Minister for Education RAdm Teo Chee Hean

Vice Chancellor Professor Shih Choon Fong

Excellencies

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted to be here this evening to officiate the official opening of the University Cultural Centre (UCC).

The UCC is a landmark in the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The wealth of arts and cultural activities to be held at the UCC will enrich university life and contribute to NUS's cultural vibrancy. In addition to serving the University community, the UCC, with its museums and state-of-the-art hall and theatre, will also serve as a resource for the larger Singapore arts community. The cultivation of the arts requires not only creativity and imagination, but also discipline, perseverance and, often, teamwork. The UCC is therefore more than just an impressive venue for performances and other university events. It is also a symbolic affirmation of the significant place these laudable qualities have within a university community of learners, scholars and researchers.

Great cities of the world such as New York, London and Paris take pride, not only in their commercial wealth and technological advancements, but also in their artistic vibrancy and in nurturing their arts institutions. New York's Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, and Julliard School, London's Barbican Centre, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Academy of Music are but a few of the many world-renowned cultural landmarks in their respective cities.

Singapore aspires to be a global city, for business, for technology, for enterpreneurship, for education, and for the arts. We want to build a city of distinction which will be a source of pride and affection for citizens and a magnet for global talent. The development of the arts is part of our aspirations.

Over the years, we have built up our own arts and cultural institutions. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was established in 1979 and celebrates its 21^st anniversary this year.

Two private arts institutions, the LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts (LASALLE-SIA) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) started receiving substantial public funding for their diploma programmes in 1999. The Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay is due for completion in late 2001.

On the occasion of the UCC's official opening, it is timely to consider how NUS, Singapore’s oldest university, can play a more significant role in nurturing tertiary-level talent in the arts to contribute to the development of Singapore as a global city of distinction.

In 1998, the Government accepted the recommendations of the Committee to Upgrade LASALLE and NAFA to establish an Institute of the Arts (ITA) at NUS which will offer degree programmes in the performing arts. Setting up a degree-level multi-disciplinary performing arts institution is a costly and complex endeavour. It is not one to be undertaken lightly, especially when our intention is to establish an institution of international standing and first-class quality.

To ensure that ITA succeeds in offering quality programmes of the highest standards, we have decided to start by focusing our efforts on building up a music conservatory in NUS to offer undergraduate music degree programmes. The feasibility of introducing other performing arts disciplines will be evaluated later, after we have put the music programme on a firm path of success.

The NUS music conservatory will have the status of a Faculty within NUS and its graduates will be awarded NUS degrees. Establishing the ITA within the context of a comprehensive university will allow the conservatory to provide its students with high-level professional training in their specialised areas of music, balanced by a broad-based academic grounding with a liberal arts component.

Indeed, the presence of a high-level music conservatory will contribute to NUS's development as a first-rate comprehensive university. NUS already seeks to provide its students with a well-rounded university experience through a wide range of arts and cultural activities and events. The ITA will further enrich the artistic vibrancy of NUS's campus life through regular top-notch performances and recitals by the conservatory's performing groups and visiting artistes and teachers. The ITA could offer cross-faculty modules to undergraduates from NUS’s other Faculties and explore inter-disciplinary synergies with these Faculties. This will further broaden the range of courses offered to NUS students, and make the university a truly comprehensive tertiary institution.

We are also mindful of the need to ensure that the conservatory's music programme has the appropriate rigour and is of international standard. To ensure standards are met, NUS is exploring a possible partnership with a leading overseas music conservatory in the development of the ITA.

We hope that such a collaboration will inject confidence in the quality of the conservatory's music programmes and teaching faculty, and that the confidence engendered will enable the ITA to attract quality students from its inception.

To keep the quality of student intake high, the conservatory will have a small student intake but one which is sufficient to build a critical mass to sustain a good range of musical activities at a high level. We expect an initial intake of about 30, which can grow to about 40 to 50, thus giving an enrolment of 150 to 200 students.

The NUS conservatory plans to accept its first intake of students in the academic year 2002 with an initial intake of about 30 students in a 4-year undergraduate programme.

A degree-level music conservatory will be the first of its kind in Singapore, and will expand opportunities for tertiary education in our country. The NUS music conservatory will provide more avenues locally for our students to develop their talents and interests to the highest levels and is an affirmation of our ability-driven approach to education.

The ITA will also fulfil a public mission as a national strategic resource for the arts community. The conservatory will play an important role in working with the arts community to identify and nurture young musical talents, and to enhance the general awareness of music and raise the level of musical performance in Singapore.

We envisage the ITA to be a focal point of musical activities, exchange and knowledge not only for Singapore, but also for the Asia-Pacific region. The ITA will contribute to the development of Singapore as a hub for education and the arts. The NUS music conservatory will be encouraged to establish links with other arts institutions in the region and to provide opportunities for talented music students from Singapore and the region to further their studies.

Setting up a first-class conservatory of music is a serious and costly endeavour, one which requires long-term investment and commitment not only from the Government, but also from stakeholders of the arts community. I would like to strongly urge and encourage the arts community and its stakeholders to support the development of the ITA. ITA will not succeed if the arts community and its stakeholders do not commit resources and effort to make it part of their artistic and professional pursuits. There is also much scope for synergy between the ITA and key stakeholders of the arts community such as the National Arts Council, SSO, Singapore Youth Orchestra, LaSalle and NAFA. It is my hope that we will work together to realise our shared vision of developing Singapore in all aspects, including the arts.

Let me conclude by congratulating NUS on the launch of its Cultural Centre.

The completion of NUS's UCC comes at a timely juncture as we look ahead to the establishment of the ITA. The UCC, with its state-of-the-art performing venues, will provide part of the "hardware" needed for the ITA's development, to complement the "software" of support from the university and arts community.

Thank you.

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