Reaching the wider community through the arts and sports

Introduction

1. Mr Chairman, Acting Minister has earlier outlined what we want Singapore to be: to be a city of the arts, a sporting nation, and most fundamentally, our home. So to fulfil these objectives, MCCY has adopted an inclusive approach to the arts and sports.

2. Mr Baey Yam Keng, Ms Penny Low, Mr Arthur Fong and Mr Seah Kian Peng spoke about the need for the government to engage all segments of society. I fully agree with them. Please allow me to share how we are supporting the specific sectors that Members of this House have asked about – they are our traditional arts groups and also our disabled athletes. Thereafter, I will cover more broadly our efforts to reach out to the wider community.

Sustained support for traditional arts

3. Mr Chair, with your permission I would like to display some slides on the screens. Thank you. Mr Baey Yam Keng asked how the government supports, preserves and promotes our traditional arts, citing the example of Sin Sai Hong, a Hokkien street opera troupe that is closing down. I am heartened by Mr Baey's initiative, to link Sin Sai Hong up with the National Museum of Singapore, on the possibility of donating their costumes, props and other opera items to the Museum. The Museum welcomes donations of heritage value that can be preserved for all Singaporeans to enjoy, and I understand that the curators are now in the process of engaging Sin Sai Hong.

4. As someone who appreciates the traditional arts, the loss of Sin Sai Hong really saddens me. I remember watching Sin Sai Hong's performances when I was young. But I would like to take this opportunity to assure Mr Baey that this does not mean the demise of the art form. To preserve the art form, apart from the government's effort, opera lovers must come together to support our opera troupes. And this is indeed happening on the ground. I was very heartened to learn that the Chinese Opera Institute has recently set up a research and development fund which is open to our opera troupes, and that they have raised nearly $500,000. With MCCY's Cultural Matching Fund, they could come close to their fundraising target of $1 million.

5. To support our traditional arts, NAC launched a five-year National Traditional Arts plan in 2011. The plan aims to improve the quality of productions, increase the audience base and also the accessibility for traditional arts, as well as identify the next generation of practitioners. For example, under this plan, the NAC supports traditional arts programmes in schools and NAC also works closely with industry partners to leverage cultural festivals to profile the traditional arts. Indeed, as Mr Baey has pointed out, not all groups are aware of the available support and so the NAC has started to proactively reach out to arts groups. One example is the traditional arts consultancy programme, where NAC pairs promising traditional arts groups with consultants to upgrade their management skills and also to plan for their future. To-date, four traditional arts groups have benefited from this programme, and NAC plans to continue this programme in financial year 14. Another example is Malay music, where NAC brought together various Malay music groups and practitioners to form a Malay music development committee. Through this committee, NAC has launched training programmes that build up skills among Malay music practitioners. Since its implementation, it has seen a growing interest in the traditional arts, especially among the young Singaporeans.

6. In fact, last year I attended the Singapore Kwangtung Hui Kuan's Dialect Nursery Rhymes book and CD launch, one of the many projects supported by the MCCY. So, to my pleasant surprise, the dialect rhymes in the CD were actually recited and sung by school students in five different dialects. It was most heartening to see such interest among our young.

7. So this is the Nursery Book and there is a CD inside. I bought 10 copies at the launch and I have been giving this book to friends, relatives who are interested in traditional arts. I am happy to present this copy to Mr Baey, for he's so passionate about promoting the traditional arts. By the way, I have two extra copies left, so those who are keen, can come and see me after this, on a first-come, first-served basis.

8. Mister Chairman, now allow me just to give my speech in Mandarin.

9. 主席先生，传统艺术不单是发展新加坡文化的重要环节之一，它也是促进不同社群的了解，甚至彼此欣赏的桥梁。所以，文化、社区及青年部将继续着重支持、发展及推广传统艺术。

10. 因为工作上的关系和个人的兴趣，我时常出席艺术团体的活动。过去我最常听到的反馈是：政府给予传统艺术团体的赞助资金不太足够。

11. 有鉴于这些反馈，国家艺术理事会在2011年的时候，就推出了全国传统艺术计划。在这项计划之下，许多资深和新生的传统艺术团体都获得资助。其中，包括了由二十名演奏家组成的鼎艺团，他们通过华族乐器演奏传统华族音乐和跨流派的现代作品，来弘扬华乐室内音乐。鼎艺从艺术理事会获得了种子基金之后，便一直不断地拓展。去年，他们更获得艺理会的主要拨款，在滨海艺术中心举行了首个国际华乐室内乐节：呈献了来自北京、台湾、澳门等地著名华乐室内乐团的演奏，让大家接触，认识和欣赏华乐室内乐。

12. 主席先生，全国传统艺术计划自实行以来，观赏传统艺术的观众群，有逐年增加的现象。但是，我们关注的是，年轻的一代是否会对于传统艺术产生兴趣。所以艺理会在2011年的时候也作了一项调查，发现传统舞蹈的观众群有将近49%的年龄介于25到29岁之间。所以观众的年轻化，是一个令人鼓舞的现象。

13. 要怎么样让年轻一代认识而欣赏传统艺术，是我们重要考量之一。所以通过帮助学校举办传统艺术节目，我们也增加学生接触传统艺术形式的机会。这些节目包括在学校集合时表演传统艺术，组织学生参观传统艺术团体的工作室，以及帮助学生们主办传统艺术表演节目等。

14. 艺术理事会也会继续加深与合作伙伴的关系。今年，我们和传统艺术界的多个团体展开密切合作，共同举办了一系列大型舞的台节目和常驻表演节目。这包括马来舞蹈、和音乐节目《河口》（Muara）、华族舞蹈《舞韵飞扬》和Dance‧India的印度舞蹈。此外，我们也不间断地运用现有的文化节日和活动来推广介绍传统艺术，例如“月圆河畔庆中秋”就是一个好的例子。

15. 除了政府和学府的支持和资助之外，企业界和广大民众对传统艺术的支持也有着举足轻重的影响。有了民众的支持，传统艺术便会有一定的观众群，那就更为容易的争取到企业界的支持。有了企业界的支持，艺术团体便能够如虎添翼，上演精彩的表演。举个例子：南华儒剧社是本地著名业余潮剧团。去年，他们庆祝成立50周年，上演的潮剧《孝庄梦》，就得到Super集团的赞助。第一场演出，便有近一千名观众前来，观赏这部备受欢迎的潮剧。如果政府、企业界、以及观众能紧密合作，三管齐下支持传统艺术，我相信传统艺术的前景将是非常光明的。

16. 因此，我殷切的希望这些努力能加深国人对于传统艺术有深一层的认识，从而产生认同感和自豪感。这能够确保传统艺术能够在新加坡继续扮演着文化基石的重要角色。

Supporting disabled athletes

11. Madam Chair, in English, please. I will now speak on another area that is close to my heart – that is, how we are better supporting our disabled athletes, a point that was mentioned by Ms Penny Low.

12. Ms Penny Low spoke passionately about our disabled athletes, and I share her passion which is contagious. I am happy to inform Members of this House that the government is committed to supporting our disabled athletes. Vision 2030 speaks about Sports Without Boundaries – and indeed, we want all Singaporeans, including the disabled community, to be able to experience the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle. We also want our disabled athletes to know that they can aspire to sporting excellence.

13. We have been supporting our disabled athletes in many ways. We provide grants to the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to help the Council and their athletes with coaching, overseas competitions, sports medicine and sports science. Last year, we awarded the Sports Excellence (SpEx) Scholarship to seven disabled athletes, including equestrian, bowling and boccia athletes.

14. Acting Minister earlier spoke about the SpEx Career Scheme. SSC is exploring job placements for our able-bodied as well as disabled athletes in companies which have signed up for the scheme. SSC is also actively looking for more companies to join the Scheme to give our disabled athletes more career options. I encourage more employers to come forward to be a part of this effort.

15. We are also embarking on research and capability development for disability sports. The Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) has started exploring research into sports, such as boccia, so that our sports scientists can provide specialised support to our disabled athletes, to customise their sports equipment and raise their performance standards.

16. We will continue to work with the SDSC to see how we can better support our disabled athletes, and at the same time provide more opportunities for the disabled community to enjoy sports.

17. Ms Penny Low also asked about infrastructure for disability sports. The Sports Hub and all new SSC facilities are intended to be used by Singaporeans including the able-bodied and disabled. As such, the public access facilities at the Sports Hub, and new SSC facilities will meet the Building and Construction Authority's guidelines for accessibility; they will have amenities like parking, ramps, lifts and walkways that cater to the needs of the disabled and those who are having mobility issues. We are also progressively upgrading our older SSC facilities to make them disabled-friendly, and we hope to see the less able-bodied making full use of the Sports Hub and SSC's facilities. We will certainly consider Ms Low's suggestion to feature our disabled athletes more prominently at the official opening of the Sports Hub.

18. Mr Chairman, I had the chance to meet with our disabled athletes at the recent ASEAN Para Games in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. They are indeed extraordinary. Watching them in action, one could see their grit, determination, and tremendous courage. They made Singapore proud when they came home with 27 medals from the Games. But beyond winning medals, their positive attitude and fighting spirit were an inspiration to us all.

19. I remember vividly a conversation with our table-tennis athlete Mr Jason Chee. For those who know Jason, he was the navy man who was involved in a horrific accident that had caused him to lose both his legs, an arm, and two fingers of the remaining arm. After the accident, he could no longer swim or dive as what a navy man does. Despite such adversity, Jason never gives up. He retains a positive outlook. He has picked up other skills, trains very hard and is now part of our Team Singapore table-tennis team.

20. At the ASEAN Para Games in Myanmar, I watched Jason's match against an opponent from Vietnam. While both athletes were on wheelchairs, Jason's opponent has two arms with ten fingers intact. Our Jason has only one arm and three fingers. The game was one-sided, with Jason managing to win only a few points in each of the matches. Watching from the sidelines, all the Singapore supporters couldn't help but feel downcast. When the game was over, I went up to Jason, struggling to find words of encouragement to talk to him. But much to my surprise, Jason was all smiles, and what he told me next was something that I will never forget. He said, “It was a good game, I scored a few points from him. Next time, I want to score a few more!”.

21. These words lifted the spirits of Team Singapore. Jason's never-say-die attitude helped his team-mates turn the corner, and our table-tennis team won 4 medals. Which was a very good result for the team's first international outing!

22. Apart from Jason, there are many other fine role models amongst the Team Singapore disabled athletes – for example, Nurul for boccia, Laurentia for equestrian and Pin Xiu for swimming. Their next target is the 8th ASEAN Para Games which will be held in Singapore in December 2015. I look forward to seeing them in action, and I strongly believe that many of them will inspire us once again with their extraordinary deeds.

23. Mister Chairman, Mr Arthur Fong asked what we can expect for the Para Games in 2015. The Para Games will be special as this is the first time that we are hosting them. And we will work with the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) and Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to ensure the Games' success.

24. So we are looking beyond the Games itself. The Games are an excellent opportunity to build a community that supports and is inspired by our disabled athletes. Through the Games, we hope Singapore could better appreciate and value people with disabilities and to support every individual to reach his or her full potential, regardless of bodily condition. So, as we prepare for the ASEAN Para Games next year, I hope that all Singaporeans can rally together in support of our disabled athletes and the disabled community in Singapore.

Reaching the wider community through the arts and sports

25. 31. Mister Chairman, I will now cover our broader efforts to reach out to the community. Mr Arthur Fong spoke at length about bringing the arts and heritage closer to the wider community. There are already many such initiatives, such as People Association's PAssionArts for the community, NAC's Silver Arts Festival for our pioneers and seniors, and NHB's Heritage Grant Scheme for ground-up community efforts. MCCY has been increasing accessibility to the wider community, because we believe that the arts and sports have the potential to uplift our society – including the underserved and the vulnerable. So I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Baey Yam Keng and also Mr Seah Kian Peng that the arts and sports have a transformative power that can touch lives, give hope, and help heal. I will first speak about what we are doing through the arts.

26. I am happy to share with Mr Baey Yam Keng that the National Arts Council has been working with the social service sector to support quality arts programmes in sports schools and also in VWOs. A good example is the Hua Mei Elder-centred Programme of Integrated Comprehensive Care, which offers a range of arts programmes as part of its integrated services. And one of their regular participants, Mdm Maligah shows great talent and keenness in pottery. When she is engaged in it, she is so focused that she forgets about her chronic pains. In a way, the creative arts serve a dual purpose, as therapy and as an avenue for Mdm Maligah to express herself and also her artistic talent. talents.

27. We hope to forge many more partnerships like the one at Hua Mei, and so NAC is setting aside an additional $1.5 million under ArtReach, for VWOs which are interested to work with artists to develop programmes for wellness, intervention or rehabilitation. NAC will match interested artists with VWOs, and will be working with the Community Development Councils (CDCs) to ensure that artist-led projects are coordinated and have maximum impact in the community.

28. Madam Chair, I will now share an example from the sports. As Members will recall, we established the SportCares Foundation under Vision 2030. Before I go on, I would like to this opportunity to thank Mr Seah Kian Peng for his personal effort in supporting SportCares. In fact, I am pleased to note the strong support from the community and from corporates. We started fundraising last year with a $1 million government matching grant, and we now have a total of $2.2 million that will reach out to and serve 4000 children and youths across 44 sports programmes and projects.

29. SportCares' flagship programme, the Saturday Night Lights (SNL) football programme, has produced encouraging results. It is helping more than 300 youths develop good values and a sense of purpose in life. This model of sport and life coaching has been replicated in other sports, such as the CareRunners programme. And we will roll it out to dragonboating, canoeing and kayaking in the coming months.

30. Madam Chair, ArtReach and SportCares initiatives can make a positive difference because of strong support from the community itself – they include Singaporeans, artists and sportspeople who give of their time and effort, passion and skills, to reach out to the underserved and the vulnerable. I think they deserve our appreciation.

31. Madam Chair, I have shared with Members MCCY's inclusive approach of using the arts and the sports to engage the under-privileged in our society. We do so because we envision Singapore as a caring and  inclusive society, a home where all of us can live more meaningfully and purposefully through the arts and through sports. Thank you.

COS 2014 Sustained Support for Traditional Arts Video ↗ (opens in new tab)

COS 2014 Supporting Disabled Athletes Video ↗ (opens in new tab) 

COS 2014 Reaching the Wider Community through the Arts and Sports Video ↗ (opens in new tab)