More creative jobs being created

MANY creative and arts-related jobs will be in Singapore's ‘new economy’ and improving the country's arts education is critical, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

‘(Arts education) will train talent for the many creative and arts-related jobs which the new economy is producing,’ he said, giving examples such as producers or managers in the music industry, and sound or visual-effects artists in the animation and computer-games design industry.

 At the launch of a new music degree to be offered at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) in collaboration with The Royal College of Music London (RCM), Mr Lee said that the arts deepen the soul of society and foster nation-building.

He added: ‘(Arts and music education) enriches our lives, stirs our collective imagination, promotes critical reflection and social dialogue, gives voice to shared memories and experiences, and helps to make Singapore an endearing home.’

Mr Lee, who was the guest of honour, was joined by Education Minister Ng Eng Hen at the official signing ceremony held at the Nafa campus in Bencoolen Street.

The Bachelor of Music degree programme is the first publicly funded degree programme launched at an arts institution.

It is also the first time RCM is conferring its degree on graduates outside Britain. The two-year programme for diploma graduates will include a seven-week study visit to RCM in London.

Mr Lee said that both Nafa and the LaSalle College of the Arts have made steady progress since the Government began funding diploma programmes in arts institutions in 1999.

The schools have improved the quality of their student intakes, recruited better teachers and enhanced how their programmes are delivered.

Mr Lee said: ‘Nafa's degree programme with the RCM is a further step on this journey.’

Stressing collaboration as an important aspect of Singapore's efforts to enhance its arts education, Mr Lee said that he hoped to see more quality partnerships being offered by arts institutions here.

He added that such partnerships will ‘raise the quality of our overall arts and cultural landscape and pave the way for Singapore to become a premier arts centre of Asia and a distinctive global city’.

- This article first appeared in my paper on April 26.