Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Official Opening of the School Of The Arts, 15 July 2011 at School Of The Arts

Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of Singapore Arts School
Mrs Rebecca Chew, Principal of SOTA
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

I’m delighted to be here this evening to be with you for the opening of the School of the Arts.

It’s a beautiful new campus. Two years ago, I visited your temporary premises in Goodman Road. There’s no comparison. Now you have a permanent, well located, green and optimized place all to yourself; make the best of it. The building itself is an expression of art – the podium walls I’m told are inspired by Michelangelo and the creeper screens are inspired by musical scores. The excellent facilities like this hall where we’ve just heard the performance, which as far as I can tell sounds as good as the Esplanade, will host performances which are open to the community. And already this building, this campus, has won many awards, including the “World Learning Building of the Year” at the World Architectural Festival 2010.

The SOTA building enriches our architectural landscape in Singapore. It’s a new landmark, comparable to other iconic arts buildings like Victoria Concert Hall and The Esplanade, and it enhances our growing education hub in the surrounding area. And I think it’s one of the projects which we started when Dr Lee Boon Yang was Minister for the Arts, and he’s here this evening. And I think we should thank him.

Having good facilities of course is just one part of the equation. It’s the people, it’s the ideas, it’s the energy and the excitement inside the building which makes all the difference.

We’ve got an interesting curriculum, we’ve got dedicated teachers, we’ve got hardworking and imaginative students, including those who made this rostrum today for me. I wondered whether it would be tall enough, but I was reassured because the student who made the rostrum is even taller than me. So it’s just right. And these are the factors which ultimately determine how successful SOTA is in nurturing future arts talent in Singapore.

The curriculum in SOTA is unique, because the arts and academic subjects are carefully integrated together. It emphasises the “softer” aspects of learning, aesthetics, creative thinking, emotional sensitivities. And it uses innovative teaching methods integrating the arts with the regular curriculum. For example,  the language classes have 3-dimensional sculptures of poems, and it uses design and aesthetics for teaching mathematics.

And I think this is appropriate, because many of the SOTA graduates will go on to professions which are not directly involved with the aesthetics, to be doctors or engineers. But I hope whatever you do, your training in the arts will equip you with a more comprehensive perspective and way of thinking and add an extra touch to the new profession which you will learn.

SOTA is lucky to have a dedicated and talented teaching team. Many are distinguished artists or professionals in your own right. Some have joined as volunteers to impart your craft to promising new talent, and all are making significant contributions to our art community. But the object of all our work and attention and our pride and joy will be the students. And that’s what the School’s performance and reputation ultimately depends upon. That is the output, that is the product.

When I met the students two years ago, they were the pioneer batch. I found they had very diverse backgrounds and talents, but all were passionate, enthusiastic and excited about this opportunity to fulfil their artistic potential. Now they are in their fourth and fifth years, and some have performed for us this evening - dancing, singing, playing music.

I’m glad that that they are doing well. I’m glad that several have already won prestigious international competitions and places in good universities here and abroad. And many of them are playing major roles in the SOTA Arts Festival, which is ongoing. The students and the faculty should build on SOTA’s promising start and transform this school into an institute of excellence for the arts.

SOTA is an example of how we are opening up multiple paths to different talents. The school gives artistically inclined students every opportunity to excel. In the same way in other schools, we have invested in sports, we have a sports school. In science and technology education, we have the NUS High School of Maths and Science to cater to students with different abilities and aspirations.

And our hope is not to produce a single peak of excellence, along which everybody is trying to climb, but a whole mountain range with many peaks. Each person then chooses his own area of interest or focus, areas where he wants to put in his passion and his effort and to excel and do well. And ultimately we want to have lots of people standing on top of all of the mountains.

The Arts add to our economy and our society in many different ways. A vibrant arts scene will make us a leading art capital of Asia, a cultural capital of Asia. And we will have other projects besides the Arts school, like the National Art Gallery and the National Design Centre which add to our status as “The Global City in Asia”. But more important than just names and tags, is that the arts will help us to shape our shared identity as a nation, enrich our heritage, promote cultural understanding and social dialogue, inspire us to express our dreams and aspirations, and ultimately to enhance Singapore’s appeal and meaning to us as an endearing home where we all belong.

Over this last decade or so, Singapore’s arts scene has become more vibrant. On average, there are 90 events a day, almost three times as many as there were just a decade ago. Lots more people are interested in the arts, attending performances and exhibitions. There is more widespread support for arts, not just from the Government but also from the private sector and many individuals. We will do more to grow the arts in Singapore, and we will increase the annual programme spending from where it is now by more than 50% to $365 million dollars per year. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, but that is equivalent to $1 million dollars a day.

At the same time to make sure the money is well spent, we are going to undertake an Arts and Culture Strategic Review, which Mr Lee Tzu Yang on top of his many other duties will take on and lead, and which will involve the public, private and people sectors. And our goal is to map out our cultural landscape in 2025, one and a half decades from now. We want to make arts and culture an integral part of our lives, and we would like to have more Singaporeans participate in arts and cultural activities. Presently 1 in 5 Singaporeans do so, and we hope over the next 15 years, with greater interest, we can push it to 1 in 2. In other words, to get every other Singaporean somehow involved in arts and culture. The students are key stakeholders of this Arts and Culture Strategic Review, because the review aims to provide more opportunities for all our young to enjoy, to interact with and showcase your achievements in arts and culture and to sustain your interest in arts and culture beyond the school system. We are talking about an objective 15 years from now when you will be young adults entering the prime of your lives, and we hope living in an environment which is rich, which is varied, and which you will find stimulating, and which you will participate and contribute to.

So the Review Committee will consult students widely. We have conducted focus group sessions, we will launch an online consultation portal. We would like to have your ideas of what you would like to do, how you would like us to go about building this arts scene for the future, strategically, patiently, starting now. 

So I strongly encourage all SOTA students and members of the arts community to contribute to this strategic review of arts and culture. Share your ideas and passion, co-create solutions with us, and build shared ownership for our future, for your future. This is just one example of how the Govern­ment is doing more to involve Singa­poreans in developing ideas and policies that affect you, in making decisions which will shape the future which we will live in. And we will do this in other areas too. And I hope Singa­poreans will respond in the same spirit, and make this a fruitful exercise.

So I congratulate SOTA on the official opening of your campus. You are an important part of Singapore’s arts landscape. And I wish you and your graduates and in due course your alumni all the best as you strive to reach new heights. Thank you very much.

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