26 May 2000

SPEECH BY MR MOHAMAD MAIDIN PACKER MOHD,
PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY (EDUCATION) AND
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR MARINE PARADE GRC, AT THE OPENING OF
THE "KOPI GAYUNG" EXHIBITION AT THE SINGAPORE CHINESE
CALLIGRAPHY SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE CALLIGRAPHY
CENTRE, ON 26 MAY 2000 AT 6.30 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening.

1. I am very glad to join you this evening at the Singapore Calligraphy Centre for the opening of "Kopi Gayung"- a one-man installation show by the artist-sculptor, Mr Ayob Ismail.

2. Ayob has been an active member of the Malay Activities Executive Club (MAEC) at Kampong Ubi Community Centre since 1993. I had the opportunity of viewing his woodcarving works at the Centre in 1995, before he left for further studies in Melbourne, Australia. Even at the time, his works were infused with promise and potential, a means of communication between his inner world and his audience.

3. In mid-1997, he returned with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture. Since his return, he has been an active participant in the recent Arts Festival. His efforts, and those of other artists, go a long way towards realizing our vision of a culturally vibrant and gracious society, a renaissance city of the 21st century.

4. Arts education plays a part in realizing this vision too. The study of art in schools helps to develop creativity and innovativeness in our pupils, and the skills and knowledge which are essential to meet the challenges in a rapidly and continually changing world. Through art, pupils learn to generate ideas and explore different possibilities in expressing and communicating their thoughts. Exposure to multiple aesthetic histories, cultures and traditions also provides them the opportunity to learn and appreciate the diversity and richness of our own multi-cultural society and its heritage, thus helping to foster and strengthen social harmony and national identity.

5. This is Ayob's first solo show and I am sure you will be just as thrilled as I am to view this installation. Many of you will recall the gayung as a `Trade Mark' of the past, that was used variously as a toy, a receptacle for kopi, and even as a measure for cooking. I am confident that the displays will demonstrate that this `old economy' workhorse, this symbol of the memory of time, still has value and can be given a new lease of life in the `new economy'.

6. Do enjoy the show, ladies and gentlemen. It now gives me great pleasure to declare this exhibition open.