Debated in Parliament on 11 Mar 2014.
Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.
Mr Chairman, the Acting Minister has earlier outlined what we want Singapore to be: a City of the Arts, a sporting nation and, most fundamentally, our home. To fulfil these objectives, MCCY has adopted an inclusive approach to the arts and sports.
Mr Baey Yam Keng, Miss Penny Low, Mr Arthur Fong and Mr Seah Kian Peng spoke about the need for the Government to engage all segments of society. I fully agree with them. Please allow me to share how we are supporting the specific sectors that Members of this House have asked about – they are our traditional arts groups and also our disabled athletes. Thereafter, I will cover more broadly our efforts to reach out to the wider community.
Mr Chairman, with your permission I would like to display some slides on the screens. [Slides were shown to hon Members.] Thank you. Mr Baey Yam Keng asked how the Government supports, preserves and promotes our traditional arts, citing the example of Sin Sai Hong, a Hokkien street opera troupe that is closing down. I am heartened by Mr Baey's initiative to link Sin Sai Hong up with the National Museum of Singapore on the possibility of donating their costumes, props and other opera items to the Museum. The Museum welcomes donations of heritage value that can be preserved for all Singaporeans to enjoy, and I understand that the curators are now in the
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process of engaging Sin Sai Hong.
As someone who appreciates the traditional arts, the loss of Sin Sai Hong really saddens me. I remember watching Sin Sai Hong's performances when I was young. But I would like to take this opportunity to assure Mr Baey that this does not mean the demise of the art form. To preserve the art form, apart from the Government's effort, opera lovers must also come together to support our opera troupes. And this is, indeed, happening on the ground. I am very heartened to also learn that the Chinese Opera Institute has recently set up a research and development fund which is open to our opera troupes, and they have raised nearly $500,000. With MCCY's Cultural Matching Fund, they could come close to their fundraising target of $1 million.
To support our traditional arts, NAC launched a five-year National Traditional Arts plan in 2011. The plan aims to improve the quality of productions, increase the audience base and also the accessibility of traditional arts, as well as to identify the next generation of practitioners. For example, under the plan, the NAC supports traditional arts programmes in schools and NAC also works closely with industry partners to leverage on cultural festivals to profile the traditional arts. Indeed, as Mr Baey has pointed out, not all groups are aware of the available support, so NAC has started to proactively reaching out to the arts groups. One example is the traditional arts consultancy programme where NAC pairs promising traditional arts groups with the consultants to upgrade their management skills and also to plan for their future. To date, four traditional arts groups have benefited from this programme and NAC plans to continue this programme in the Financial Year 2014. Another example is the Malay music where NAC brought together various Malay music groups and practitioners to form a Malay Music Development Committee.
Through this Committee, NAC has launched training programmes that build skills among the Malay music practitioners. Since its implementation, we have seen a growing interest in the traditional arts, especially among young Singaporeans. In fact, last year, I attended the Singapore Kwangtung Hui Kuan's Dialect Nursery Rhymes book and CD launch, one of the many projects supported by MCCY. To my pleasant surprise, the dialect rhymes in the CD were actually recited and sung by school students in five different dialects. It was most heartening to see such an interest among our young.
So, this is the Nursery Book and there is a CD inside. I bought 10 copies at the launch and I have been giving this book to friends and relatives who are interested in traditional arts. I am very happy to present this copy to Mr Baey for being so passionate about promoting the traditional arts. By the way, I still
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have two extra copies left. So, Members who are keen can come and see me after this, on a first-come-first-served basis.
Mr Chairman, now allow me to give my speech in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Traditional arts is not just an important part of developing Singapore's culture. It promotes understanding between different communities and is a channel for us to appreciate one another. Hence, MCCY will continue to support, develop and promote traditional arts.
Owing to work and personal interest, I often attend arts performances. In the past, the most frequent feedback I received was that the Government did not give enough grant for traditional arts groups.
Based on the feedback, the National Arts Council (NAC) launched the National Traditional Arts Plan. Under this programme, many established and emerging traditional arts groups received funding. Among them was Di Yi Music Company, an arts group consisting of 20 musicians. They play traditional Chinese music as well as cross-genre modern music using traditional Chinese instruments to promote Chinese Chamber music. After it had received the seed funding, it has grown tremendously. Last year, they received a major funding from NAC to stage the inaugural International Chinese Chamber Music Festival at the Esplanade. The Festival featured performances by famous chamber music groups from Beijing, Taiwan and Macau. It provided opportunities for networking and for people to appreciate Chinese Chamber music.
Since the launch of the National Traditional Arts Plan, we saw the number of audience watching traditional arts grow gradually year on year. However, we are more concerned with whether younger generations are interested in traditional arts. The NAC has done a study in 2011 and found that 49% of traditional dance audience are aged between 25 and 29. It is truly encouraging to see the audience are getting younger.
How do we cultivate the younger generation to understand and appreciate traditional arts is a key concern. Through helping schools organise traditional arts programme, we have increased students' exposure to traditional arts form. These school programmes include bringing arts groups to perform during assembly, organising learning journeys to traditional arts studios and helping students put up traditional arts performances.
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NAC will continue to deepen its collaboration with its stakeholders. This year, we will have close collaboration with many traditional arts groups to stage a series of shows and performances. These include Malay dance, music programme Muara, Chinese dance and Indian dance. In addition, we will periodically tap on existing cultural festivals and activities to promote traditional arts, such as the Singapore Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival.
Besides funding and support from the Government and schools, the community also play an important role in supporting traditional arts. With the support from the people, traditional arts will have a fixed audience base and will be able to get sponsorship from businesses. With the support from the business, arts groups will be equipped to stage excellent shows. The Nan Hwa Amateur Musical and Drama Association celebrated their 50th Anniversary last year. They staged the Teochew opera – the Dream of Xiaozhuang, sponsored by the Super Group. The first performance drew 1,000 audience. If the Government, businesses and the audience can work hand-in-hand to support traditional arts, I believe traditional arts will have a bright future.
Therefore, sincerely, I hope that these efforts would deepen Singaporeans' understanding of traditional arts, cultivating a sense of identity and pride. This would ensure that our traditional arts can continue to play an important role of our cultural building block.
(In English): Mr Chairman, I will now speak on another area that is close to my heart – that is, how we are better supporting our disabled athletes, a point that was mentioned by Miss Penny Low.
Miss Penny Low spoke very passionately about our disabled athletes and I share the passion which is contagious. I am happy to inform Members of this House that the Government is committed to supporting our disabled athletes. Vision 2030 speaks about Sports Without Boundaries – and, indeed, we want all Singaporeans, including the disabled community, to be able to experience the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle. We also want our disabled athletes to know that they can aspire to sporting excellence.
We have been supporting our disabled athletes in many ways. We provide grants to the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to help the Council and their athletes with coaching, overseas competitions, sports medicine and sports science. Last year, we awarded the Sports Excellence (SpEx) Scholarship to seven disabled athletes, including equestrian, bowling and boccia athletes.
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The Acting Minister earlier spoke about the SpEx Career Scheme. SSC is exploring job placements for our able-bodied as well as disabled athletes in companies which have signed up for the scheme. SSC is also actively looking for more companies to join the scheme to give our disabled athletes more career options. I encourage more employers to come forward to be part of this effort. We will continue to work with the SDSC to see how we can better support our disabled athletes, and at the same time provide more opportunities for the disabled community to enjoy sports.
We are also embarking on research and capability development for disability sports. The Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) has started exploring research into sports, such as boccia, so that our sports scientists can provide specialised support to our disabled athletes, to customise their sports equipment and raise their performance standards.
Miss Penny Low also asked about infrastructure for disability sports. The Sports Hub and all new SSC facilities are intended to be used by Singaporeans, including the able-bodied and the disabled. As such, the public access facilities at the Sports Hub, and new SSC facilities will meet the Building and Construction Authority's guidelines for accessibility. They will have amenities like parking, ramps, lifts and walkways that cater to the needs of the disabled and those who are having mobility issues. We are also progressively upgrading our older SSC facilities to make them disabled-friendly too. We hope to be able to see the less able-bodied making full use of the Sports Hub and SSC's facilities. We will certainly consider Miss Low's suggestion to feature our disabled athletes more prominently at the official opening of the Sports Hub.
Mr Chairman, I had the chance to meet with our disabled athletes at the recent ASEAN Para Games in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. They are, indeed, extraordinary. Watching them in action, one could see their grit, determination and tremendous courage. They made Singapore proud when they came home with 27 medals from the Games. But beyond winning medals, their positive attitude and fighting spirit were an inspiration to us all.
I remember vividly a conversation with our table tennis athlete, Mr Jason Chee. For those who know Jason, he was the navy man who was involved in a horrific accident that had caused him to lose both his legs, an arm and two fingers of the remaining arm. After the accident, he could no longer swim or dive as what a navy man does. Despite such adversity, Jason never gives up.
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He retains a positive outlook. He has picked up other skills, trains very hard and is now part of our Team Singapore table tennis team.
At the ASEAN Para Games in Myanmar, I watched Jason's match against an opponent from Vietnam. While both athletes were on wheelchairs, Jason's opponent has two arms with 10 fingers intact. And our Jason has one arm and three fingers. The game was one-sided, with Jason managing to win only a few points in each match. Watching from the sidelines, all the Singapore supporters could not help but feel downcast. When the game was over, I went up to Jason, struggling to find some words of encouragement to talk to him. But much to my surprise, Jason was all smiles and what he told me next was something that I will never forget. He said, "It was a good game, I scored a few points from him. Next time, I want to score a few more!"
These words lifted the spirits of Team Singapore. Jason's never-say-die attitude helped his teammates turn the corner and our table tennis team won four medals, which is a very good result for the team's first international outing!
Apart from Jason, there are many other fine role models amongst the Team Singapore disabled athletes – for example, Nurul for boccia, Laurentia for equestrian and Pin Xiu for swimming. Their next target is the 8th ASEAN Para Games which will be held in Singapore in December 2015. I look forward to seeing them in action and I strongly believe that many of them will inspire us once again with their extraordinary deeds.
Mr Chairman, Mr Arthur Fong asked what we can expect for the Para Games in 2015. The Para Games will be special as this is the first time that we are hosting them. We will work with the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) and Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to ensure the Games' success.
We are looking beyond the event itself. The Games are an excellent opportunity to build a community that supports and is inspired by our disabled athletes. Through the Games, we hope Singapore could better appreciate and value people with disabilities and to support every individual to reach his or her full potential, regardless of bodily condition. So, as we prepare for the ASEAN Para Games next year, I hope all Singaporeans can rally together in support of our disabled athletes and the disabled community in Singapore.
Mr Chairman, I will now cover our broader efforts to reach out to the community. Mr Arthur Fong spoke at length about bringing the arts and
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heritage closer to the wider community. There are already many such initiatives, such as People's Association's PAssionArts for the community, NAC's Silver Arts Festival for our pioneers and seniors, and NHB's Heritage Grant Scheme for ground-up community efforts. MCCY has been increasing accessibility to the wider community, because we believe that the arts and sports have the potential to uplift our society – including the underserved and the vulnerable. I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Baey Yam Keng and also Mr Seah Kian Peng that the arts and sports have a transformative power that can touch lives, give hope and help heal. I will first speak about what we are doing through the arts.
I am happy to share with Mr Baey Yam Keng that NAC has been working with the social service sector to support quality arts programmes in special education (SPED) schools and also in VWOs. A good example is the Hua Mei Elder-centred Programme of Integrated Comprehensive Care, which offers a range of arts programmes as part of its integrated services. One of their regular participants, Mdm Maligah, shows great talent and keenness in pottery. When she is engaged in it, she is so focused that she forgets about her chronic pains. In a way, the creative arts serve a dual purpose, as therapy and as an avenue for Mdm Maligah to express herself and also her artistic talents.
We hope to forge many more partnerships like the one at Hua Mei and so NAC is setting aside an additional $1.5 million under ArtReach for VWOs which are interested to work with artists to develop programmes for wellness, intervention or rehabilitation. NAC will match interested artists with VWOs and we will be working with the Community Development Councils to ensure that artist-led projects are coordinated and have maximum impact in the community.
Mr Chairman, I will now share an example from sports. As Members will recall, we established the SportCares Foundation under Vision 2030. Before I go on, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Seah Kian Peng for his personal effort in supporting SportCares. In fact, I am pleased to note the strong support from the community and from corporates. We started fundraising last year with a $1 million Government matching grant, and we now have a total of $2.2 million that will reach out to and serve 4,000 children and youths across 43 sports programmes and projects.
SportCares' flagship programme, the Saturday Night Lights (SNL) football programme, has produced encouraging results. It is helping more than 300 youths to develop good values and also a sense of purpose in life. This model of sport and life coaching has been replicated in other sports, such as the CareRunners programme. And we will roll it out to additional sports activities,
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such as dragonboating, canoeing and kayaking, in the coming months.
Mr Chairman, ArtReach and SportCares initiatives can make a positive difference because of strong support from the community itself – they include Singaporeans, artists and sportspeople who give of their time and effort, passion and skills, to reach out to the underserved and the vulnerable. I think they deserve our appreciation.
I have shared with Members MCCY's inclusive approach of using the arts and the sports to engage the under-privileged in our society. We do so because we envision Singapore as a caring and an inclusive society, a home where all of us can live more meaningfully and purposefully through the arts and sports. With this, thank you.
PAPERCUTS