Withdrawal of NAC Funding to Author of "State of Emergency"

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) why did the National Arts Council (NAC) withdraw its funding to the author of the book "State of Emergency"; (b) whether the author has failed to comply with any deliverables and, if so, what are the deliverables; and (c) whether the book has failed to comply with any of NAC's requirements and, if so, what is the non-compliance.

The author received funding under the Creation Grant Scheme in 2010, which supports the incubation of new works.

As with all NAC Creation grants, artists and arts groups sign an agreement with NAC upon successful application. This agreement sets out the terms and conditions for the grant. Based on these agreed terms, NAC then disburses this grant in stages. In certain cases, NAC may only be able to partially support projects. For instance, when the artist is unable to meet project milestones that include mutually agreed deliverables and timelines; or when the artist is unable to secure copyright and other clearances; or when the work is assessed not to meet NAC's funding requirements.

In this case, the project did not meet the funding requirements mutually agreed upon as the content in the book deviated from the original proposal. Members may want to note that the book has been published in Singapore and is in circulation in bookstores.

Beyond grants for specific projects, NAC's support to artists includes facilitating arts housing, professional development, market and audience development, and arts philanthropy. NAC may support an artist or arts group in other areas, even if it is unable to support a specific project.