Dr. Tan It Koon – Art Advocate

 

                 

      Aside from the pleasure of hosting American-Chinese basso Tien Hou Jian and his wife Martha, at the 2^nd OperaViva Gala Dinner on 12 November 2010 at the Tanglin Club, the event brought me another surprise. It reconnected me to chemical pathologist-musician-painter Dr Tan It Koon, after 20 years! 

Dr Tan It Koon in Korea

“I would like to spread the message that study of visual and performing arts need not necessary be for the sole purpose of preparing for a life-long career in these areas.  One can be a part-time painter, musician, actor, dancer, writer, even up to the professional level throughout life while engaged in other professions.* Life will be richer, more interesting and more balanced.  One would have a better background to appreciate and enjoy the wide variety of cultural performances. One is also better prepared to be involved either professionally or as non-professional volunteers in the administration and promotion of cultural activities. There would not be the worry of having nothing to do when one retires from full-time work as this would be a good time to continue pursuit of ones interest in the cultural field.”….Dr Tan It Koon, Art Advocate

It Koon and I worked together in the ‘80s when he served on the Management Committee of the Singapore Cultural Foundation and the Steering and Planning Committees of the Singapore Arts Festival.  He was also the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust (NTT).

At my invitation, It Koon has contributed his insight into the Kallang Theatre art collection and shared his experiences as an artist and arts advocate.

On the Kallang Theatre Art Collection

“…As the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust who had the responsibility of overseeing all cultural activities of the Theatre, I was invited to be the Chairman of the Panel to select winning works from the well-publicized “Expressions” competition.  Artists Mr Choo Keng Kwang and Mr Ng Eng Teng as well as interior designer Mr David Tay (who had renovated our History Museum on Stamford Road with Ms Ruby Lai) served on my selection committee. As none of the schemes was found suitable for all three levels of the theatre, Mr Anthony Poon’s work on “Waves” was assigned to the Level 3 lobby, Mr Thomas Tan’s dramatic painted metal patch-work to Level 2 and Mr Lim Leong Seng sculptures of white face masks to Level 1… 

……(In addition to the $80,000 from Esso Singapore), I think a further $100,000 was received from the Loke Foundation to commission a sculpture (of dancers) by Singapore’s most well-known sculptor, Ms Han Sai Por for the interior of Kallang Theatre…I have the impression that the group of dancers required a total of  $100,000…that the fund for the art installation was donated by Lady McNiece, Chairperson of the Loke Foundation through National Theatre Chairman, Mr Thai Chee Ken who was on the Management Board of the Loke Foundation. The accuracy of the facts can be checked against the Annual Reports of the National Theatre Trust…

I think Han Sai Por’s work (a small table-top version in clay) was submitted for the “Expressions” Art Competition…. Subsequently, a smaller replica of the group of 3 dancers – one female and a male holding a female bronze ballet dancer – was presented to Lady McNiece. At that time, there were no facilities for bronze sculptures in Singapore. The nearest available facility was in Thailand. Ms Han was required to take 2 or 3 trips to Thailand to complete the works. This was her very first opportunity to work with bronze as she usually worked in with stones.  When completed, the sculpture was sited within the theatre next to the main spiral staircase leading to the level 2 lobby of the theatre’s stall. I am not sure where these ballet dancer sculptures have been moved to.”  

On his contribution to the arts in Singapore

“I spent more than 10 years in the administration and promotion of performing arts in three separate and distinct areas:

(1)     Administering the cultural performance aspects of the National Theatre which provided the main revenue for the Theatre as well as looking after four affiliated groups, supporting their regular public performances and activities: (a) National Symphonic Band, (b) National Dance Company, (c) Dance Circle, and Composers’ Circle; 

(2)     Administration of various grants and scholarships provided by the Singapore Cultural Foundation for various cultural projects and individuals pursuing studies or research in visual, literary and performing arts;

(3)     Sourcing and planning for performances for the Singapore Arts Festival.   

Besides those directly related to my role at the National Theatre Trust and the MCD, I also contacted individual or group of performers  and visual artists and organised special music, dance and theatrical performances as well as art exhibitions whenever I organized regional and international congresses, such as those for Clinical Biochemistry, Chemistry, Virology, and Forensic & Legal Medicine. Such performances and exhibitions which took place at Shangri-La and Mandarin Hotels, Victoria Theatre and Singapore Art Museum were greatly appreciated by conference participants and were well supported by sponsors and funds earned from the conferences.

My last responsibility at the closure of the National Theatre and at end of my commitment to the Cultural Foundation was to serve the National Committee to review the current situation concerning the arts prior to the establishment of a new National Arts Council and building of a new National Theatre and Concert Hall. The late Mr Ong Teng Cheong, President of Singapore was himself the Chairman of the first high-level National Committee for the Promotion and Development of Cultural Activities in Singapore.  I was requested to chair the Committee on Dance and provided a report on the current status of the various dance groups and dance schools as well as their needs for support, adequacy of opportunity for performance, facilities and venues for practices and performances.

I was also invited to serve on the Board of the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) when it was established as the first professional dance company in Singapore.  The late Mr Ong Teng Cheong was the Patron and prominent lawyer, the late Justice Lai Kew Chai the first Chairman of the Board. During my 10 years of involvement with SDT, there was significant progress in the standard, repertoire and stature of the company.”   

On It Koon, the musician

“After years of working for others, I reached a stage where I had to decline further invitations to serve on cultural-related committees whose work is administrative and promotional. There is a need for me to reserve time for myself so that I can continue with my own direct involvement with visual and performing arts. I studied music with well-known music teacher and critic, Mr Victor Doggett and have enjoyed playing the piano alone, or with other musicians in various formal or informal events. I also often served as a piano accompanist for candidates for music instrument and vocal examinations and performances; and was a pianist for ballet dance classes for many years. Therefore, there is a need to dedicate time for my own practice.”

                 

                        

 

 

 

 

“I also wanted to continue with my pursuit of painting and calligraphy which I greatly enjoyed since my school days when I was fortunate to have Singapore’s first generation of great artists, the late Dr Chen Wen Hsi and Mr Liu Kang as my art teachers. Even when I had a busy schedule working full time at the Singapore General Hospital as the Division Head for the Clinical Biochemistry Laboratories providing diagnostic testing for patients and screening for healthy individuals as well as my out-of-work commitments with various professional societies, I decided to set aside time so that I could resume serious practice on painting and calligraphy.

Winter Tale by Dr Tan It Koon

On It Koon, the painter

Mountain Village in Winter by Dr Tan It Koon

For a long time, I was looking for an artist who excels in the art of landscape painting using the Chinese brush technique to impart his skills and experience. It was not easy to find as such expertise is very scarce in Singapore. I was indeed fortunate and glad to have met a great master from Beijing, China, Mr Wu Molin who received formal training in tertiary art institutions in China and Japan, and excels in Chinese brush painting, calligraphy and stone seal carving. He was invited to Singapore where he initially taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art and conducted art courses for a special program organised by the Ministry of Education for teachers of art from various schools.

I first exhibited my art works in the Chinese High School art exhibitions where I won top prizes. In the early 1970s, I participated in the National Day Art Exhibitions. I was thrilled when my paintings were purchased by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for presentation to visiting foreign VIP guests.  For the last 16 years, I have been exhibiting my paintings and calligraphic works from 1 to 3 times a year in local and overseas group art exhibitions.  I have been organizing art exhibitions for the South East Asia Art Association and had shown my works in the Palace Museum in Beijing and various museums in Shanghai, Suzhou, Luoyang, Hangzhou and Nanning.  At the invitation of Singapore’s High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, Mr Tan Kah Hoe I also co-organised a Singapore National Day Art Exhibition in conjunction with a grand dinner for VIPs and diplomatic personnel in Colombo, Sri Lanka…”

On It Koon, the art collector  & patron

“Some 20 years or so ago, several like-minded collectors of art works and I established a society “Forum of Fine Art” for those who appreciate and collect fine art. Members collected art works in all media. However, as very good paintings by top artists from China were quite affordable and often shown in exhibitions in Singapore during the mid-1970s and 1980s, members’ collections were but predominantly Chinese brush paintings.  

We have regular meetings to show old and new pieces of art works acquired by members for appreciation and comments.  A book on paintings collected in Singapore entitled “Joy of Art” was published and I was the editor for this publication. I had also served as the President of the Society in its early years, when I invited auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christies, Raffles, etc to give talks on their auctions, art galleries owners to hold private pre-exhibition viewing and meet the artists sessions, as well as talks by various artists and collectors.  Tours to visit specific exhibitions at the museums and Tyler Print Institute have also been organised. Talks in the last two years included appreciation of ceramics, Peranakan porcelain ware, Chinese pottery and porcelain works, Chinese snuff bottles, Chinese New Year couplets and woodblock paintings, Chinese festival customs, etc.

“Every year I have also been keeping up my attendance at arts festival events and other performances at the Esplanade Theatre and Concert Hall and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.  I also attend performances and master classes at the University Cultural Centre, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Concert Hall and NAFA…”

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*Dr Tan It Koon, (LRSM(Performing), BSc (1st Class Hons), PhD, MCB, CChem FRSC, FSNIC, FACB, FRCPath, PPA, PBM

Professional Accolades (selected)

• Head, Clinical Biochemistry Laboratories, Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital
• Founding Head, National Reference Laboratory for the Investigation & Diagnosis of Inherited Metabolic Disorders
• Lecturer for Science and Medical Faculties and Examiner for MSc, PhD and MD candidates of the National University of Singapore
• Founding President of the Singapore Association of Clinical Biochemists
• Various Office Bearer positions in the Council, Singapore Society of Pathology
• Council Member, Royal Institute of Chemistry (Singapore Branch)
• Various Office Bearer positions in the Council, Singapore National Institute of Chemistry
• Chairman, Singapore Professional Centre 
• Member, Singapore Science Council
• Founder President, Asian & Pacific Federation of Clinical Biochemistry (APFCB)
• Founding Chief Editor, APFCB newsletter
• First Asian Member in the Executive Board of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry   and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC)
• Member, World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Advisory Panel on Health Laboratory Services     and Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation
• Member, Green Singapore National Committee on Public Health
• Becton Dickinson Asian Pacific Scientific Advisory Board and Editorial Committee for “Asia   Pacific Pre-Analytical Notes”
• Global Editorial Board Member for the international website, specimencare.com, an online resource  to identify, evaluate and promote the application of best practices in all aspects of the pre-analytical phase of clinical laboratory testing in order to improve the safety and efficiency of laboratory services to more effectively manage patient outcomes throughout the world.
• Invited plenary or symposium speaker for various national and international conferences on laboratory medicine.

new art worker

I joined the Ministry of Culture in 1981 as Assistant Director (Culture).  My colleague, the late Sng Boh Khim and I reported to Deputy Secretary Lee Wai Kok and through him, to Permanent Secretary Cheng Tong Fatt. Sng was a class-mate from the University of Singapore and a published poet.  He had a genuine passion for the arts and I always felt it a pity that he left the Ministry frustrated by the bureaucracy and meagre resources.

The Ministry of Culture was then housed on the third level of City Hall on Connaught Drive.  This historic building holds many good memories for me as I was also housed on its second floor during my three-year stint in the Ministry of Communications before we moved to the PSA Building. Later, the building featured again in my career when we advocated its conversion into a constitutional history museum.  It is now being developed into the National Art Gallery (NAG) alongside the Supreme Court which once housed the Public Service Commission through which we all passed, for job and promotion interviews.

By the time I joined Ministry of Culture, many arts promotion measures were already entrenched, thanks to the late President Ong Teng Cheong when he was Minister for Culture.  The Ministry staged an unprecedented rich annual calendar of festivals and exhibitions including the annual Dance Festival, Drama Festival, Festival of Chinese Instrumental Music, Festival of Choirs, National Music Competition, National Day Art Exhibition, National Day Photographic Exhibition, Patron of the Arts Ceremony and Cultural Medallion Ceremony.  We also organised a regular Music for Everyone series many with artists contributed by the British Council,  Goethe Institute and USIS. 

I managed the music and visual arts programmes and the secretariat of the Singapore Cultural Foundation.   Assisting me with the music portfolio was Mrs Lim Mee Lian a Nantah graduate who later became NAC’s Deputy Director (Grants) and has just retired as Company Manager for Tang Quartet.  Our modest addition to the calendar was the Singapore International Jazz Festival.  We also had the privilege of being part of the team that elevated the Singapore International Festival of Arts to international stature in 1982.

In my humble opinion, the late President Ong Teng  Cheong made a huge difference to arts development in Singapore and propelled it to greater heights. As Minister for Culture, he put all the essential elements in place, setting up the Singapore Cultural Foundation, an endowment fund to raise funds for the arts, the Cultural Medallion and Patron of the Arts award to motivate artists and art patrons and seven  advisory committees for dance, drama, choral music, instrumental music, literature, photographic art and visual arts. 

 Mr Ong’s passion for the arts was manifest through his many official roles from Minister for Culture, Secretary-General of NTUC and later Elected President of Singapore.  He set up the NTUC Cultural wing and radio station and later steered the development of our performing arts centre, The Esplanade.

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.

heritage festivals

The not-so-recent redevelopment of Clarke Quay flushed out dealers of memorabilia who have sinced moved to the 2nd storey of China Square.  Browsing through the boxes of postcards, report books and other such homely items last  weekend brought back memories of the first Singapore Heritage Week that we organised in 1986.  

I was then working in a newly- founded MCD with policy “oversight” of the National Library and three heritage departments – National Museum, National Archives and Oral History Department.  

The idea for Singapore Heritage Week was hatched quite accidentally at one of our monthly meetings where we freely exchanged views on the plans and challenges of the departments.    The acquisition budget for the heritage departments was very limited, much much smaller than it is today.  At one meeting, when we were commiserating over the budgetary constraints to enriching our exhibitions, someone – I think it was either Lim Guan Hock (National Archives) or Tan Beng Luan (Oral History Department) – pointed out with urgency that families relocating from kampongs and shophouses to high-rise flats were nonchalantly and rapidly discarding their antiques and memoribilia.   

Brainstorming how we could ”intercept” such “discards” for the benefit of our national heritage collection, we stumbled upon the idea of a high-profile heritage event to alert these families to the historical significance of their personal items and that the heritage departments would like to have them if they no longer wanted them. 

SHW86 Bookmark

After a few months of preparation,  the 1st Singapore Heritage Week was held from 4 – 11 Oct 1986.   It was launched by Political Secretary /MCD Zulklifi Mohammed as  he ceremoniously released colourful balloons into the ceiling of the National Museum rotunda with a swift sweep of his antique kris.  All week long, the Museum grounds were dotted by 1950-style itinerant hawkers’ pushcarts selling the foods (eg dragon candy), games (gasing, rice dough puppets) of yesteryears.  In the museum, we staged an exhibition of everyday objects, our way of reminding viewers that they were important purveyors of our social history. 

The Week’s slogan which I must take responsibility and, credit for, was “Your Junk could be our National Treasure.  Thank you for sharing it with us.”  Nearly  everyone – our sponsor, American Express Foundation, our advertising agency and many of my committee members,  felt it was too insulting an

Slogan for SHW 1986

d would not be well-received by the general public.  Barry Arnold who then headed the AMEX team stuck his neck out and agreed that we could take a chance with it. 

We were more than amply rewarded when on our “Walk-In Donation Day” that Sunday, a never-ending queue of ordinary folks streamed into the Rotunda to offer us  their “junk”.  I remember uncles and aunties asking shyly if this or that “would do”  or “was acceptable”.   Beng Luan, Guan Hock, Susie Koay and their colleagues had a field day as they sifted happily through the many objects that fell into our laps.  By the end of Heritage Week, the public had donated over 900 items including complete sets of Chinese classics, porcelain steamboat, World War Two ration cards and many other interesting personal items.

The following week, a member of the public sent a letter to Minister Wong Kan Seng complaining that we had undermined the standard of public hygene by bringing back squalid old carts.  Slightly amused and happy to receive this back-handed compliment, we explained that we had  deliberately stained the newly-constructed carts,  to make them look old and authentic.

I organised two other Singapore Heritage Weeks subsequently and since then, it has morphed into a Heritage Weekend, Heritage Day and now, a fortnight-long Heritage Fest organised by my friend Jeremiah Choy and his company OrangeDot.

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

paying special attention to the esplanade theatres

In 1992, it was decided that the development of the new performing art centre should be transferred from the NAC to a new company dedicated to its development.  The  Singapore Arts Centre Company was set up in 1992 with Robert Iau, Prof. Bernard Tan and MITA’s Col Ho Meng Kit as its founding directors.

When Robert Iau was appointed Executive Chairman of the new Singapore Arts Centre Company, he invited me to be its General Manager giving me a fresh opportunity to work on this wonderful national project.  I could continue the work started in 1985 in MCD.

 

 

 

    

   

Pioneering Team of Esplanade Theatres

During its first few months of operation, the SAC Co Ltd was housed in premises borrowed from the National Arts Council in the PSA Building, Alexandra Road.  I worked from my office in MITA on the 37th story of the same building.

Through his Singapore Land connections, Robert found and secured a duplex unit, #01-01, Marina Bayfront which become the first home of the new company.  Marina Bayfront was within convenient walking distance of both the project site and DP Architects.  Lim Chin Kheng who was then resident architect for Marina Centre Holdings was engaged to design our offices.  In 1997, our Marina Bayfront premises was supplemented by the PWD site office to which I happily moved ”to enjoy the waterfront”.

 

 

 

    

   

SAC Co Ltd Logo

Mandate Advertising led by Chew Lee Ching won the bid to design our logo and stationery.  They proposed and we decided on a green Chinese seal style logo to reflect our Asian-ness and the gardens which we hoped would feature in our design.  

 

 

 

    

   

Joyce briefing visitors at "Taking Shape" Exhibition

 

The more interesting members of my dream team were:

Joyce Teo, Public Relations Executive. Formerly an Information Officer from MICA, Joyce is a woman of many talents – a gamelan exponent, writer, baker, certified aerobics instructress and more. Joyce conceived a “TGIW” staff newsletter and a “Dear Friend” newsletter to update the community on the project’s progress. She managed the media and anchored the “Taking Shape” Exhibition. 

 

 

 

 

 

    

  

Phan Ming Yen, Music Programmer. Ming Yen was an arts reviewer with Straits Times.  When he interviewed us on our recruitment plan, he bubbled so excitedly over the impact of the Esplanade on the arts scene that we decided to recruit him to work on our music programme.  Ming Yen founded the Esplanade magazine.  He is now Director (Social Enterprise) at the Arts House @Old Parliament and ironically, his wife Amy Ho now works with the Esplanade as Producer. Ming Yen is an accomplished pianist whom I’m targeting for a fund-raising performance.

 

Tan Ngiap Heng, Dance Programmer.  Heng acquired a PhD in Non-linear Aerodynamics and studied dance with the London Contemporary Dance School. He joined us on his return from UK but has since carved his own special career as a dance / art photographer,

 

 

 

SAC Team at Presentation by Made I Bandem

Chew Su Yin, our Arts Manager & Choreographer.  Su Yin was one of our first two BAT scholars. She is a tenacious woman who chose dance above business degree in the US.  She is now teaching Arts Administration at La Salle College of the Arts.

 

 Azniza Mohammed, Secretary & Graphic Designer.  Niza was my very capable assistant and since she had an artistic streak, was also tasked to design the company’s in-house collaterals.  Niza left the SAC Company when she had her third child and became a fund-manager with StanChart bank and UBS before joining a head-hunting company.

Every month, the team played host to the Steering Committee and the team became familiar with the protocols for receiving the President and two Ministers at our office. Their arrival was precisely timed for the Ministers to arrive well before the President’s car arrived to dock outside our office.  Since we operated in a thrifty fashion, we got our in-house culinary queen Joyce to serve up pretty and nutritious sandwiches to Committee members nourishing them through meetings that went on for several hours.  Joyce must have been amply rewarded for her efforts by the sight of President Ong relishing the sandwiches and salads and often, a second helping.   

The team was privileged to follow the Esplanade through its many milestones – the unveiling of its design at an exhibition called “Taking Shape”; the crafting of the centre’s mission statement, the choice of the name “ Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay” for the centre; the presentation of Han Sai Por’s “Seeds” sculptures by Singapore Technology Automative (STA).  We were disappointed by Government’s decision to excise the commercial complex but this paled in comparison to our sense of bereavement when it was decided to defer the construction of the three smaller theatres.

The SAC family was a happy family.  Although we operated in a modest fashion, emphasis was placed on staff enrichment and welfare.  Birthdays were celebrated and we had an annual staff outing.  I encouraged the staff to see productions ”so that no-one would become old-blood by the time the centre opened” and every Monday morning, the team met to exchange notes about shows they had seen the previous week.

When I left in April 1997, the team was 25-strong including eight programmers with intent that they should hone their skills by organizing programmes in smaller venues and start planning the opening programme. 

My stint at SAC was the happiest and most fulfilling time of my career and my life.

 

 

 

 

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.

stint in people’s association

 “Queen Juliana of Holland”!  That was the nickname given to me in the People Association where I worked from 1979 to 1981.

 

PA was my fourth posting in the civil service, after stints in the ministries of Education, Communications and National Development.  I had been offered a posting to the Ministry of Finance (Revenue Division) but I derailed it as it was rumoured that the senior officers in Revenue Division did not like female officers. This, coupled with my general aversion to statistics, emboldened me to request instead, a humbler posting to the People’s Association.

 

PA was then run by Lim Chin Tiong.  I was Assistant Director (Programmes) working to Douglas Koh. The Programme Division managed four community programmes namely, the Kindergarten Section which later evolved into the Day Care Section when the community needed care services for toddlers of working couples; the Social Education Section which promoted campaigns, Continuing Education which ran an interesting gamut of classes for adults and last, and most attractive to me, the Culture Section.

 

Douglas and I were also expected to raise the standard of English among our colleagues and my first assignment was to polish up the language of the banners hanging at community centres.  Nowadays, when I read about ungrammatical signs sighted in China, it reminds me that Singapore had its share of such comical signs in the late 1970s and still does.  

Douglas and I took our jobs seriously and spent a lot of energy helping our colleagues to polish up their submissions. Not everyone welcomed the interference of these two Western-educated Chinese and we eventually earned the nicknames “German” for Douglas and “Juliana, Queen of Holland” for me.  

 

I am not sure if our efforts bore fruit especially as I chanced recently on a PAssion banner on East Coast Park that read, “Drinks are ahead of you”.  Had the drinks raced ahead of the athletes?  However, I discovered that I enjoyed copy-writing and production.  As an English literature student, we wrote large volumes, but it was a thrill to write for the masses and to watch a brochure take shape under one’s guidance.

 

After three interesting years, I “graduated” to the Ministry of Culture. 

 

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.

 

 

 

chingay & green hats!

Loud wails of protest filled the corridors of People’s Association the Friday before the 1979 Chingay Parade when several thousand green sun-visors were delivered.  My horrified male colleagues insisted that they could not wear them as they were not cuckolds.   

I organized three Chingay parades during my stint in PA from 1979 to 1981.  The Chingay Parade was an integral component of the annual calendar of cultural events staged by the Culture Section, for the heartland communities.  Other events included the annual Lantern Festival and quarterly road shows in the communities including the annual Christmas Rhapsody.  We also supported the National Day Parade with dance items. Floats for Chingay and Parade were built on the grounds of PA and it was a treat to watch them take shape as the days progressed.

 

 

 

My first Chingay in 1979, the Lunar Year of the Ram, was especially meaningful because my daughter Liana was born in April later that year. She is an Aries born in the Year of the Ram making her a double ewe. The modus operands for the parade had been refined to a T and ran like clockwork under stage manager par excellent Lim Ah Yook. My contribution that year was to add a note on the origins of Chingay in the event programme, drawing information from the late Dr Lee Siow Mong’s book ”The Cycle of Chinese Festivities”.

 

My first Chingay in 1979 that proved instructive on Chinese traditions and, green hats.  A team of concerned colleagues worked overtime that weekend to redeem the green visors by dotting them with red but the only persons who wore the visors that Sunday were womenfolk, non-Chinese males and a few brave Chinese male colleagues with clear consciences.  

This incident taught me an invaluable lesson. That traditions or superstitions cannot be shaken off in a modern society or organization. In my later jobs, I also learnt that companies can try to modernize, but it is difficult to stop age old practices like offerings during the Hungry Ghosts festival especially in industries with high-risk jobs eg security officers or construction workers. 

 I recently produced the 2009 Chingay float for the Tote Board family. The assignment was a happy throwback to my Chingay days in the People’s Association. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderland of Dreams - Tote Board Chingay 2009 Float