blueprint for the arts

Every decade or so, there is a new blueprint for the arts. It’s not always clear whether the blueprint is the initiative of the current arts administration or the politicians in charge, whether it is a genuine attempt to improve things, an electioneering ploy or simply an expression of the current administration’s vanity. Some people will view blueprints with cynicism but for art enthusiasts hungry to propel arts into the mainstream, it is always a welcome platform to talk about the arts and inject a fresh impetus and resolve to advance arts development further.

The 1980s blueprint for the arts was enshrined in the 1989 “Report of the Advisory Council for Culture & the Arts”.  The ACCA Report was literally a “blueprint”. We chose blue for its cover.

ACCA Report: a literal "blueprint" for the arts

In Feb 87, the Singapore Government announced its Green Paper & “Agenda for Action” outlining the course for Singapore as we moved towards 1999.  ACCA was set up on 9 Apr 88, to “review the current state of the arts and culture, and to recommend measures that will make Singapore a culturally vibrant society by the turn of the century”.  It was one of six Advisory Committees coordinated by the office of the 1st Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, reviewing various aspects of Singapore life including the arts, education, health, heritage and social services.

2nd Deputy Prime Minister DPM Ong Teng Cheong chaired the ACCA and its members were Arun Mahiznan, Chia Kee Koon (Ministry of Finance), Er Kwong Wah (Education), Hawazi Daipi (Berita Harian), Ho Kwong Ping, Koh Cher Siang (Permanent Secretary (MCD), Leslie Fong (Straits Times), Loy Teck Juan (Lianhe Zaobao), Prof Edwin Thumboo, Robert Iau, Haji Suhaimi Jais (SBC), Tay Kheng Soon, Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin (GM/Singapore Broadcasting Corporation), Yeo Seng Teck (Trade Development Board) and Vincent Yip (ED/Science Council). ACCA members chaired its Committees on Heritage (Tay Kheng Soon), Literary Arts (Prof Thumboo), Performing Arts (Robert Iau), Visual Arts (Yeo Seng Teck) and a Working Group on a “New Cultural Development Agency” (Arun Mahiznan). Ministry of Community Development manned the Secretariat for ACCA with Ng Yew Kang and me as Secretary and Assistant Secretary respectively.

The ACCA met eleven times between Apr 88 and Apr 89 while its committees, 25 subcommittees and working groups met 129 times. Over 200 people including artists, art promoters and historians were involved while 150 written submissions were received from the public. 

The key ACCA recommendations that have materialised include the establishment of the “[Singapore] National Arts Council”, the [Singapore] National Heritage Board [Trust]”, the construction of a new performing art centre at Marina Centre, a modern National Library building on Queen’s Street, and a Fine Arts Gallery in St Joseph’s Institution. The recommendation to allow students to offer Dance, Creative Writing and Theatre Studies has found fruition with the recent set-up of the School of the Arts (SOTA). ACCA also validated the initiatives we introduced earlier including the Theatre Residency Scheme, the Arts Housing Scheme and the conversion of SJI into an art museum.

The recommendations that have not materialised are the establishment of a Children’s Museum (Tao Nan School has been used for the Asian Civilisations Museum), a Literature Board, a Southeast Asian / Natural History / Ethnology Museum, a sculpture park on the Bras Basah Park on which now stands the Singapore Management University. I am not sure about the History of Singapore Museum. There are components of Singapore history in the new “National Museum” but it has become better known for European fashion design exhibitions, art films and touristy events like the Night Festival. I wonder where we can find galleries on important personages like the late S Rajaratnam and EW Barker. I saw an excellent (I’m told “temporary”) exhibition on the late David Marshall in the National Library a few months ago and hope such informative exhibitions will find it way into a full-fledged History Museum eventually.

ACCA gave me the privilege of working once again with DPM Ong. I worked with him in 1975 as a young Administrative Officer in the Ministry of Communications to which he was first posted as Minister. I worked with him again when I became the General Manager of the Singapore Arts Centre Company Limited from 1992 to 97. Mr Ong’s passion for the arts was manifest through his various appointments.  I can’t help thinking of him as the most significant prime mover for the arts in Singapore, having put into place all the essential building blocks - festivals, foundation, awards, the NTUC Cultural Unit and of course, his magnus opus, The Esplanade Theatres.

All the key papers deliberated by ACCA were penned by civil servants including Ng Yew Kang and I who wrote many of them. I sometimes wonder how different it would be were the papers penned by non civil servants. Would the course of arts development taken a different turn?  After all, the value of non-Government ACCA members was to offer a perspective different from us civil servants.

from society to non-profit company

Recently-retired NAC Deputy Director Lim Mee Lian who worked with me in the early 1980s as Organiser (Music Programmes) remarked a while ago that these days, anyone starting a new arts group would opt for the status of “company limited by guarantee”.  No one would apply for “society” status these days.

This wasn’t always the case! 

In the early 80s, nearly all the arts groups were societies and the Ministry’s grant scheme stated that only societies were eligible for its project grants, which were extended for events on an ad hoc basis.  However, when we introduced the annual grant scheme in 1985/6, we found the status of “society” rather disadvantageous.  Art society leaders would say “How can I commit us to an 18-24 months plan of activity when I am not even sure I will still be in charge after the next AGM?”  To the best of my recollection, bickering was not rampant in the arts community although it affected one or two groups.  Nonetheless, we knew that frequent changes to a society’s leadership would not offer a stable enough existence to plan ahead and take advantage of the annual grant, SRSITS and Arts Housing Scheme which were devised to nudge groups into professionalism.

After some research and an appreciation of the legalities, we nudged the art societies to convert into “companies limited by guarantee”. They also needed to apply to become “Institute of Public Character” to enable them to offer tax exempt receipts on donations received and “Charity” status to enjoy income tax exemption. The idea was not new but it struck us one day that there was no reason why the arrangement enjoyed by the SSO could not be tapped by the other groups.  We simply transplanted the idea!

Such “limited by guarantee” companies would typically be founded by two or three equally-committed and compatible individuals who shared a common artistic vision, who needed to put out only a modest capital of their choice, hence, the term “$2 dollar company”.  “Limited by guarantee” companies were soon set up by Goh Soo Khim and Anthony Then (Singapore Dance Theatre), Kuo Pao Kun and Goh Lay Kuan (Practice Performing Arts Company) with many others following suit. TheatreWorks, which started as a “private limited” company, also decided to convert to “company limited by guarantee” status.

In line with this change, at the Ministry’s end, we tweaked the criteria for our schemes to allow companies limited by guarantee to enjoy access to them.  So, such companies enjoyed the best of all worlds – the much-valued organisational stability and access to annual and project grants, the SRSITS and Arts Housing Scheme, all of which demanded an organisational and financial stability and continuity; income tax exemption and the facility to offer tax exempt receipts on donations. Directors of such companies would not earn dividends as all operating surpluses would be ploughed back into the company but we did not prohibit them from earning a salary as artistic directors or company managers.

The only downside they had to contend with was that such companies could not get bank loans to pay for major productions or renovation works. Years later, in the 1990s, at a NAC Cultural Plan meeting, I suggested to NAC to front a bank loan on behalf of art companies, to tide them over in deserving situations, but I’m not sure they saw the merit in the idea.  Thankfully, committed, well-heeled board members of some of the art companies have secured credit lines on their company’s behalf.

In the late 1990s when I started to administer the Singapore Pools donation programme for charity and sports groups, I cross-pollinated the ideas for the annual arts grant scheme and SRSITS  to hatch a system of annual grants for the national sports associations, uniformed groups and for grassroots organisations (“SPIN” for “Singapore Pools in the Neighbourhood”) under which we ”bartered” an annual donation for an annual calendar of four events. 

It was déjà vu for me to watch some of the sports associations in turmoil as executive committees got overthrown at AGMs.  I wondered if it would be appropriate for them to consider conversion to “companies limited by guarantee” but despite the big difference that it had made to the arts landscape over the then ten (now >20) years, I realised that this was somebody else’s call to make!

theatre residency scheme; 18 “army daze”

At the Gala Performance of  Wild Rice’s “On Time, On Target” held on Friday, 10 July 09, Wild Rice Artistic Director Ivan Heng harked back to the year 1987 when he played the very memorable Recruit Malcolm in a landmark play named “Army Daze”.

“Army Daze” written by Michael Chiang, was staged by TheatreWorks 18 times(!)  in 1987 under what we clumsily called the “Semi-Residential Status in Theatres Scheme” (SRSITS, in short). 

Several ideas gave rise to the scheme.  We noted that in England and Europe, theatres were dedicated and customized to the needs of specific art companies such as the National Theatre, the London Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.  At the same too, we noted that the local pattern of theatre usage was inefficient.  As many days were wasted on changeovers as was used to stage performances due to the typical “bump-in + 2 performances + bump-out” pattern.   Furthermore, theatre rentals ate up about 20% of show production budget, making the Ministry’s grants meaningless as the groups were merely “refunding” it in the form of theatre rentals.

While the SSO had been given exclusive of the Victoria Concert Hall in 1978, we did not feel ready to hand any of the other theatres over for the exclusive use of any particular group.  Theatre time was a precious and limited resource and all groups should have equal access to it and we could expect criticisms from the community if we treated any group specially.  However, a theatre housing scheme that enabled a theatre to be shared by a few groups, might be acceptable.  Hence, the term “semi-residential” in two senses, that groups would share a theatre and, none would be housed in it on daily basis.

Work on SRSITS started in the second half of 1986 when we invited arts groups to apply for semi-residential status in the Government theatres. Groups would be selected on the basis of their artistic standard, track record and compatibility with the theatre facility. In exchange for the privilege of priority-booking up to 12 rent-free performing days a year (with adequate rehearsal and sessions), a group had to produce four productions (at least three performances each), to be staged on a quarterly basis around the year. Half of the productions should be new works, preferably Singaporean in origin and the group should attain at least 75% house at these “paid” shows. The groups could apply for Ministry and Foundation grants and space under the Arts Housing Scheme. Theatre staff was encouraged to extend all possible assistance to the groups including clerical and technical assistance without the usual overtime charges.  A case was made out to the Ministry of Finance later to exempt them from entertainment tax. They were allowed to keep all ticket proceeds with the understanding that they would plough it back into future productions.

From 1 Jan 1987 when SRSITS was implemented, ten groups made the grade, enjoying SRSITS status on a one or two year renewable basis. They included Act 3, TheatreWorks and Practice Performing Arts School (in the old Drama Centre on Fort Canning Road), Chinese Theatre Circle, Sriwarna, ST*ARS, Stage Club and Singapore Dance Theatre (in Victoria Theatre).  In 1989, when the scheme was renewed, the opportunity was taken to rename less clumsily as the “Theatre Residency Scheme”.    

Reactions to the scheme was mixed giving rise at first to an article titled “Some doubts over ministry’s rent-free scheme” (Straits Times, 20 Oct 86).   A group lobbied an MP to pressure the Ministry to relax the terms but we stuck to our grounds, making clear that the rigor in the scheme was intended, as a way to encourage professionalism.   Two years later after the scheme had completed its first run, SRSITS was applauded as  “One “funding” scheme for local theatre that works” in a Straits Times article published on 15 Aug 1988.  

I believe the scheme was a “win-win” for everyone.  Not only could groups book ahead and secure longer runs for a production at minimal costs, the theatres were used much more efficiently, with higher yields in performances.   The requirement for “theatre residents” to stage at least two original, preferably Singaporean productions a year,  fueled local play-writing and plays like Kuo Pao Kun’s “Silly Little Girl” and “Funny Old Tree” were staged under the scheme.  The Theatre Residency Scheme is no longer in existence today.   Theatre rentals are now funded from production grants extended to art companies, not unlike in the mid-80s. 

TheatreWorks’ “Army Daze” directed by Lim Siauw Chong, was staged 18 times in 1987 at the old Drama Centre in two seasons.  Coincidentally, the very watchable “On Time On Target (OTOT)” staged by Wild Rice is also playing for 18 days at the new Drama Centre, from 8 to 15 July 2009!  What warm memories OTOT evoked plus a sense of  déjà vu.

new museums in old buildings

Singapore Art Museum

The recent opening of Q8 is a real blast from the past! 

Having won acceptance for the idea of using old buildings for arts and heritage with the approval of my1986 “Heritage Link” paper under the ambit of the 1986 Tourism Development Product Plan spearheaded by MTI’s Low Chin Nam and STPB Director Pamelia Lee, the next challenge was to match buildings to functions. 

I was driving Dr George MacDonald Director / Canadian Museum of Man around in my blue Toyota, circling the Bras Basah Road area when I remarked, “Wouldn’t that beautiful SJI building be perfect for an art museum?  Imagine a series of sculptures in the windows of the 2^nd level corridor?”  Dr MacDonald responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!” and so, the path was set! 

Imagining a series of sculptures along the arched windows

It was serendipity that we found Dr MacDonald.  The late Leow Jwee How who was then chairing the Museum Advisory Committee and spearheading its long-term development plan chanced to meet him in the rotunda of the museum.   They had a good chat and having finding out what Dr MacDonald had accomplished with the Canadian Museum of Man, Leow and then Director, National Museum Lee Wai Kok, decided to appoint him our museum development consultant.   He made several trips to Singapore and participated in rounds of discussions with the Tourism Development Product Plan Committee championed by Pamelia Lee and URA planners Goh Hup Chor and Koh-Lim Wen Jin. 

A Straits Times article “SJI to be turned into an art gallery” was published on 13 Jan 1987.  The article announced that SJI (built in 1867) would be converted into an art gallery after it is vacated by the school in Dec 87.  Art curator Constance Sheares was quoted as saying that “Since the Eighties, we have been lobbying for bigger space.  At last, a building has been offered.”   It was also reported that SJI principal Brother Kevin Byrne was “pleased with the prospect of the school being turned into an art gallery”.

I subsequently found myself having to fend off a band of senior architects.  They felt SJI was too small and the ceilings too low, for a modern art gallery and advocated that it be returned to the La Salle Brothers for use as the La Salle College of the Arts.  I remember trying to reason with them with some urgency, “Look! You have only 800sqm in the National Museum Art Gallery.   Here, you’re getting 5,000 sqm, a six-fold increase in space.  Please work with it as I do not envision your request for a new building materializing anytime now.  To placate them, I secured the Catholic High School premises on Queen Street as an extension to SAM.

Although the historic buildings had been secured in the late 80s, the projects lay dormant until Shirley Loo-Lim joined the National Museum in 1990/1.  I was then manning the Corporate Services portfolio in MICA and between us and our very supportive Permanent Secretary Goh Lim Leong and Deputy Secretary Lim Siam Kim who later became the first Chief Executive Officer of the National Heritage Board (NHB), we painstakingly (working late evening hours where necessary), wrote the papers seeking funds for the restoration of SJI, Tao Nan School and Empress Place Building.  Minister George Yeo had a very keen interest in all the projects, urging us to complete the projects quickly. The Tao Nan School building which we had earmarked for a children’s museum, was transformed into the first Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM), to house Chinese furniture and ceramic collections relocated from Hong Kong upon its 1997 handover to China.

We also restored the stretch of shop-houses next to the Substation on Armenian Street, to house NHB staff including Dr Kenson Kwok who were housed in containers behind the National Library building.  Whenever it stormed, the grounds flooded and power lines failed, disrupting the curators’ work.  In charge of Human Resource matters in MICA, I felt that such work conditions were not acceptable.  With Permanent Secretary Goh’s approval, I bided for and secured the row of shop-houses on Armenian Street, for staff housing.  These shop-houses right next to the Substation, had lain vacant since occupants like a reptile product shop and the Sun Yat Sen Library moved out.  The PWD,  Shirley and I worked quickly to fit out the premises and staff moved into it within a year.  With Shirley’s support, art consultant Marjorie Chu printed cards to raise funds for the set-up of an attractive museum shop in the corner unit. We secured the land next to it for a garden and if I recall correctly, we had thoughts of setting up a simple al fresco café as an extension to the shop.   

Site of Museum Shop Cafe that never materialised.

To their credit, the architects and art curators made the buildings work.  I have great respect for PWD architect Wong Hoo Wai who restored the SJI, for his dedication and passion.  Some tears were shed as he struggled to balance the functional needs of a modern art museum while upholding conservation guidelines.  I still remember how disappointed he was when it was decided to air-condition the SJI corridors.  

As it turned out, the National Heritage Board has still not managed to secure a brand-new building to house its exhibitions.  Their only new purpose-built building is its conservation centre in Jurong Port Road.   All the new museums being planned will be housed in the conserved buildings we secured in the late 80s, including plans for an art gallery in City Hall which we had earmarked for a constitutional history gallery. 

On hindsight, I realize that the 1985 recession spelt good news for arts and heritage. Sites on which historical buildings stood which might otherwise have been claimed for swanky new office complexes, fell into our laps. I’m also glad we pushed ahead on SJI despite the objections of well-meaning objectors.

Singapore Cultural Foundation – sponsorship for the arts

When the National Arts Council was formed in 1991, its start-up funds were drawn from its predecessors – the Ministry’s Cultural Affairs Division, the Singapore Cultural Foundation and the National Theatre Trust. 

The Singapore Cultural Foundation was mooted in 1978 by then Minister for Culture the late Ong Teng Cheong whom I credit for having put into place all the essential buildings blocks for arts development – from arts showcases (at least six festivals) to awards for (Cultural Medallion)  artists and sponsors (Patron of the Arts Awards).

Rationale for Singapore Cultural Foundation logo

The Singapore Cultural Foundation was the fund-raising arm for the arts, a repository for tax-exempt donations from individuals and corporate organizations.  By the time I joined the Ministry of Culture in April 1981, the Foundation had raised about $4 million and grants made to a handful of artists.  While the Foundation’s Fund-raising Committee focused on fund-raising, my role was to develop the donation programme, to demonstrate its worth as quickly as possible, to honour our obligations to our pioneering sponsors and attract more donations.

I got approval from Lee Wai Kok, former Deputy Secretary (Culture), to engage a full-time Executive Officer to staff the secretariat of the Foundation.  Rosni Othman who now works with the Singapore Dance Theatre, was recruited.  As it was difficult to get new posts from Ministry of Finance and not wanting to waste energy trying, we decided to engage Rosni from the Foundation’s financial resources. She was succeeded by Elaine Tan who is now a Director in NAC.

We convened quarterly Management Committee meetings chaired by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary (Cheng Tong Fatt, Wong Hung Khim, Koh Cher Siang) to decide on the grants.  Synergizing its funding policy with the Ministry’s Cultural Affairs Division, we introduced a system of four (quarterly) funding cycles a year to deal with requests and proactively sought out areas and projects to support rather than wait or merely react.  We devised a series of grant schemes in an effort to give the work some shape, introduced scholarships awards including one for disabled artists; and extended seed grants to new arts initiatives like the National Library’s Arts Resource Centre (now the Performing Arts Library at The Esplanade) and Singapore International Jazz Festival.  This earned us the accolade “Playing fairy godmother to the arts” in a Straits Times article written by Judith Holmberg on 9 Dec 1987.  

First (catch-up) Annual Report of Singapore Cultural Foundation

We also staged events twice yearly to honour our benefactors and present awards to artists   We published our very first annual report in 1983, unveiling our committee composition, our beneficiaries, our Constitution and donations received. We caught up with the back-log and the first report contained a super-long list of sponsors and, beneficiaries.  For our first sponsors’ event, I used Chng Seok Tin’s work ‘Melody on the Moor‘ on the cover of the programme sheet. Seok was away in Mexico having got the Foundation grant to study overseas and I visited her family in Haig Road, to secure permission to use her work.  I also invited writer Maria P Tan, another grant recipient, to enact her latest short story. The event turned out to be quite pleasant and kicked off a series of twice-a year ceremonial events.

Recognizing that donors might have preferences, we set up special accounts for specific causes or arts groups. At first, there was resistance owing to the concern that such an option would erode support for the Endowment Fund. I argued that the Endoment Fund was stagnating and we needed to energize the fund-raising effort.  In any case, funds would not have flowed in, if not for the special accounts.  The scheme proceeded and we received a fresh flow of donations, for Singapore Dance Theatre, the Singapore Festival of Arts, American Artists programmes, SIA Great performers’ series and other favourite causes.  The “Scholarships for Disabled Artists” account was set up for Hi! Theatre, kicking off with a dinner hosted by Goodwood Hotel and featuring a Hi! Theatre performance.  The NAC inherited these special accounts and still operating some of them today.

The Foundation also published “Singapore Artists”, the first-ever coffee table book  featuring 68 Singapore visual artists and; “Zubir Said: His Songs” featuring the life story and songs of our National Anthem composer; and the story of how “Majulah Singapura” came to be chosen as Singapore’s National Anthem.

I served as Secretary of the Foundation’s Management Committee for a period of nine years from 1981 to 1990 when I was posted to the Ministry of Communications and Information.

Annual Reports of Singapore Cultural Foundation

arts housing scheme – $10 a classroom a month

In the early 1980s, I recall a Finance Ministry official asking me why artists needed space when they had theatres and my reply that before every performance in a theatre, 6 to 9 months of preparatory work go on, invisible to the public eye, in the homes of artists and other found places.  I tried to explain that arts groups needed rehearsal spaces, offices, workshops and storage space.

I couldn’t have been very persuasive as the Ministry later shut the case on the Ministry of Culture’s proposal to restore the Singapore Staff Command College building on Fort Canning into an arts centre. The building which had served as the British Far East Command Centre during WW2 had stood vacant for many years except for the bats that nested there.  It later housed the Fort Canning Club and now Legends Club.

It was this conversation and several incidents in the mid-1980s that inspired the Arts Housing Scheme which I hatched in 1985.  In 1983 and 1985, we conducted surveys on the housing arrangements for arts groups and found that except for groups which were aligned to clan associations or churches, the majority were “nomadic” in nature.  They held their rehearsals in the homes of Committee members, at the now demolished Drama Centre’s “Practice Rooms A & B” (where the new Annexe of the National Museum now stands), in school halls and community centres, as and when they were available and the groups could afford it.

Around that time too, textile artist Eng Tow approached me to enquire about the availability of space for artist studios.  She shared that in England where she had trained at St Martin’s, the Arts Council had arts studios for rent to artists.   Kuo Pao Kun also approached me for financial assistance towards the repairs on the Practice Performing Arts School premises in Upper Serangoon Road.  These enquiries pointed to a gap in arts development services which was of marginal interest as we were pre-occupied with the organization of arts events.

With arts administrators in Berlin

In 1985, I was sent to West Berlin to attend a Seminar on Cultural Administration organized by the Goethe Institut.  There, I saw a railway station and other old buildings converted into arts spaces.  This was also the case in Australia which I toured in 1988 – Gormon House in Canberra, Victoria Meat Market in Melbourne, Gertrude Street in Sydney and many others.

Every quarter,  the Land Office circulated a list of disused Government buildings, mostly disused schools to all ministries.  The organisations which normally responded to the offer were the charitable service organizations.  It dawned on me that the arts were as needy as these charitable groups but not knowing whether our requests would be well received,  I invited Mr S Rajaratnam of the Land Office for a chat.   He was kind enough to come over to my office at City Hall and after sharing with him about “Cultural Vision 1999”, our conversation went something like this (truly!):  Juliana: “Mr Raja, we desperately need buildings for the arts”.  Mr Raja: “No one ever told me this before”.  Juliana: “I’m telling you now!” From that day onwards, Mr Raja became my best ally for arts development.   He sent us a seemingly endless supply of buildings.

The first building, the Telok Ayer Primary School (which we renamed ”Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC)”) in Cecil Street was offered to us with the expectation that it would be demolished within five years. The school was vacated in November 1984 and by January 1985, it had re-opened as an arts centre, housing St*ars (led by Roger Jenkins and Maria Wheeler), Chinese Theatre Circle, Singapore Amateur Players, National Theatre Trust affiliates, the National Dance Company and Third Stage. I remember exhorting the groups not to worry over its appearance. “The structure is sound and we have light and water”, I said, “Just move in!”  The groups paid a rental of $10 a classroom a month in addition to which they bore all utilities and conservancy charges.  They were also expected to form a management committee to self-manage the premises.

The next building offered to us was the very charming 26, Cairnhill Road which I later learnt, housed the former ACS Primary School. I remember surveying the three–storey building from the courtyard, with Tisa and Irene Wong.  We felt slightly unnerved by the signs of abandonment – broken window panes and the stench of urine, etc as we made our way to the upper floors together.  As the building had been vacant for too long and we did not have funds to restore it, the only group that was brave enough to accept our offer, was Act 3 led by Ruby Lim-Yang, Jasmin Samat and R Chandran.  They confined themselves to the school hall one level below the main building.  Having  committed themselves to the challenge of proving that their venture could be profitable, they chose to remain a “private limited” company and paid a commercial rental besides raising funds to restore and fit out the space to their needs.  They proved their case over the years and I have such great respect for all three of them.

Stamford Arts Centre

The third building was the Stamford Arts Centre on Waterloo Street, opposite the Kuan Imm temple.  Mr Raja warned me that it would be available only for 3 years as there were plans to widen the road.  I decided to accept it anyway and the groups that moved in included Bhaskar’s and Practice Performing Arts Centre.   The Telok Kurau East School on Telok Kurau, Lorong J was next secured for the St Patrick’s Arts Centre which was still morphing into the La Salle School of the Arts.  Since La Salle vacated it, it has become a visual arts centre housing notable artists like Tan Swie Hian, Teo Eng Seng, the late Anthony Poon, Chng Seok Tin and many others.

Teluk Kurau Artists Studios (first allocated to La Salle College)

By far the most famous building under the Arts Housing Scheme is the Substation. This old power station had lain vacant for about 6 years. Desperate to find more buildings, we decided to check out every prospect, no matter how unlikely a candidate a building looked. From the exterior, the “blood & bandage” styled brick building looked unfriendly, like a fortress, quite unlike the more open school buildings we had secured.  I remember climbing up a vertical steel ladder on the left rear of the building, sliding open a huge door to land on a concrete floor with a few holes punctuated into a basement.  I learnt later that this was where the generator was housed.  

At back side of building, the heavy sliding door which we slid open to find a generator room

I wasn’t optimistic about its prospects given its relatively derelict state but emboldened by Tisa’s optimism, we decided to invite concepts from several arts groups.  An article “PUB station turns arts centre” written by Leong Weng Kam was published on 30 Sep 86 in the Straits Times revealed that two groups submitted good proposals but we eventually awarded it to Kuo Pao Kun who transcended the immediate needs of his own theatre group, to pioneer the concept of an inclusive, multi-disciplinary arts centre.  The Substation was the first art housing to receive a renovation grant as it would not have been possible for any of the arts groups to fund the project from their own limited resources.  The building was enhanced.  The art gallery was a car porch into which a large vehicle would have backed and the dance studio was built on the flat rooftop.

 

The groups that were fortunate enough to secure the space shared that within  a year,  their output tripled as they had the luxury of rehearsal space that they could use whenever they needed and at minimal costs. 

The Arts Housing Scheme has grown over the years, stretching  into Perumal Road and Kerbau Road in Little India,  parts of China Town, community centres, libraries and more recently, decanted space in new or retrofitted office buildings.   When I look back, I am so glad I did not reject Telok Ayer or Stamford schools.  They have served as worthy arts housing spaces for over 20 years, way in excess of the 3-5 years expected!   It is pure joy for me, to walk into the compounds of TAPAC and Stamford Art Centre and be enveloped by the cacophonic strains of  ethnic music, mixed with the voices of actors emanating from these acoustically-untreated buildings!

wishing, hoping and getting the esplanade theatres, a world-class performing art centre

In the 1980s, theatre groups had the choice of the Victoria Theatre (an 800-seat colonial legacy in the style of Her Majesty’s and Theatre Royal in Commonwealth countries), Singapore Conference Hall (a 1000+ seat convention centre designed by prominent Penang-born architect Datuk Lim Chong Keat and renowned acousticians Berenek, Bolt & Neumann (BBN)) and the 300-seat Drama Centre. The Victoria Memorial Hall hitherto used for fun fairs was renovated to house the fledgling Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1981.  Shortly after, a decision was taken to demolish the 3400-seat National Theatre with its unique cantilever roof, for safety reasons.  Recognition of its unique architecture did not save this notable building designed by Singapore architect Alfred Wong, from its fate. 

 

We felt that our pleas for a purpose-built performing art centre were falling on deaf ears.  The short-term answer to our yearning was the Kallang Theatre which had been retrofitted from an old cinema theatre in the early 1980s.

 

In December 1984, when I was on leave, like a bolt from out of the blues,  the dailies published on their front pages, an article from the PAP publication Petir heralding the Government’s ”vision of a culturally-vibrant society by the year 1999″ which included plans to construct a “world-class performing art centre”.  It came as both a welcome surprise for me and, a shock as I was on leave and had not got any wind of this. 

 

Public service reorganisations followed soon after the announcement and and around March 1985, the Ministry of Community Development (MCD) was established under Minister Wong Kan Seng to take over arts and heritage policies from the Ministry of Culture and social welfare policy and programmes hitherto under Ministry of Social Affairs.

 

It became evident over the ensuing months that the “1999 cultural vision” was not to become an empty promise and soon, Minister Wong set up the Singapore Performing Art Centre (SPAC) Steering Committee to drive the construction of the performing art centre.  He chaired the Committee which comprised Permanent Secretary Koh Cher Siang, the late Dr. Tan Swan Beng, then Director-General Public Works Department, Liu Thai Ker, then Chief Executive Officer Urban Redevelopment Authority, the late Robert Iau and others. 

 

First, the location of the centre had to be resolved.  When he was Minister for Culture in the late-1970s, Ong Teng Cheong had earmarked a site on Marina Bay for the centre but this decision was thrown into question when URA offered a long list of alternatives including two sites on the newly reclaimed Marina South, the site of the former Empress Hotel (where the new National Library now stands) and a site in Outram Park.  URA opined that the congestion expected in Marina Bay would disadvantage the art centre.  They also aspired for the art centre to revitalise parts of the old city and or, catalyze developments on the new Marina South downtown.  Minister Wong and the Steering Committee toured the sites and after due consideration, affirmed the choice of the more central Marina Centre site.  We were relieved especially as we noted that Marina South was not expected to blossom till year 2030.

 

The Steering Committee appointed Richard Brett of Techplan as theatre consultant.  Richard Brett got to work at once and soon produced a report proposing that we build a theatre, concert hall and two studios.  During his presentation to the Steering Committee, I plucked up courage, stood up and pointed out that TechPlan’s combination of theatres would disadvantage Singaporean artists as we “would see the best of international arts in the two large theatres and the most fledgling of local arts in the studios”.  I argued for “a medium-sized theatre to showcase mature local arts productions”.  I remember Minister Wong responding that what I said seemed sensible and so, the 5th theatre (which Ruby termed “Juliana’s theatre”) was added to the user brief.

 

In 1986, the decision to proceed with the construction of the “world-class performing art centre” was enshrined in the Report of the Advisory Council for the Arts, the official Government blueprint for arts development.  The Advisory Council was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong.  Director (Arts) Ng Yew Kang and I (then Deputy Director (Arts) served the Council as Secretary and Assistant Secretary respectively and between us and our colleagues in the MCD and its departments, we churned out a slew of papers on arts, heritage, library development for official endorsement by the Advisory Council.

 

In 1990, stewardship of the project passed from MCD to the newly-established National Arts Council (NAC).  In 2002, the project was entrusted to the Singapore Art Centre Co. Ltd under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, the late Robert Iau.

esplanade theatres – i should be so lucky!

 In their own time, art-loving politicians and civil servants working in the Ministry of Culture in the 1960s and 1970s, must have yearned to build a “world-class” performing arts centre in Singapore. When I joined the Ministry of Culture as Assistant Director (Music & Visual Arts Programmes) in April 1981, I joined their ranks, wishing that one day, in my time, Singapore would embark on a purpose-built performing art centre. 

 

 I was one of the lucky individuals to have a role in realizing the dream of the performing art centre.  The other fortunate individuals included George Yeo, former Minister for Information & the Arts (now Minister for Foreign Affairs), Tisa Ng (now CEO/ Hong Kong Arts Festival),  Goh Ching Lee (now Singapore Arts Festival Director), Khor Kok Wah (now Deputy CEO / National Arts Council), Chua Hua Meng, Lee Kut Cheong, Tan Chee Wee, Ruby Lai & Lye Kuan Loy (of Public Works Department), Koh Seow Chuan, Gan Eng Oon, Vikas Gore, Lydia Fong & Kwan Moh Yin (of DP Architects),  Michael Wilford & Russell Bevington (of MW Associates),  the late Russell Johnson & Bob Essert (of Artec Acoustics), Richard Brett, David Staples & Anne Minors (TechPlan and TheatreProjects) and many others. 

Tisa who was then working with me as AD (Arts Facilities), served as Secretary to the Steering Committee while Senior Architect Ruby Lai was appointed project manager from PWD.  

For Tisa Ng, Ruby Lai and me, our journey with the Esplanade Theatres started in early 1985 in the Ministry of Community Development (MCD) with the development of the user brief and the appointment of the theatre consultant. 

Ruby Lai, my "twin" on the Esplanade Theatres project

As the worker bees on the project, our first task was to engage a theatre consultant to help us develop the user brief for the complex and clarify exactly why we wanted to build such a centre and for what purposes it would be put.  Tisa who had met Richard York of the Barbican Art Centre when she was studying arts management at City University, UK, picked his brains on the subject.

One afternoon, Tisa, Ruby and I huddled in Ruby’s office in MND Building, Maxwell Road and after mustering up our limited combined experience and applying a load of common sense, managed to draw up a tender brief that invited submissions from theatre designers with “strong track records”.  The brief attracted a handful of consultants and after interviews by the Steering Committee, Richard Brett of Techplan was appointed to the job, not least for his ”workman- like” attitude.  That set us on our way!

Between 1988 and 1992, the performing art centre project was passed from MCD to NAC, from Tisa to Ching Lee and then to Kok Wah. The project was passed back to me in 1992 when I was appointed General Manager of the Singapore Art Centre Company.  It was uncanny as I had “lost” the project upon my transfer from MCD to Ministry of Communications & Information in April 1990.  As it turned out, the two ministries were dissolved in November 1990 and the departments that once formed the old Ministry of Culture, were re-joined to form the new Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA) with Brig- Gen George Yeo as Minister. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Delegation led by DPM Ong Teng Cheong taking a lesson from the Barbican Centre

The performing art centre project resurfaced on my radar screen as I had become MITA’s Deputy Director / Corporate Services, responsible for MITA’s budget with overview of its construction projects including the performing art centre.   In April 1992,  I joined a delegation to UK, France and Israel led by DPM Ong and Minister George Yeo, to study art centres and museums.  Other members of the delegation were Robert Iau, Tan Kian Chew (now CEO / NTUC Fairprice) and Kenson Kwok who was subsequently appointed Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum. This tour re-immersed me into the project with the surprising outcome of my being invited into the SAC Company.

After nearly six years, I left the Company in April 1997, a few months after the groundbreaking ceremony in Aug 1996.  My association with the project continued after I joined its funder, Singapore Pools.  In 1998, we re-launched the Singapore Sweep lottery which carried the Esplanade image for nearly four years.  When the Esplanade:Theatres on the Bay opened in 2002,  I had a role in processing Singapore Pools’ annual donation to the Esplanade’s operating and programming costs until our donation programme was transferred to our parent, the Tote Board in 2004. 

Today, I enjoy the performances in the building when I can afford it.

 

 

 

talking about the esplanade theatres

There were many parties involved with the development of the project.  The art centre development was overseen by a SAC Steering Committee chaired by Minister for Information & the Arts George Yeo with Advisor President Ong Teng Cheong who had by then become the first elected President of the Republic of Singapore. Other members were Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, Liu Thai Ker, then Chief Executive Officer / Urban Redevelopment Authority, late Director-General /Public Works Department Dr Tan Swan Beng and Professor Tommy Koh, then Chairman / National Arts Council.  The Committee met monthly.

The Steering Committee guided the development of the art centre and its operations.  President Ong who was trained as a city planner and architect, reviewed the many generations of architectural drawings with a keen eye.  Both he and Minister Yeo emphasized an iterative approach to the design process which meant that the design and architectural drawings were critiqued regularly by the Users Advisory Committee chaired by Associate Professor Bernard Tan and comprising over 30 artists and theatre users, the Commercial Advisory Committee headed by SAC Executive Chairman Robert Iau and the Aesthetics Advisory Committee led by Raymond Woo.

 

    

 

      

    

 

         

   

 

 

     

    

 

 

  

 

With architect Michael Ngu & Ong Beng Huat at Thank-You dinner for Advisory Committee members

The Users’ Advisory Committee, Commercial Advisory Committee. Architecture & Aesthetics Committee and SAC team members interacted with the designers regularly. During sessions anchored by Ngee-Ann City architect Raymond Woo who chaired the Architecture & Aesthetics Advisory Committee, artists, architects and landscape architects critiqued the drawings regularly and offered inputs to the design.  We also set up a Disabled Accessibility Sub-Committee and advocates like Judy Wee candidly shared her needs as a wheelchair bound person.

 

 

With Judy Wee, Khoo Teng Chye (URA), Tan Tiong Cheng (Knight Frank) and Gan Eng Oon (DPA) at Thank-You Party for Advisory Panels hosted by Minister Yeo (Mar 95)

 

discussing landscape design with Ren Matsui, Joe Peters, Richard Tan and Mohd Anis

The theatre and acoustic consultants TheatreProjects and Artec guided us on the technical aspects of the project but when it came to policy and financial considerations such as balancing commercial with technical provisions or operational issues such as VIP access, they consulted Robert and his team.

 

Brain opera composer Prof Tod Machover and Javanese dance exponent Made I Bandem speak to designers

Inspired by the vision for the SAC to welcome the new Asian Renaissance, a Panel of Asian Performing Artists was set up to inform the designers on the pre-performance and performance needs of Asian artists.  Asian artist friends including Malaysia’s Professor Mohammed Anis and Philippines’  Dr Nicanor Tiongson, reviewed the design regularly.  Other reputed Asian artists such as sitar-guru Ravi Shankar, violinist Dr L Subramaniam and Javanese dancer Made I Bandem were also invited to offer their inputs.  Others who contributed their inputs included Chinese soprano Yu Shu Cheen who is now concertizing in Australia, Chinese opera veteran Pei Yan Ling, Klaus Harrer who was then technical director with the renowned Bayreuth Festspiele custom-designed by Richard Wagner for his operas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

      

    

 

   

 

 

     

    

 

 

  

 

View of "garden" outside Green Room from the Main Concourse

 

The Asian artists shared that traditional artists were not pre-occupied with dressing tables and mirrors. ”We lie on the floor for our fellow performers to make us up. Once transformed into deities, we cannot gaze into mirrors as it would destroy the illusion.”  While there were limits to which the two Euro-centric halls could be Asianised, a tell-tale sign of our efforts at Asianizing the Esplanade are the gardens outside the Green Room.  Our Asian artist friends expressed a desire to commune with nature before their performance.  Many of the dressing rooms have been designed to look into gardens outside the Green Room although the dressing room windows are closed now.  Two large air wells punctuating the floor of the Main Concourse stream natural light into the gardens.  This is an art centre where the front-of-house can look into the back-of-house.       

Theatre designer Anne Minors (now of Anne Minors Performance Consultancy) , acoustician Bob Essert, architects Vikas Gore and David Turnbull listened intently to what the Asian performing arts scholars had to offer.  They imbibed the spirit of Asianness so deeply that they would later remind the SAC team members if we overlooked anything.  They were really disappointed that the Adaptable Theatre was phased out as they had invested considerable energies to make it a truly Asian performing arts space.  The upside is that they are still applying their new found knowledge to their new projects.