SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road

Singapore 119963

Tel: (065) 375-7794 / 375-7795

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SPEECH BY MR PETER CHEN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING CEREMONY OF NAFA ARTS FESTIVAL '97 AT SUNTEC CITY ON SATURDAY, 10TH MAY 1997 AT 3.00 PM

Mr Ho Kah Leong

Principal of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Distinguished Guests

Ladies & Gentlemen

A very good afternoon to you.

I was very pleased when I found out the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and I have something in common. It isn't that I'm an accomplished painter, a brilliant sculptor or an imaginative graphic designer. But the academy and I were both born in the same year 1938. Moreover, the academy and I both have a common friend in the person of the Principal Mr Ho Kah Leong. And I can testify to the fact that Mr Ho is an accomplished painter.

The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, or NAFA as it is fondly called, is the longest established arts institution in Singapore. The academy is celebrating her 59th Anniversary this year, and today's event the NAFA Arts Festival 97 is the highlight of the celebrations.

The Festival will showcase the strength of NAFA in all her disciplines. It will allow the general public to witness and appraise her performance. Economic success alone is incomplete, without the culture and grace that is the hallmark of a civilised society. In all her 59 years, the academy has been steadfast in her goal in promoting the arts which helps to bring about a cultured and gracious Singapore.

NAFA started with only 14 students in 1938. Today it has a student population of 3,000, attending courses in the Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Fashion Studies. The academy comprises a total of seven departments and two independent units.

The Graphic Design Departments, established in 1975, is the biggest department in the academy. It has more than 700 students taking full and part time courses. Today is the Grand Opening of the NAFA Arts Festival '97 and the 13th Graphic Design Diploma Show which showcases 181 design works of the graduates. The works you will see display a good range of high-tech computerized graphic imageries. The academy is not just a place for pony-tailed "arties". It has taken great strides and moved with the advancement in technology.

Curiously, the name "Virus" has been chosen as the title of this show. You all know that computer virus is a disruptive enemy to our computer data and programmes. The virus is in itself a highly creative computer programme. But it is a persistent, confident and a virtually indestructible beast. However, even enemies sometimes have qualities that we may admire. You overcome the enemy by his own strength. In choosing this name, the Graphic Design graduates want you to know that they are as confident, creative and persevering as any virus that we can encounter.

To the graduates, this creative and determined group of soldiers, let me offer my congratulations for your successful completion of your course and also for putting up this wonderful exhibition.

I now have pleasure to declare open the 13th Graphic Design Diploma Show and the NAFA Arts Festival '97.

Thank you.