Building a Sustainable and Vibrant Community Arts Eco-system

Deputy Speaker, Sir, Building a Sustainable and Vibrant Community Arts Eco-system.

The arts strive to enrich the individual, encourage self-expression, while at the same time seeking to reach out, communicate and bring people together. The National Arts Council (NAC) Arts and Culture Nodes at various venues island-wide energise and excite Singaporeans. A wide array of quality arts programmes, for people of all ages and walks of life, are available. With the SG Arts Plan in place, the arts scene has been thriving, as artists chart professional careers and arts groups grow in strength.

I have three recommendations to build a sustainable and vibrant community arts eco-system.

One, to build under-one-roof performing arts housing for music, dance and theatre. Sharing resources, putting the same genre of performing arts under one roof. For example, different hubs that are specifically designed for the music, theatre or dance groups will allow the groups to effectively share resources and rehearsal spaces.

The Stamford Arts House is a multidisciplinary arts centre with a focus on traditional arts. Currently, the centre houses various professional arts companies of different arts forms. The Government can consider this: a shared acoustically treated recital hall for the orchestra and ensemble, a black box for theatre performances, dance theatre with treated flooring and height for dance companies. This will re-energise the building, and audiences just need to visit one particular location to watch the performance of a particular art form.

Earlier on, in September 2019, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Baey Yam Keng, announced that Arts freelancers will have an arts resource website, and will also have dedicated working spaces at Goodman Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre. In addition to this, perhaps we can also consider a central shared warehouse for the arts community, where props and sets can be stored, shared or reused. This is one of the ways we can do our part to save the Earth from climate change, reducing wastage and disposal issues.

Two, to reconsider and revisit the plan to reinstall the arts radio and TV channel. Traditional media such as the radio and television still play an important role in sharing content, and informing the public. We used to have an arts radio station – Passion 99.5 FM. Back then, the NAC launched this radio station on 31 December 1997 to increase awareness of the arts and provide the arts community with a public voice. It featured magazine programmes on arts and culture. However, the station was shut down in December 2003 because its listenership was too small to attract sustained sponsorship and advertising revenue to cover its operating costs.

Today, we have an increasing number in arts events and attendance. We ought to deepen and further the reach of our performances and productions through the mainstream media. There is now larger number of performing arts events offered over the years. According to data released by the MCCY on 22 January 2019, the numbers have increased from around 7,700 in 2011 to more than 9,500 in 2017. Also, more than 11 million attended non-ticketed arts and cultural events in 2017, an increase of nearly 20% from the year before and the highest turnout in seven years. The content creators from mainstream radio stations and TV channel can even work hand in hand with the social media for audience development purpose and wider audience reach.

Three, to foster and further the establishment of community arts groups with school, institutions, alumni and students. Partnership between schools, institutions and community arts group establishes a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem. Community clubs can provide the space to support these alumni arts groups. With these arts groups housed in the CCs, they can regularly engage in activities and perform, contributing back to the larger community. The potential of working together between the arts groups is limitless. With more collaboration opportunities, this will encourage and inspire these arts groups to reach the pinnacle of excellence. However, I understand that a few community clubs have closed down the arts groups housed in their venues. So, where will all these groups go to?

In Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, since the Arts Council launched the SG Arts Plan, the number of arts professionals and arts groups have been increasing continuously. With a thriving arts scene, people of all ages can enjoy arts. Based on these developments, I hope the Government can better integrate resources and create more shared spaces so that we can further develop a vibrant arts ecosystem.

I have three suggestions.

Firstly, a one-stop arts house allowing professional resources to be shared. A recital hall, a dance studio, and a black box for theatre performances can be put under one roof. Audiences just need to visit one location to watch different genres of arts performances. This is not only convenient in terms of location selection, but also conducive for interaction and exchange.

The Stamford Arts House is a multidisciplinary arts centre with a focus on traditional arts. It has drawn traditional arts groups to base there. Siong Leng Musical Association, Ding Yi Music Company, Indian dance groups and Malay modern dance groups are located at the centre.

In September 2019, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Baey Yam Keng, announced that arts freelancers would have an arts resource website, and there will be two co-working spaces. In addition to these, perhaps the Government can consider a chamber music recital hall and piano rooms with sound insulation facilities in the music centre. In the dance and theatre centre, we can have a black box and a dance studio and even a common storeroom for props which can be reused. This will help reduce wastage and is environmentally friendly. We can set up a shared warehouse to house props and sets. By doing so, spaces can be used more efficiently and sustainably, and it is good for the environment by cutting wastage. Kill two birds with one stone.

Secondly, reconsider and revisit the plan to reinstate the arts radio and TV channel. The mainstream media can play an important role in promoting different arts genres. Hence, I suggest that we revisit the plan to reinstate the arts radio and TV channel.

In 1997, NAC established Passion 99.5 FM to support our Singapore music. Unfortunately, sponsorship and advertisement income dropped due to economic downturn, and it was shut down in 2003.

However, things are different today. According to data released by the MCCY on 31 January 2019, the number of arts performances have risen from around 7,700 in 2011 to more than 9,500 in 2017. I think with the increase in number in arts events and attendance, we ought to deepen the reach of our performances and productions through the mainstream media.

Besides traditional media, content creators for mainstream radio stations and TV channels can even work hand-in-hand with the social media team for wider reach. These are critical for audience development and the development of our arts scene.

Lastly, foster and further the collaboration between Community Clubs and schools. Community Clubs gather people of different ages and backgrounds together. Hence, it is a good place to promote arts, allowing community arts to join hands with school arts. The establishment of alumni arts groups will be a win-win situation for multiple parties, for example, symphony orchestras, Chinese orchestras, dance groups and theatre groups. The community clubs can be the extension and complement of the school arts scene, providing a good arts platform for the residents.

With more collaboration opportunities, arts groups can exchange ideas, work and explore together, and become more creative. This will make the whole arts scene more vibrant and dynamic.

It will take a long time to build an arts ecosystem. We should not only bring arts to the people, but also allow Singapore’s arts community to groom more top-notch arts professionals. To that end, we must build a vibrant community arts ecosystem.

(In English): With the mainstream media’s support, having shared resources for performing arts of different genres, as well as partnership between community arts groups and schools, these help to achieve synergy to build a vibrant community arts eco-system.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Terence Ho for his suggestions to improve the vibrancy and sustainability of the arts and culture in Singapore. MCCY and our cultural institutions recognise the importance of fostering the sustained and sustainable growth of Singapore’s arts and culture over the longer term. We have been and are committed to working closely with partners from the private and people sectors towards this end.

I will start by addressing Mr Ho's first and third suggestions on the use of spaces for the arts and culture. I agree that it is important to ensure efficient use of physical spaces in land-scarce Singapore. The Gross Floor Area (GFA) that is dedicated to artists and arts companies has grown almost five-fold over the last 30 years. Venues such as the Goodman Arts Centre (GAC), Stamford Arts Centre (SAC), Aliwal Arts Centre, and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, currently provide our arts community with many creation and presentation spaces. However, demand for art spaces continues to increase and remains high. Given our limited resources with rising rental costs and increasing competition for space, co-location initiatives and shared spaces are necessary to ensure that our existing spaces are effectively used for the benefit of more arts practitioners.

Multi-purpose studios, performance venues, office spaces and storage rooms are co-shared at our arts centres. This arrangement not only maximises available spaces but also allows the arts community to strengthen their networks, facilitate exchange of ideas, and increase opportunities for collaboration and partnership. For example, the GAC offers arts practitioners the use of facilities such as a Black Box, dance studio, and acoustically-treated music studios. GAC's multi-disciplinary tenant mix was a purposeful design by the National Arts Council (NAC) to catalyse diverse and quality artistic works, create greater synergies and collaborations amongst the various art forms, and introduce appreciation of different art forms and genres to audiences. Today, GAC is an energetic arts enclave, drawing in the public interested in experiencing the diverse range of art forms and arts activities on offer. We agree with Mr Ho's suggestion that NAC can grow the Stamford Arts Centre's potential to similarly develop into a vibrant and attractive arts venue with the mix of performing arts groups which share its spaces.

NAC will continue to review arts spaces under its care and will prioritise shared and common spaces that benefit more groups. As Mr Ho mentioned, there are two co-working spaces for arts freelancers at GAC and SAC. They will be officially launched in the coming weeks, which would further contribute to the dynamism of our arts spaces. Mr Ho's idea of a shared warehouse is a good one that NAC will explore as a way to diversify our art space offerings. Given our limited arts GFA, however, we would also encourage our arts practitioners to consider how they can pool their resources to rent commercial spaces, or for members in the arts community with existing facilities to open them up for sharing with or rental to others.

Aside from arts spaces under NAC, we also work closely with corporate and community partners to unlock new space for arts practitioners. One such partner is the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which encourages developers to allocate space in malls for arts, sports and social groups with strong community links through its Community Sports Facilities Scheme. Arts groups like Wild Rice, Singapore Dance Theatre and The Rice Company Limited are examples of organisations that have successfully benefited from this scheme through retail operators like CapitaLand, Far East Organisation and Frasers Centrepoint. We hope that more developers and venue owners could support this scheme and provide space for artists to flourish and contribute to their communities.

Other partners are the Community Centres and Clubs (CCs). Mr Ho would be familiar with community orchestras and bands that have been formed and housed at our CCs such as Keat Hong Chinese Orchestra at the Chua Chu Kang CC and West Winds at the Bukit Batok CC. These groups are dedicated to developing young talents and are useful platforms for many to continue pursuing their passions even after leaving school.

In addition, NAC also works with the People’s Association (PA) to facilitate co-location of arts groups within community facilities such as Our Tampines Hub and Wisma Geylang Serai. As Mr Ho noted, the arts groups in such venues can contribute to the vibrancy of their neighbourhoods and grow their community stakeholders. NAC and PA are open to considering more of such co-location opportunities if there is a good fit between our CCs and the needs, priorities, and commitment of arts groups, including alumni arts groups. On their part, arts groups should be responsive and adaptive to the needs of local audiences and community stakeholders such as grassroots organisations and space owners.

Mr Deputy Speaker, let me now turn to Mr Ho's other suggestion, namely the reinstatement of a radio station and TV channel to promote the arts. I agree with Mr Ho that it is important to promote the arts to as wide an audience as possible and to give everyone the opportunity to experience our vibrant culture and for it to become a part of all Singaporeans’ lives.

NAC already works with mainstream media platforms to showcase the arts. For example, Hear65, a national movement launched in 2018, partnered with local radio station UFM 100.3 in 2019 to present six shows profiling our local artists, drawing an audience of over 1,500 and 80,000 views online. In addition, Mediacorp as our national broadcaster continues to make arts content accessible and enjoyable to the public across its free-to-air and digital platforms, where appropriate. Arts and culture-related programming that have been broadcast recently include SPOP Sing!, Lights. Camera. Singapore., and Singapore Talent Night, which showcased performances by local artists who performed at River Hongbao 2019. MCCY and NAC will continue to explore opportunities to work with mainstream media to reach out to radio and TV audiences.

However, with the increasingly widespread use of technology, coupled with global trends on declining TV viewership and radio listenership, it is important to also tap on digital platforms and channels to complement traditional media to transform the way in which audiences engage with our arts and culture. As Minister Grace Fu announced at the 2019 Committee of Supply debate, MCCY, NAC and NHB are developing new digital initiatives such as the one-stop online Cultural Concierge for arts and culture activities and content and the Cultural Resource Ontology to facilitate easier public access to our cultural resources. We are actively digitising our national collection and making this accessible through platforms such as NHB's Roots.sg as well as the National Library Board's National Online Repository of the Arts (NORA).

Most recently, the Esplanade launched a multimedia site Offstage in October 2019, hosting behind-the-scenes, broadcast, interactive and archival content of the performing arts. Through such initiatives, we seek to bring our arts and culture to new audiences while simultaneously engaging existing audiences in new and meaningful ways.

Mr Deputy Speaker, to realise our shared vision of a vibrant and sustainable arts landscape in Singapore, it is in our arts and cultural groups' own interest and responsibility to ensure their long-term relevance and success. This can range from developing audiences to appreciate their work, to creating new works of art which can appeal to a wider audience and continually enhancing their governance and financial processes to attract and retain donors and sponsors. MCCY and NAC are committed to working with our arts practitioners towards this end.

*Question put, and agreed to.*

*Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn."*

Adjourned accordingly at 7.24 pm.