Conversations around “For Arts’ Sake”

Exhausted from completing “For Arts’ Sake: Memoirs of a Singapore Arts Manager”, I did not have the energy to market it. In any case, it was just something I had to get done, to document the contributions of my generation of arts managers. It was never a commercial venture, more like an impulsive “bad business decision”, echoing the voice of one of my former bosses. So, it was very nice that two former colleagues from the Singapore Arts Centre Company surfaced with ideas to “market” my book.

First, my dear colleague turned friend Joyce Teo who now anchors the Arts Management Programme at NAFA as Associate Dean, hosted my book launch on 28 August 2023 to which I invited all my former colleagues to acknowledge their role in promoting the arts and thank them for journeying with me. My friend and fellow arts volunteer Low Sze Wee graciously launched my book for me after which another dear friend Dr Wong Su San sang the song “You Raised Me Up” as a tribute to our fellow art promoters. Before the launch, I spoke to NAFA’s Arts Administration students which turned out to be an interesting experience. They were all born in the 21st century so I felt the deep chasm between us, me a 20th century arts manager and young people who had limited knowledge about important arts advocates like former President Ong Teng Cheong and Kuo Pao Kun. It felt urgent to keep talking with them so they can be operational when they graduate to join the art administration army.

On 24 February, Phan Ming Yen, another colleague turned friend, initiated and moderated a conversation with two younger arts manager friends – Jeffrey Tan and Mohammed Shaifulbah – under the National Library’s Insider Series facilitated by helpful librarian Isabelle Yee. All three are now independent producers and it was eye opening to hear their challenges in creating events giving “goosebump moments” to audiences, in present circumstances. I had laboured to create assistance schemes that still enable legally -registered companies limited by guarantee but these schemes do not work for independent producers. I value them as they add diversity to art offerings for the audience and I hope solutions can be found to enable them to flourish.

In between, on 1 November, I shared my story with a small but interested group of Tanglin Club members, following an unexpected invitation from Book Club member Cecilia Siow, whose husband John Gee succeeded me as President of the Richard Wagner Association (Singapore) in 2018. Cecilia felt her Book Club friends would appreciate hearing more about the development of the Singapore arts landscape and they were a truly engaged audience as I took them on my journey through the various Ministries from 1978 to 1997.

Thank you, Joyce, MingYen and Cecilia for your precious gifts to me, allowing me to spread the word on the challenges of artists and the efforts of my generation of arts managers in enabling them. The journey continues…