esplanade theatres – consultants

The first consultant on the performing art centre project was Richard Brett who was appointed in 1985.  The 1985 invitation to quote hastily put together by Ruby, Tisa and me attracted expression of interest from several theatre designers with “strong track records” and after interviews by the Steering Committee, Richard Brett of Techplan was appointed to the job. We liked his roll up your sleeves “workman- like” attitude. 

TheatreProjects led by David Staples took over the project in the early 1990s when TechPlan amalgamated with TheatreProjects. Richard Brett also stayed on as consultant to the project.  Anne Minors (who now leads Anne Minors Performance Consultants) joined the team.

After the UK tour in 1992, the Steering Committee appointed ARTEC led by the late Russell Johnson to be acoustic consultant to the project.  The Birmingham Concert Hall was an essential stop on the study trip so that DPM Ong Teng Cheong, Minister George Yeo and the PWD specialists could experience the Hall’s acoustics first hand, before finalizing the appointment. Russ was supported by Robert Essert.  

In response to an open architectural competition in 1992, 48 teams of architects pitched to design the centre.  Four teams each led by a Singaporean architect with foreign partners in tow were short-listed for consideration.  After receiving inputs from the Users Advisory Committee, the Steering Committee led DPM Ong Teng Cheong and Minister George Yeo selected the partnership of Michael Wilford Associates and DP Architects to be the designer for the art centre.  Michael Wilford was the associate of renowned UK architect James Stirling who had passed away three months before the award was made. DP Architect was led by Koh Seow Chuan and Gan Eng Oon and the architects I worked most closely were Vikas Gore, Lydia Fong, Moh Yin, Victor.  I also remember Ketna Patel who has since become a notable “Asian pop” artist. 

The members of the team have all moved on to other equally large or even larger iconic projects but I believe no project is as unique as the Esplanade Theatres, for the many interesting personalities working on it and the diversity of views expressed by an arts community which had found a voice on the consultative platform of the Users Advisory Committee and the lively reaction of the public on an iconic public building whether they loved or hated it

esplanade theatres – hits & misses

HITS

• A fully tuneable Concert Hall made possible by the cavernous “Russell Johnson reverberation chambers” with 108 doors, canopy and draperies.
• Asian expression in Concert Hall design with timber forms alluding to the hull of boat or basket, thanks to DP architect Lydia Fong.
• Acoustical barrier between Concert Hall and Concourse to insulate it from vibrations and noise of MRT trains, barely visible on floors on hall entrances.
• Two small performance rooms cleverly morphed from rehearsal studios, to compensate for the Adaptable Theatre and Black Box that had been phased out.
• Jendela art gallery created out of the VIP entrance foyer, conceived for quiet entrances by VIPs prior to their ceremonial entrance into the hall.
• A reasonable-sized F & B and shopping annex popular among casually-dressed Singaporeans so they can have a claim on the beloved “durians’ even if they don’t feel ready to “endure” an arts performance. 
• A waterside esplanade nearly as romantic as the original Esplanade from which the building takes its name.
• Stop for ferry services envisaged to ply Tanjung Rhu to Marina South and Singapore River. 
• The clever redeployment of steps at Main Concourse for an art showcase including attractive festive seasonal installations.
• Light cones filtering light into the carpark.
• Toilets that open on two ends to avoid congestion, a lesson from the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre.  

 

MISSES

• A Medium Size Theatre (800 seats)
• An Adaptable Theatre (400 seats) designed to accommodate Asian performing arts
• A Black Box (200 seats)
• Seamlessless between the Dance Studio and the rooftop to allow pageantry and performance to flow into each other. 
• A lushier garden outside the artists dressing rooms.   
• An in-house recording studio to facilitate the tele / broadcasting of performances  without the inconvenience of having to bring in an OB van.
• A one-million square feet waterfront commercial complex housing modest artist accommodation, global alumni club and other retail shops. to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the Esplanade. 

HAPPY MISS

• A 10-lane Esplanade Drive which thankfully, was narrowed to 8 lanes,  giving the Esplanade a larger entrance forecourt.

special encounters

With Prof Anthony Fields, London City University, Lena St George Sweet & British Council repv at apresentation of first BAT-SAC Arts Administration Scholarships (1995)

Up close with the Phantom, unmasked (Brisbane, 1997)

With the late Bro. Joe McNally, Alan Rubinstein and Sue Walker, CEO/ Victoria Tapestry Workshop after opening Woven Colours Exhibition at La Salle College of the Arts

Tea with Mr & Mr Wolfgang Wagner, current CEO / Hong King Arts Festival Tisa Ho and Singapore baritone Eng Meng Chia in Bayreuth 1996

Receiving a token from the late President Ong Teng Cheong

Artist Chandrasegaran & Choreographer Angela Liong

Australian TV star Belinda Giblins (mid-1970s)

“Little Nyonya” Stars Pierre Png & Joanna Peh (2010)

 

Substation Stories

When I last visited the Substation hoping to grab a quick pre-performance meal before a play in what was once called the “Guinness Theatre”, I was disappointed to learn that the garden and the eatery in it were no longer accessible from the art gallery. To get to the eatery, one must now walk around the corner, through the narrow street between the Substation and the Peranakan Museum. It is not convenient when it rains and makes the co-location of the two entities meaningless.

Lane round the Substation to eatery. Note sliding door at side of building which we slid open to discover a generator room.

Whoever made the decision to separate the garden from the art centre was probably not privy to Pao Kun’s vision for the Substation. The garden did not originally belong to the Substation. When Pao Kun was awarded the substation from among several interested parties, he specifically asked that we acquire the garden next door as well, not only to expand the activity space of the art centre but more importantly, to preserve the all-important connection between art and nature. In the same spirit, he later battled the Substation’s immediate neighbour, to retain the old banyan tree growing over the common wall.

Inspired by Pao Kun’s vision, we requested the Land Office to allocate Lot Mukim 24-1? which was once part of the disused Tao Nan Primary School field / canteen, to us, to be leased in turn to The Substation Company Limited, together with substation building for a period of 1q years. This was the longest lease for buildings under the Arts Housing Scheme, at the time, as all the other buildings were being leased on three-yearly basis in the first instance and annually thereafter, in case they were required for road widening.

In the 80s and 90s, the Substation garden functioned as an indispensable and integral part of the Substation housing at various times, a regular Sunday flea market from which I bought several trinkets, plays including memorable ones directed by the late William Teo (World in Theatre) and overnight New Year’s Eve art gatherings.  l’ve had many good meals at the Fat Frog cafe and the preceding cafe run by an elderly couple (Mr & Mrs  Choo?) while taking in the activities of young artists either painting on the garden walls, resting between rehearsals or just bantering about the arts or current affairs.

In 1992 / 3, the graffiti on the Substation garden walls became a bone of contention between the National Museum and the Substation. When the National Museum administration moved into the restored row of shop-houses on Armenian Street, the Museum administration took issue with the graffiti on the back walls of their converted shop-houses, considering it inappropriate adornment for the premises of an institution.

I felt torn between two organizations and two persons whom I respected equally. I regarded the graffiti as the artistic expression of young artists but realized that this was a matter of personal taste and preferences with no right and wrong about it. Apart from pointing out that the Substation was there first.  I thought it best for the two parties to talk it out directly. I was not privy to the conversation that ensued but the continued presence of graffiti on the Substation garden walls suggested that Pao Kun was either very persuasive or very stubborn.

After nearly 20 years of existence and many changes in leadership, the Substation seems to me to be tired both physically and artistically.  I sometimes think that the building should be re-tendered to a new arts company with a fresh and exciting vision but it should also be multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural in stance and of course, led by someone with shoes as big as Pao Kun’s.

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.

visual arts in the esplanade

On 16 November 2008, I organised a tour of the artworks in the stations of our Northeast Line.  It is so wonderful how art has been integrated into the walls and floors of the stations and I so admire LTA Project Architect Andrew Mead for his great success in this endeavour. Unfortunately, we could not do for the Esplanade what he did for the NEL stations.

Art-in-Transit Tour by Andrew Mead

Brother Joseph McNally, supported by a band of architects, lobbied for a modern art gallery in The Esplanade.  They felt that visual artists had been short-changed as St Joseph’s Institution was not suitable for a modern art gallery partly because its ceilings were too low.  I had secured SJI and the Catholic High School buildings for the museum in the late-80s, arguing that SJI itself  was six times larger than the 800 sqm National Museum Arts Gallery in the old National Museum which was due for renovation.  

Their request came to nought as we were too pre-occupied with the needs of the perfoming arts.  Still, I aspired to integrate art into the structure of the Esplanade – its walls, waterfront floor tiles, bathroom tiles. I had seen this done in art centres in Australia where visual artists had a role in the development of a performing arts centre. I initiated a Visual Arts Advisory Panel in 1994 comprising Connie Sheares, Eng Seok Chee, Susie Koay and other curators. We spent a few afternoons talking to artists to identify suitable ones. Although the report was approved by the Steering Committee, it was not implemented after I left the Company in 1997 due to financial constraints.

Han Sai Por showing off a marquette of "Seeds"

Nonetheless, we did acquire a few pieces of performing arts-related artworks – “In Sync” by Sandy Wong and Ming Wong’s “Before the Opera”. Singapore Technology Automative (STA) offered to donate a collection of four sculptures “Seeds” by Han Sai Por to the Esplanade on the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 1996. The works were unveiled in October 1996. Han’s “Seeds” are now displayed at four corners of the Esplanade waterfront garden whereas I had envisioned them in a cluster “rolling off” the side of a grassy slope.

 

Sandy Wong-Shin's In-Sync

Late Singaporean calligrapher, Pan Shou also dedicated a classical Tang style poem to the Esplanade. On 19 May 1996, he presented the calligraphy to Minister George Yeo at an exhibition at the National Museum.  The calligraphy was to be cast in stone and placed in a public location when the centre opened.  

With family of Pan Shou at Presentation Ceremony, National Museum

The Esplanade management is supporting visual artists by staging rotational exhibitions in the Main Concourse and in the Jendela, a gallery which was carved out of part of the Concert Hall.  The suspension of three-dimensional art pieces in the series of light cones above what we nicknamed “Theatre Street” of shops, is a surprisingly nice touch.

Art suspended within light cone above "Theatre Street"

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

esplanade theatres – breaking new grounds in the arts

In Aug 1996, the ground-breaking ceremony for the Esplanade was officiated by former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan.   The sun shone bright on this long-awaited occasion.  Team members – construction workers, advisory panel members, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, arts managers, everyone -  gathered in anticipation of his arrival and the ceremonial first shovel of earth.  

SAC PWD Team at Groundbreaking

The occasion was festive, enriched by the colourful artworks decorating the site’s hoardings, all entries from a student art competition “Young-at-Art” organized by a very capable Chew Su Yin.  Prior to his address, DPM Tan toured the art works sharing words of encouragement with students as he made his way around the hoardings. The competition logo was designed by graphic designer Vincent Shum while artist Goh Ee Choo assisted with the competition procedures.  The competition was sponsored by Nippon Paints.

Director of Education John Yip launches Young-at-Art Competition.

DPM Tony Tan touring students' art on art centre hoardings

I heaved a sigh of relief when the ceremony was over as it freed me to proceed on the training attachment that Robert had offered me. Although he had suggested a six-months overseas attachment, I opteded for shorter training stints as my children were in Secondary Four and Primary Six that year.  He offered to release me from the Groundbreaking Ceremony but I felt I could not abandon my team on this important occasion.

 

 

Judges of Young-at-Art Competition - (L to R) : DPA's Koh Seow Chuan, Anthony Poon, Lesley Ho, Robert Iau, Juliana Lim, Teo Emg Seng

The heavens opened with a torrential downpour the instant our Guest-of-Honour left in his car, after the reception.  We  joked that someone must have cast the onion-and-chilli spell.

 

 Young-at-Art teeshirt

 

 

 

 

 

the esplanade theatres “taking shape” – lo mai kai, dumplings or durians

 

The design of the performing art centre was unveiled at an exhibition called “Taking Shape” on 21 July 1994.  Minister Yeo opened the exhibition where he also announced the name for the centre “The Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay”.

 

Minister Yeo with Malaysian dance scholar Mohd Anis at "Taking Shape" Exhibition

The exhibition held at the Ministry of National Development Building, Maxwell Road was open to the public and attracted over 1000 people. Another 300 attended an talk by the architects. Feedback was encouraged and suggestions for handicapped access and landscaping were taken into consideration as we progressed the Esplanade’s design. 

Minister greets Mrs Jean Marshall while the late David Marshall tours the SAC virtually

We invited Ambassador and Mrs David Marshall who had hosted us on our Paris tour, to the exhibition and they journeyed through the centre through 3D goggles using a virtually reality programme developed by the Institute of System Sciences for us.  Robert was Director of the Institute and scientists like Peter Kellock worked with us on the presentation.

Some Singaporeans and members of the architectural community expressed disappointment with the design, perhaps because they expected a Sydney Opera House.  The massing model evoked many metaphors. Officially, the architects projected the centre as a “lantern in the park”.   However, team members had private interpretations of the design.  MWA architect David Turnbull revealed that he was trying to recreate ”crustacean images to resurrect the crustaceans that had been compressed due to land reclamation works”.  Members of the public alluded to fruits and food - banana (commercial concourse), lo mai kai or papayas (concert hall and lyric theatre), dumplings “bakchang” (waterfront wayang stage & Adaptable Theatre).   Some of us throught we saw President Ong’s initials “OTC” in the design. I think of microphones, lacy lingerie and paper-cut.  Dr Ivan Polunin will always refer to them as bugs’ eyes.  

Massing model that provoked food imagery

My daughter Liana's doodles on the axiomatic drawing of the esplanade. Like most Singaporeans, she saw food - a loaf of bread, chocolate bar, dumpling

When the roof design was released later, it evoked even more controversy. The spiky roof was thought to be inauspicious.  At a geomancy talk I attended in 2006, a speaker said that the Suntec fountain had shut down for a few months as the Esplanade roof was too aggressive.  There were other intriguing interpretations of the spiky roof.  Someone else said that the two halls were the eyes of a dragon emerging to combat the ills consequential to the closure of the Singapore River due to land reclamation.

 

 

President Ong seemed to be unfazed by the adverse public reaction, fully confident in our architect’s ability to deliver a world-class icon. Whenever we looked like we were wilting under public pressure, he encouraged us to accept the controversy in our stride, as a part of the journey of building a icon.

Through all this, what kept my faith in the roof design was the internal perspective of the floors of the theatre lobbies bathed in Escheresque triangular-shaped patterns of light and shadow.  It is a pity that due to security consideartions, members of the public are not allow access into the foyers in the daytime, to enjoy the patterns on the floor that sustained me throughout the journey. 

I had also read that the Sydney Opera House design was also not free of controversy. Utzon’s inspiration for the centre’s roof design were slices of a Mandarin orange. The NSW Government marketed it as a “lotus flower” but Sydney-siders decided that they were “sails”.  So, no matter how we market the Esplanade, it is the Singaporean public who will decide what to call it. 

Despite the initial controversy over the design, The Esplanade has become a well-loved icon among Singaporeans.  With prominent spiky sunshades, the public now fondly refer to the Esplanade as the “durian”, betraying Singaporeans’ love for food. 

 

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.