interest groups could eventually be empowered to galvanise community engagement efforts and seed new groups in their respective fields. The Community Drumming Network is a successful example, which has brought the joys of drumming to almost 5,000 participants across the island.
In order to equip community practitioners to self-organise activities, MICA, together with PA, plans to set up “Community Arts and Culture Clubs” in interested constituencies, as recommended by the ACSR. Akin to the constituency sports clubs, these clubs will extend the promotion of arts and culture to the grassroots level, and spearhead events, showcases and competition platforms.
MICA also intends to set up a new community arts and culture fund that community practitioners can tap on to organise outreach projects, showcase their work, upgrade their skills and create original content. This fund aims to encourage hobbyists and interest groups to take the lead in self-organising arts and culture events and activities for their communities, with the participation of the residents.
Enhancing Community Programmes
To reach out to more audiences in the heartlands, we intend to expand existing showcase platforms, such as the Community Life Arts Programme, as well as constituency and district-level competitions. We also intend to raise the level and profile of our District Arts Festivals so that they can become flagship community arts events that will resonate with our heartland residents, and which community arts groups can aspire toward in showcasing their works. In addition, residents will enjoy more ready access to information on community engagement programmes, through “cultural concierges” – community engagement officers based in all major public libraries.
The libraries themselves will also become community touch-points, where residents can enjoy or organise performances, exhibitions or activities such as reading clubs. Residents can even partner the National Heritage Board (NHB) in setting up community heritage galleries in the libraries. These will showcase the heritage of constituencies and could, in time, become resource centres for community history.
Strengthening Community Cultural Infrastructure
As we build up our community arts groups, programming, and events, we also need to improve the venues and facilities at the district and constituency levels, and I know Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang have highlighted this point as well. During the Budget Debate, Ms Audrey Wong also noted that some artists are struggling to find affordable studio spaces and housing. Let me just touch now on arts housing and what we have done over the years, to make more space available to artists and arts groups, and how we have given funding to a larger number of groups. In fact, about 35% of NAC’s funding in 2010 went to grants, scholarships, residencies and arts housing subsidies for artists and arts companies. We recognise that even with more resources from Government, there is an even larger number of emerging groups, and we will therefore, never be able to fully support all groups. But we will continue to try and put more resources into this area.
Let me share with House how funding to NAC’s Major Grant scheme recipients is distributed across genres, as some might not be fully aware of the total support given, including rental subsidies. In 2010, among all of NAC’s Major Grant scheme recipients, the top five received over half a million dollars each in total grants, which is not an insignificant amount. Four of these five groups happen to be theatre groups. If you look at the pie chart, you see theatre groups getting 54% of the support that is given to the major grant recipients, including rental subsidies. Dance, about 24%. Looking ahead, we must ensure that the other genres are better supported, and promising new companies given access to sufficient resources in order to have the chance to thrive. In the longer term, we could even consider converting arts housing subsidies into grants, and combining them with the other grants that we currently give, as a total package, so that groups can enjoy greater flexibility in utilising the overall support given to them. We must also ensure that priority of public funding for arts grants goes to groups that can make significant contributions to our cultural development, that display high standards of artistic excellence, and are aligned with our national identity and values.
In the meantime, we recognise that space is important, and as a start, we have increased the space for arts housing and shared facilities by over 8,000 square metres through the Goodman Arts Centre. The NAC’s new Framework for Arts Spaces will also benefit more than 250 artists and arts groups, more than twice the number of groups who benefited over the last 10 years. NAC will also roll out more “pay-per-use” shared facilities to benefit an even larger pool of artists and arts groups. In addition, we will look into developing Community Performing Arts Centres in the heartlands. For example, we can upgrade suitable school halls or theatrettes at selected regional community centres and open them up to the public and community groups. This will alleviate the demand from hobbyists and community groups for affordable facilities to rehearse and present.
In order to ensure that these regional hubs are well-utilised, we will equip venue owners and place-managers with the skills and additional resources to hire instructors, purchase equipment and run arts exposure activities. Arts groups can also be co-located in these centres to add to their vibrancy and programming efforts.
Beyond regional hubs, at the constituency level, we will explore incentivising community clubs and other partners to house arts and culture groups within their facilities, thereby providing spaces for these groups to continue their practice and thrive.
These proposals to strengthen community cultural infrastructure will not only serve the needs of practitioners, but will also allow residents to encounter arts and culture at their doorsteps, in the very spaces where they live and are familiar with. Furthermore, the use of community facilities for presentation makes it convenient for family and friends to support these practitioners.
Raising Peaks of Excellence
Next, let me touch on the issue of raising peaks of excellence. We should continue to develop and promote our national icons such as our orchestras, national museums, and the Esplanade, which can represent us on the world stage, and are viewed with a sense of pride by our people. At the same time, we should also recognise and support new, “emerging peaks of excellence” in the community that have done well, and are rising in standing and popularity.
An example of a community group that has excelled is the Mus’Art Wind Orchestra under the Jurong Green Community Club. It was set up in 1988 with just 20 musicians, it went on to win first prize in the first division of the World Music Contest in 2009. Every year, the orchestra performs in the heartlands to reach out to the community, and continues to actively recruit students and residents from all backgrounds, who would like to continue pursuing their interest in wind music after leaving school.
We agree with Ms Audrey Wong that quality cultural content lies at the heart of our peaks of excellence. Beyond NAC’s Arts Creation Fund, which Ms Wong touched on, the Incubation Scheme under NAC’s new Framework for Arts Spaces provides artists and arts groups the support and platforms to develop and present new works.
In addition, NAC’s international residency programmes support local artists going overseas, as well as host international residencies in Singapore. These programmes offer practitioners many opportunities to incubate and exchange ideas with their international counterparts. For example, last year, seven Singaporean directors and playwrights attended the La MaMa International Programme in Umbria, Italy. Going forward, NAC is looking into piloting a new writer’s residency programme, and we will explore other ideas for residencies under the ACSR. We believe in the value of such programmes, the networks and opportunities to interact. Beyond these residencies that NAC will support, there will also be complemented by privately-driven residency programmes in upcoming clusters such as Gilman Village.
MICA recognises that research can support policy development and greater innovation in arts and culture. NAC is fine-tuning its Research and Development Grant to proactively seed projects that catalyse greater innovation and collaboration with industry, academia, think-tanks and the arts community. In addition, we acknowledge the need for writers who can critique and analyse our cultural landscape, and will develop their competencies through our scholarships. NHB’s museums will continue to add to critical discourse through their collaborations with major scholars in their fields of expertise.
Building Capabilities
In order to build “peaks of excellence”, we must also develop a pipeline of qualified manpower by building capacity and nurturing leadership among practitioners and administrators, as Ms Audrey Wong has suggested. While NAC has increased funding to its capability development schemes by over 57% in the last five years, more resources could be directed towards improving Continuing Education and Training (CET) and identifying and grooming talent.
Continuing Education and Training
CET opportunities are especially important in a sector where many practise as freelancers, and need to continually upgrade their skills to stay relevant and employable. Last year, about 200 arts practitioners and professionals benefited from WDA-subsidised CET programmes in areas such as performing arts, technical theatre, arts education and creative entrepreneurship. With additional support from MICA, new CET programmes can be rolled out in the coming years to reach out to an even wider pool of practitioners.
For starters, the NAC is working with partners on a Specialist Diploma in Arts Education. This diploma is targeted at arts and culture instructors in schools and community centres, and aims to upgrade their instructional skills.
I agree with Ms Audrey Wong that the expertise of existing organisations, such as the Esplanade, LASALLE College of the Arts, NAFA, the polytechnics and other private institutions can be better leveraged for capacity building. We will examine how best to ramp up our partnerships with them, as well as groom new CET providers in arts and heritage. NAC will also continue to support seminars, workshops, mentorships and apprenticeships to meet the training needs of practitioners and professionals.
Identifying and Grooming Talent
MICA also recognises the need to unearth new talent. We intend to introduce new platforms, such as competitions, seed funding for new works in specific genres, and training courses and mentorships where potential gems can be discovered. Once discovered, we must “follow-through” with these talents, providing them with sufficient opportunities to flourish and eventually become leaders.
As a start, MICA will strengthen the linkages among school, community and national platforms. For example, NAC’s young talent development strategy will be better integrated with MOE’s talent development framework, so that top school talents can be identified, showcased and developed. NAC will also tie up with private arts schools to spot and groom promising talent.
In addition, MICA intends to enhance two initiatives that our talent can aspire toward at various stages of their development. The first is a national mentorship and apprenticeship framework. This framework will enhance industry training opportunities for serious hobbyists and promising entry level practitioners, by matching these talents with established practitioners or organisations. Mentees and apprentices will benefit from the experiences of their more established counterparts, who will in turn have an avenue to transmit their skills and knowledge, and grow as leaders.
NAC and NHB will also step up their investment in grooming our next generation of cultural leaders. They will offer more undergraduate and post-graduate scholarships to creative talents with leadership qualities, who are committed to advancing our creative industries. This will ensure that the sector attracts among the best and brightest who can become the cultural leaders of tomorrow.
Better Opportunities for SOTA Graduates
SOTA is a platform through which young artistic talent is identified and groomed. As Mr Viswa Sadasivan pointed out, we must offer opportunities to sustain their participation in arts and culture. SOTA will involve its alumni in various activities, such as mentoring current and potential students, or the “Arts in Education Forum”, where they can share their experiences on the impact of an arts-infused education.
In addition, NAC welcomes grant applications from SOTA graduates for projects and training programmes, as well as their participation in the Noise Festival, which provides young talents with access to the industry, link them up with serious practitioners, and in time to come, identify opportunities for mentorships, workshops and so on for them.
Update on Literary Arts
MICA will continue to develop the literary arts by inculcating a reading culture and supporting our local writers, in line with Dr Ong Seh Hong and Ms Irene Ng’s comments. NLB promotes reading through a variety of initiatives run by its network of 22 public libraries, which will be expanded this year to include new libraries in Serangoon and Clementi. I will elaborate on these initiatives in the next speech.
NAC will extend more resources to help writers across all four languages, through residencies and mentorships, publishing symposia, and funding for content creation in traditional genres like poetry and prose, as well as new areas like scriptwriting and spoken word. NAC will also offer more showcase opportunities for local writers at major international fairs and festivals and I know that our participation in the Edinburgh Festival was quite successful. In addition, NAC will help our writers explore the possibilities of translating their works to other media, such as film, radio and games.
Given its Asian, multilingual focus, the now-annual Singapore Writer’s Festival will help focus attention on local writers in all four languages, through panel discussions, book launches and workshops. Importantly, the 2011 Festival which is the first time the festival will be held on an annual basis hence forth, will help develop new audiences by engaging youths through “Words Go Round”, a year-round calendar of talks, workshops, and literary open-houses hosted by schools for schools. The public can also look forward to performances that present the written word in new forms, including song and rap that I believe is appealing to the young. Furthermore, we will also explore awarding the biennale Singapore Literature Prize to be given out on an annual basis, and to expand it to include more genres, and eventually to dovetail it with the Festival, so as to better recognise our accomplished writers.
Conclusion
Sir, in conclusion, MICA will continue, in partnership with other sectors, to build a vibrant arts and culture scene, as a key part of the Government’s wider efforts to make Singapore an endearing home for all.
By broadening opportunities, deepening engagement, and raising excellence through capability development efforts, we hope to cultivate a nation of cultured and gracious people, proud of our heritage and confident in our Singaporean identity. Thank you.
Topics: 2011, ACSR, Arts, Arts and Culture Strategic Review, Arts and Culture Strategic Review Steering Committee, Asia, business, CET, Communications and the Arts, Continuing Education and Training, cultural development, cultural development strategy, culture, education, employment, Governance, govnerment, investment, jobs, Lui Tuck Yew, MICA, Ministry of Information, moniter, monitor, news, Pacific, School of the Arts, Singapore, society, SOTA
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