SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, ACTING MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AT THE OPENING OF ARTIVITIES: EXPRESSION + APPLICATION ON 26 MARCH 2004, 0900 HRS, SUNTEC SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE

NURTURING THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION

LG (NS) Lim Chuan Poh,
Second Permanent Secretary of Education

Colleagues

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

1. I am pleased to be here for the opening of ARTivitieS: expression + application.  ARTivitieS brings together the disciplines of art, music, drama and design and technology into one event, an indication of how creative expression is often the intertwining of several disciplines.

THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION IN THE NEW ECONOMY

2. Singapore is moving into a new era of economic and social development.  It is an era in which ideas and innovation will be central to our economic competitiveness, and to how we think of ourselves as a people.

3. The arts are critical in helping us engage in this future.  They help both in preserving the past, and in defining our future.  These are seemingly opposing roles, but they tend to reinforce each other in the way they give us confidence in ourselves, as a people and as a nation.

4. It has always been the role of the arts to interpret the past.  By doing this, they help transmit our culture and ideas from one generation to the next, and contribute to shaping the Singapore ethos.  And in a world in which shared assumptions of community and shared beliefs are fluid and increasingly fragile, the arts provide a means of retaining confidence in our identity.  In so doing, they provide confidence in our future.

5. We have to develop our artistic imagination as a people, so that ideas, styles, images and attitudes that come to us through our theatres and cinemas, our galleries and our TV screens, will not all be created elsewhere.  Otherwise, we will in a very real sense be leaving it to others to define how we perceive ourselves.

6. There is also good economic reason for us to nurture and promote the arts and design.  The arts and economics are no longer distinct.  It is quite unlike the industrial era, where most societies tended to think of the arts as something quite distinct from how economic growth was generated, and jobs created.  The greatest economic resource possessed by any nation now is the imagination and innovativeness of its people.  Imagination feeds into invention, technological advance, stronger communities, better government and even a more secure society.  The arts and design come into this because they are one of the principal trainers of this imagination, whatever its applications in society.  It is no surprise then that many top scientists, for example, are passionate followers of the arts  -  and sometimes even practitioners. Anyone who has seen Prof Ed Liu (who runs the Genome Institute of Singapore) playing jazz will know what I mean.

7. Increasingly too, the arts and design are themselves a growing economic activity.  The creative industries, such as design and media, and the performing and visual arts, are amongst the fastest growing industries in the new economy.  In Asia, they will be part of the new wave of growth being spurred by a growing middle-class.  Singapore’s creative industries, which presently contribute 3% of GDP, are projected to contribute up to 6% of GDP by 2012.  They will also have an indirect impact on the rest of the economy, by influencing the style, aesthetics and appeal that can differentiate our products and services from others.

8. An example of how the arts are being integrated with other disciplines to create new value in the film industry.  The integration of art, design and IT has opened up whole new possibilities in virtual design.  It has spawned a generation of films in which virtual characters have captured the imagination of audiences around the world.  While the concept of animated characters has been around since Walt Disney, nothing compares with the touching realism of Gollum in ‘Lord of the Rings’, or Dobby in ‘Harry Potter and the Secret Chamber’.

9. I should mention that the marrying of artistic and economic imperatives does not mean that art only exists to serve economic purpose.  That is not the case, and if the arts were only a means to an economic end, the artistic imagination will I am sure wither.  But the arts are an intrinsic part of the social ecosystem that Singapore needs to be thrive in the future.  That’s the way it is in any of the leading cities in the knowledge-based world, from New York to San Francisco, London, Paris and Zurich, Tokyo and Shanghai.  Whether as students, or practitioners, or just consumers, the shaping of our artistic imagination has to be part and parcel of the way we develop the boldness of imagination, the desire to do things differently and to excel, and the commitment to serve society that we need to secure our future and succeed.

10. So it is no longer far-fetched to think that getting our young to dabble in the arts and design, and encouraging those with the talent or interest to put time and effort and in some cases, to even spend a lifetime in these areas, is part of the process of staying competitive as an economy.  It is not a question of means and ends  -  of the arts being a means towards an economic end  -  but of mutually enriching activities,  supporting each other and defining what we are as a city.  The arts contribute to the spirit of dare and diversity that we need to be part of a global belt of innovative cities.  And the arts will themselves be nourished by this spirit.

ARTS & DESIGN IN EDUCATION

11. Our schools are fertile ground for the cultivation of artistic imagination and innovation.  11. Art, Design & Technology (D&T), Technical Studies and Music education encourage our students to envisage fresh possibilities, and to create something new.  The new six-year arts school that will be run by MITA, and which opens its doors in 2006, will create a new path for students with outstanding talents in the arts.  And within the mainstream school landscape, we have witnessed numerous schools creating a niche for themselves in the arts or design.

12. Across our schools, we see students with a keenness to innovate, in one way or another.  Take for example the “Perch-Me-Not” developed by Lin Guo Hao from Henderson Secondary School as part of his Technical Studies course.  Guo Hao observed that birds tended to rest at the top of flagpoles and as a result soil the flags with their droppings.  It set him thinking about how to solve the problem.  He designed a cap to be fixed to the top of a flagpole.  If a bird rests on it, its weight activates a mechanism which causes the cap to spin, thereby scaring the bird away.  Guo Hao’s creation won him the Design & Technology Creative Invention Award and a Commendation Award at the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventor’s Awards.

13. Through our schools, we should raise awareness amongst our young of Singapore’s expanding design and creative industries.  There will be growing demand for their talents and skills in design, whether in shaping the look and feel of products and services, or creating unique experiences for the customer.  Everyone knows about Italian or British design, which carry their own distinguishing signatures.  Singapore design is beginning to make its mark.  The challenge for the next generation is to help shape and take forward a distinctively Singaporean signature.

CONCLUSION

14. ARTivitieS showcases the possibilities that are in the making in our schools.  It also signals our commitment to the professional development of our teachers as we provide platforms for interaction and for exchange of experiences and ideas amongst teachers and practitioners in the arts and design.  I encourage each of you to immerse yourself in the conference, be provoked and intrigued by the insights and ideas that it will throw up, and bring them back to your classrooms.

15. I am glad we have with us two very interesting speakers.  Professor Tony Jones, President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Mr Benson Puah, CEO of The Esplanade Company Limited, will each share with us insights from their experience in nurturing and promoting the arts and design.  We look forward to having their perspectives.

16. It leaves me now to commend the many individuals who worked hard to organise the conference and bring us all together, a bit of a creative feat in its own right, I am sure.

17. I wish all of you an enjoyable and fulfilling time.

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