Edwin Tong Chun Fai
Singapore
“These questions have been answered in the reply to Questions Nos 26 to 31 for Oral Answer on today's Order Paper. [Please refer to "Addressing Issues Identified in Legal Profession Sustainability Study", Official Report, 7 July 2026, Vol 96, Issue 32, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time secti…”
“I am answering in my capacity as the Minister charged with the responsibility for the People's Association. The Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme was first introduced in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with two key objectives: one, to help Singaporean households cope with daily expenses; and two, to support hawker…”
“If the incident is a result of bilateral obligations relating to data protection and inviolability of equipment not being complied with, then the Government will consider all available legal and diplomatic options, in accordance with the bilateral RTS Link treaties, as well as the relevant international law.”
“In 2024, community sentences under part 17 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (CPC) were imposed in 86 criminal cases handled by the State Courts.”
“It is a five-minute journey across both ways; and with the availability of closed circuit television coverage and the real-time monitoring that will be done by the officers on both sides, we did not think that this will be necessary.”
“The Ministry of Law will provide an oral reply to this Parliamentary Question, together with other Parliamentary Questions which have been filed on this topic at the next available opportunity.”
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“We are committed to enhancing the accessibility of arts performances and concerts for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). While event organisers and concert promoters have their own ticketing policies, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's (MCCY’s) cultural institutions support accessibility to arts programmes by offering ticket concessions to PwDs, including wheelchair users. For example, all Esplanade Presents programmes that offer concessions have ticket concessions for PwDs, which can also be used by one accompanying companion. Take-up among our PwD community increased by 33% from 2022 to 2023. Arts groups, such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, also offer discounted tickets for PwDs. Apart from ticket concessions, our cultural institutions work closely with community partners like SG Enable to develop and introduce inclusive programming for PwDs. This includes introducing more accessibility features during performances, such as audio description, captioning and sign language interpretation. A recent example is the mini concert staged by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on 26 June 2024 at the National Gallery Singapore for the visually impaired from the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped. The Esplanade also offers “relaxed performances” as part of its PLAYtime! series of theatre productions for children. These performances feature adjusted lighting and sound levels, ensuring visitors with sensory needs can thoroughly enjoy the experience. These initiatives are complemented by the ongoing capability development efforts of the National Arts Council (NAC) and National Heritage Board (NHB) among the arts and cultural organisations, museums, practitioners and volunteers to strengthen inclusive programming.”
“Under the Public Order Act 2009, KASM will notify and work with SPF on the appropriate measures to be deployed for public safety when major events at Sports Hub are expected to attract crowds of 5,000 persons or more. As part of the measures, KASM also has dedicated teams on site to respond to incidents immediately during major events. This has been successful by and large. One positive example where KASM partnering closely with other agencies had led to successful outcomes were the Taylor Swift concerts. Officers were stationed at nearby residential car parks to deter illegal parking and ensure sufficient parking lots for residents. KASM also piloted having an emcee who entertained guests as they waited outside Stadium MRT while managing the crowd flow to ensure that the station would not be overcrowded. This received praise from media outlets and are measures that KASM will continue to explore to facilitate crowd dispersal post-event. KASM will continue to partner other agencies to further improve our crowd, traffic and parking management, even as Sports Hub continues to host more major events for Singaporeans to enjoy.”
“Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM) is committed to delivering world-class events smoothly and safely. KASM has stepped up transport management measures for large-scale events. These include encouraging event attendees to arrive early and to utilise public transport, such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines. These measures are communicated through event guides, mainstream and social media channels, as well as directly to event attendees via email and short message service (SMS). KASM partners closely with agencies and entities, such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA), SMRT, Housing and Development Board and Singapore Police Force (SPF) by having close coordination via the Traffic Management and Crowd Control Committee, a platform where monthly meetings are conducted to update and coordinate with stakeholders on major events within the Sports Hub, crowd planning and traffic management plans. On the day of the event, Government agencies step up their presence at public residential areas around the Sports Hub to stop/deter illegal parking, if necessary. KASM also employs additional marshals to manage traffic within its precinct on the day of events when large crowds are expected. KASM is able to disperse crowds within 15 minutes for most events. KASM continues to partner Management Corporation Strata Titles (MCSTs) of nearby condominiums at Tanjong Rhu through the Residents’ Committees. This ensures that residents can share their feedback if illegal parking is observed. KASM works with relevant agencies like SPF and LTA on contingency plans and provides access to the Sports Hub’s Integrated Command and Control Centre for coordination of responding efforts to incidents.”
“Hougang Sport Centre is currently undergoing renovation works. When completed by 2026, residents in the area can look forward to a larger gym, new fitness studios, a sheltered teaching pool with ramp access, new water play features, new activity areas, new fitness stations, basketball courts and a new running track. The refreshed sport centre will be accessible to all in the community with barrier-free access, sheltered drop-offs and facilities connected by covered linkways.”
“The details of the refreshed MC Scheme are available at https://www.nac.gov.sg/support/funding-and-schemes/major-company-scheme/overview.”
“The Major Company (MC) Scheme was introduced in 2000 with the objective of developing a sustainable pool of professional arts organisations that are hallmarks of excellence, and in support of the development of Singapore’s cultural landscape and artistic practices. Since its inception, the number of registered arts companies under the MC Scheme has grown steadily, from 17 in 2000 to 50 in 2024. These are companies that practise different art forms, such as dance, music, and theatre, from the different ethnic groups in Singapore. Most of these companies are also Institutions of Public Character (IPC). This reflects the rising standards of arts companies in Singapore over the years, both artistically and in corporate management. In evaluating the outcomes of the scheme, the National Arts Council (NAC) measures indicators such as audience attendance and satisfaction, and companies’ financial sustainability and governance. Our Major Companies are key players within Singapore’s arts scene. They have contributed to the vibrancy of the arts ecosystem in driving artistic excellence and expanding access to and engagement with the arts across different segments of society. Collectively, they hire around 480 employees as of FY2023, and also generate projects for Self-Employed Persons. Following engagements with and feedback from the arts community, NAC has refreshed the MC Scheme in 2024 to better contribute to the strategic priorities in Our SG Arts Plan (2023-2027), i.e., to build a connected society, create a distinctive city, and drive the creative economy. More support will be provided to companies that use the arts to contribute to Community Building, and/or contribute to Capability Development and Collaboration to grow the arts sector in Singapore.”
“The National Arts Council (NAC) supports the arts sector via various Arts Infrastructure Schemes, such as the Framework for Art Spaces and the Arts Housing Scheme. They are highly-subsidised to ensure affordable access to spaces for arts creation and presentation. As the landlord, NAC does not permit tenants to sub-let the spaces. However, arts tenants can share their spaces with other arts companies or artists as part of their collaborative art-making process or presentations.”
“The Government seeks to encourage as many Singaporeans as possible to participate in sports and physical exercise to support active and healthy living and promote social cohesion. In tandem, we have been expanding the number of sports facilities to meet Singaporeans’ needs. These include a variety of sporting facilities in ActiveSG Sport Centres, People's Association community clubs, Ministry of Education school facilities that are open for public use under the Dual Use Scheme (DUS), and free-to-play sports facilities located conveniently in our housing estates. Our ActiveSG Sport Centres offer affordable subsidised rates and primarily serve the needs of members of the public who want to play sports, rather than the needs of private coaches or commercial sports service providers. As such, the facilities in the sport centres are primarily open to bookings by members of the public and we do not track the usage by private coaches. Our sport centres also host training programmes under ActiveSG’s Academies and Clubs as well as those organised by accredited programme partners and National Sport Associations to develop our pipeline of athletes. We will continue to expand our sports facilities primarily to meet the needs of our residents and athletes. SportSG supports coaches by (a) maintaining the National Registry of Coaches (NROC) and requiring some public agencies to hire only NROC-registered coaches, while also publicising their profiles for search by the general public; and (b) upskilling them by providing free or subsidised continuing coach education courses.”
“As before, Singaporean households receiving the latest tranche of Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers will not be disadvantaged due to their co-tenanted living status as long as they can provide proof, such as a tenancy agreement, that they are from separate households and have yet to claim their CDC Vouchers. Those with difficulties claiming the vouchers can approach their nearest Community Centre/Club for assistance.”
“The nationwide digital Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme, first launched in December 2021, aims to help Singaporeans with their daily expenses and support local heartland merchants and hawkers in their businesses. Since October 2021, CDCs have been engaging hawkers and merchants in the heartlands and onboarding them onto the Scheme. CDCs also work closely with associations like the Federation of Merchants' Association, Singapore and Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore as well as various merchant and hawker associations, to reach out to the merchants and hawkers. CDCs will continue to reach out to a broad spectrum of heartland merchants and hawkers so that Singaporean households can benefit from more options to spend their CDC Vouchers.”
“We assess the feasibility of hosting any major sporting event by considering whether it would be in Singapore's interests to do so. This includes our sporting, social and economic outcomes. These factors have to be balanced against the cost of hosting the event, including infrastructure and manpower costs, and other opportunity costs. As mentioned in our response to Parliamentary Question No 21 for Oral Answer, the Commonwealth Games Federation invited all Commonwealth Games Associations, including Singapore, to express interest in hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. [Please refer to "Projected Cost of Hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games by Singapore", Official Report, 3 April 2024, Vol 95, Issue 134, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.] We have since studied the feasibility of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, including whether it would be feasible to do so jointly with another country. Taking into consideration the factors above, we have decided not to make any bid or joint-bid to host the Games.”
“The Cultural Matching Fund (CMF) provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants for private cash donations to registered charities in the arts and heritage sector. It aims to encourage philanthropic giving to our arts and heritage sector. This is to create a more sustainable arts and heritage scene and one in which more people in Singapore have a stake. Registered charities and Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) are held to high standards of governance, including the transparency and accountability of their fund utilisation. They ensure the proper use of public funds, which engenders trust, confidence and support from the public and donors. This is why the CMF is targeted specifically at donations towards charities and IPCs in the arts and heritage sector. CMF matching grants support items which contribute directly to the delivery and impact of programmes by arts and heritage charities and IPCs. Expenses which do not, such as legal fees, staff bonuses and welfare benefits, are not supported by CMF. These guidelines apply to the matching grants paid out by CMF and not to the donations raised by the arts and heritage charities and IPCs. The CMF is part of a broader suite of Government schemes that support the arts and heritage. Examples of other Government schemes include the National Arts Council’s Presentation and Participation Grant, Creation Grant, Production Grant and Sector Transformation Fund; and the National Heritage Board's Organisation Transformation Grant and Major and Minor Project Grants. Collectively, they provide diverse and holistic support for the arts and heritage sector.”
“The Singapore Art Museum has been operating at Tanjong Pagar Distripark (TPD) since 2022 and is doing well at its current location. The contiguous space and high ceilings in TPD are well-suited for showcasing contemporary arts. SAM has hosted multiple successful exhibitions at TPD, including Singapore Biennale 2022, Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger and SAM Contemporaries: Residues and Remixes. Because of the space afforded at TPD, SAM was able to display large-scale contemporary artworks such as Ong Kian Peng's The Viscous Sea and Ho Tzu Nyen's Hotel Aporia, giving visitors an opportunity to immerse fully in the artworks and experience them as the artists intended. SAM has received positive feedback from visitors about its current location. In view of this, SAM plans to remain at TPD in the near-future. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth is considering plans for the Old St Joseph Institution Building and will share more details when they are ready.”
“The inaugural youth panels comprise around 140 youths from different ethnic groups and diverse backgrounds, including secondary school and tertiary students; and young working adults from the private and public sectors. They were appointed from open calls for participation. This diversity enables them to provide valuable perspectives in deliberating policy issues. The youth panels will also be engaging more youths outside of the panels. Those interested in the policy issues addressed in the Youth Panels can participate in the engagements, led by the Panels and at a new Youth Policy Forum, which the National Youth Council (NYC) will organise later this year. These enable our wider youth population to contribute their views and shape the youth panels' recommendations. An important outcome from the Youth Panels is for our youths to better understand the policymaking process. To support the Youth Panel members, NYC organised workshops on context setting, policymaking and design innovation to broaden youths' understanding of policymaking tools and processes. The Youth Panels will continue to participate in such workshops in the coming months, as they develop their problem statements and conduct research. Each Youth Panel is also supported by Government agencies that oversee the respective policy areas. These agencies guide the panels by setting policy contexts and sharing their policy considerations to inform the panels' deliberations. Interested members of the public may wish to stay updated on the progress of the Youth Panels via NYC's Youth Panels' webpage1.”
“NAC is working closely with our partners, including healthcare entities, to formulate the framework details. The framework seeks to include best practices, impact measurement tools and case studies that artists and community partners can use. This will create more opportunities for arts practitioners, many of whom are self-employed, to use their talents and craft to support and promote well-being. NAC will share more details later.”
“Under the Dual-Use Scheme (DUS), there are free-to-play facilities and bookable facilities. These include both the Ministry of Education (MOE) school fields and indoor sports halls. No booking is required for free-to-play facilities, that is, members of public can access the facility spontaneously and at no cost. All bookable facilities under the DUS were almost fully utilised in 2023. SportSG will continue working closely with MOE to expand the DUS to provide Singaporeans with convenient access to schools' sports facilities.”
“SportCares was established in 2012 as the philanthropic arm of SportSG to enable vulnerable individuals and persons with disabilities to experience and reap the benefits of sport by instilling confidence and elevating their outlook on life. SportCares partners the Singapore Prison Service to support the rehabilitation of offenders, such as through offering weekly sports programmes for youths in about seven institutions, including the Reformative Training Centre. On top of sports coaching, coaches also impart values and life experiences. Participants are encouraged to continue in SportCares programmes upon their release. SportCares also offers sports programmes to residents of the Singapore Boys' Home and Singapore Girls' Home, to support their rehabilitation within these institutions and facilitate their reintegration into the community. This is done by connecting them to SportCares' community programmes, such as the Saturday Night Lights and Let's SEPAK. SportCares will continue to explore ways to better enable children and young people in contact with the criminal justice system to reap the benefits of sports.”
“We thank Mr Liang for his queries on the roles of co-operative societies in Singapore and how they can play a part to strengthen Singapore’s social compact. Mr Liang’s queries are addressed by Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, in his second reading and closing speeches for the Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill on 2 April and 3 April 2024 respectively. [Please refer to "Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill", Official Report, 2 April 2024, Vol 95, Issue 133, Second Reading Bills section; and "Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill", Official Report, 3 April 2024, Vol 95, Issue 134, Second Reading Bills section.]”
“At Punggol, the Regional Sport Centre will have a 5,000-seater stadium, a swimming complex, an indoor sport hall with 20 badminton courts, a team sport hall, a gym, fitness studios, sheltered tennis and futsal courts, a water sport centre and an archery field. In addition, we are exploring a sport centre in the new Farrer Park Town Play Field with facilities, such as a multi-purpose play field, a swimming complex, multi-purpose sport halls, community sporting spaces and a park zone. These were also designed in consultation with residents.”
“The Sport Facilities Master Plan (SFMP) by Sport Singapore, is a key initiative of Vision 2030, the national sports blueprint. SFMP aims to provide Singaporeans with innovative, accessible, affordable and relevant sport facilities, with a majority having such access within a 10-minute walk from their homes by around 2030. These include a variety of facilities from comprehensive sport centres with gyms and swimming pools, to the many Ministry of Education (MOE) school facilities, and free-to-play sport spaces located conveniently in our housing estates. Today, SportSG has built 10 Sport-in-Precinct (SIP) facilities with another 24 more in various development stages. SIPs provide free-to-play sport facilities such as sheltered multipurpose courts, jogging tracks as well as multi-generational outdoor fitness equipment. These SIPs are located conveniently within Housing & Development Board estates for residents to use. SportSG has also worked with MOE to make available more than 370 Dual Use Scheme (DUS) facilities including indoor sport halls and free-to-play fields which Singaporeans can use on weekends to play football or frisbee with their friends and family. Just last year, we saw the reopening of Chua Chu Kang Sport Centre and Delta Sport Centre. This year, we can look forward to the opening of four more new facilities: the Kallang Tennis Hub, the Kallang Football Hub, new basketball courts at the former Bedok Swimming Complex and a facility for softball and baseball at Jurong East. Residents in Punggol and Clementi can also look forward to new sport facilities in the coming years. At Clementi, there will be a new sport facility which includes a jogging track and sport courts that are open to the public.”
“At last November's Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, the CGF invited all Commonwealth Games Associations, including Singapore, to express interest in hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. We have since studied the feasibility of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games and have decided not to make any bid to host the Games. Should we receive future invitations to express interest in hosting the Commonwealth Games, we can consider doing so based on the circumstances at that point in time.”
“This question has been addressed. I refer Member to the reply to Parliamentary Question No 5 of Parliament Sitting No 123, on 16 February 2024. [Please refer to "Vetting Process for Potential Grassroots Leaders, Key Appointment Holders and Patrons for Susceptibility to Foreign Influence", Official Report, 16 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 123, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“The National Arts Council (NAC) actively explores partnerships with venue owners interested in offering their spaces as busking locations. Venue owners would have to consider if busking fits the venue's identity and if it would be well-received by existing stakeholders. Presently, there are over 80 designated busking locations across Singapore. These include spots next to Fengshan, Telok Blangah and Changi Village food centres. In December 2023, NAC partnered with the FairPrice Group to offer a busking location in Lau Pa Sat. NAC will continue collaborating with interested venue partners to designate and expand the number of suitable busking locations, including areas offering F&B.”
“In addition, from April 2024, the spexPotential programme will support more young athletes trying to make the transition to the next level. I spoke earlier about how we had good young athletes at SEA Games, debutants who won a third of our gold medals.”
“In addition, from August 2024, the spexPotential programme will support more young athletes trying to make the transition to the next level. I spoke earlier about how we had good young athletes at SEA Games, debutants who won a third of our gold medals. [Please refer to "Committee of Supply – Head X (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth)", Official Report, 7 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 132, Budget section.] [(proc text) Written statement by Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5): (proc text)] I wish to make the following factual correction to my speech given during the Sitting of 7 March 2024. My statement should read as follows:”
“Also a major event, a grand slam of the table tennis world, hosted in Singapore, but also supported by many other secondees and trainees from Singapore Table Tennis Association, from SportSG, who help to run the event in partnership with the International Table Tennis Federation, so, knowledge transfer, know-how, how we manage an event like this, how we manage the overall flow of the event, plus also some of the Singapore corporates being direct partners. These two examples, I hope, assure Ms See that whenever we use the Fund, there will always be a strategic goal behind what else we can do to impact Singapore and Singaporeans.”
“Sir, I thank Ms See for her support and also for her comments. Indeed, like many other grants and funds that we have, we will use them strategically. It is focused on bringing major sports events into Singapore, invigorate the system here. And as I mentioned earlier also, using the platform of these major international sporting events and the quality of those events to support the development of our local athletes. So, we will do that strategically. To the Member's specific point about involving local players for training and so on, the answer is clearly yes, we will do so. I want to cite two examples to the Member to illustrate what I mean. Last year, we hosted the inaugural Olympics e-Sport Week, the first time the event was here, supported many by local contractors. It is not just about learning how to organise such an event and learning the ropes and understanding how it is done and getting the know-how, organisational know-how, but also being a partner with many of the parties. Many Singapore companies, SMEs were involved in part of the running of the programme on a contract basis. So, there is also employment opportunity there. In the same way, we are now hosting the World Table Tennis Smash in Singapore. In fact, this week, for those Members who are done with Committee of Supply and have nothing else to do, please go and support the Singapore team, Izaac Quek and others will be playing.”
“My colleague, Minister of State Alvin Tan, will share more on these efforts. Mr Chairman, Sir, there is no one Singapore dream, no uniform pathway for success. What matters is that we live in a society that values our diverse passions and aspirations and that there are opportunities for us to achieve our fullest potential. And through ups and downs, we know that our fellow Singaporeans will be there to inspire us, lift us up when we need to, give us the boost we need to cross the finish line. Sir, on that note, I want to thank the various speeches and cuts that had been made from both sides of the House. All Members, as well as our Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Members, made many good suggestions, many constructive comments. I also want to thank, in particular, my team from MCCY and our agencies who work very hard to ensure that the policies that we devise meet the needs of Singaporeans and come closer and closer to the endpoints that I mentioned earlier – for cohesion, identity and a transformative strength that is Singapore. That is why we will continue to work hard to build a vibrant and cohesive home. My Ministry is committed to that – a Singapore where Singaporeans continue to dream and have the courage and ability to chase down those dreams. If we can do this together, Sir, I am confident that Singapore's best days are well ahead of us. [Applause.]”
“We have consciously nurtured arts patronage and support from donors who are playing their part to sustain the arts, supported by Government funding and programmes, such as the Cultural Matching Fund, which we extended a couple of years ago. Sir, what we now need is a Singaporean audience to strongly support and come out strongly in support of the arts and appreciate our artists: attend the exhibitions, see them perform on stage, attend the festivals, go to their concerts and pay for them, just as we do for many foreign artists. This is what would really help our artists level up and scale even greater heights, a collective appreciation in support by the Singaporean audience. They need this collective support and, together, I believe we can harness its transformative power to then uplift our entire nation and build on the strengths of our diversity and multiculturalism to achieve social cohesion and a stronger sense of national identity. Sir, let me conclude. We do not live or achieve our dreams alone, but together. This is true of our athletes and artists in the way which I have sketched out. And for all of us, we are our heroes as well, telling stories which inspire us. So, in the spirit of Forward SG, we want a society where no one is left behind; where those who succeed give back and invest in the dreams of others, pay it forward; where everyone brings more to the table and, as a result, we all get more in return, where we are all collectively stronger than the sum of our parts. We are stepping up our efforts to promote civic engagement and giving back. We will also consciously provide more space for citizens to lead the change they want see in the areas that they care about and the Government will come in to support them.”
“Drawing an analogy from the arts, we changed the script during the intermission because we saw those shifts and we thought why not move down, move quickly, do not waste time and get the arts ecosystem powered and ready for the next bound. Under this refreshed plan, we have bold ambitions to further enrich our creative economy, infuse the arts into our everyday lives and harness the power of the arts for their well-being. This programme will be further powered by an injection of $100 million to the arts sector over the next four years which the Government has committed to, to support the ambitions of this Arts Plan. This is in addition to the existing funding to the arts and heritage sector already provided by the Government. Sir, the arts are essential to the social fabric of Singapore, as I mentioned earlier, and to the confidence and well-being of our people and also are a source of livelihood for many Singaporeans and we want to maintain, if not, push that even further. Minister of State Low will speak a bit more about this in her speech the details. But I want to close this section with an appeal. Sir, we have seen how valuable our arts practitioners are in preserving our special identity and fostering cohesion and our multiculturalism. We have seen how our arts ecosystem has grown and evolved over the years. Our practitioners and arts companies have also matured, evolving with our society, challenging us with arts which tells our story, manifesting our fears and reflecting our dreams. We have young creatives being given options to enter the creative workforce and, like Ningru, grabbed them with both hands and made a real fist of it. We also have many artists who are performing on the international stage, knocking on the door of world recognition.”
“They are a little messy sometimes, spontaneous but they add to the overall vibe and vibrancy. So, NAC will do more to support the development of multiple pathways of training for these SEPs. They can also look forward to a wider range of development opportunities curated to fit their training needs and the nature of their work. Increasing support will help arts SEPs seize better work opportunities across a broader and wider range of job roles and, in turn, boost the long-term growth of the sector. Minister of State Low will speak a bit more about this. Sir, in order to sustain this growth and push the envelope even more, we will need a concerted plan as well as collective buy-in from all Singaporeans. In 2018, we launched the first Our SG Arts Plan to drive the arts forward and provide a structured roadmap for the next five years, that is five years from 2018. But things changed quickly when COVID-19 intervened and we saw some shifts in the operating environment as well as trends, for example, audience preferences and new modalities of art presentation. There was also greater intersection of sectors like design, fashion, film, architecture and music. They came together in ways which, perhaps, we did not see earlier. Some of these shifts have also become permanent ones. But in all of them, we saw opportunities. So, rather than keep with the old plan and let it run its course, we took the opportunity to refresh the plan immediately, with Our SG Arts Plan last year, after substantial consultations with artists, stakeholders and so on in the sector for some time.”
“These education pathways have built up a strong pipeline of talents which can flow into our creative economy where the range of job options have also expanded. I want to give Members one example: Guo Ningru. She is a sound engineer with more than a decade of experience designing sound for both local and regional productions. I met her when she won the Young Artist Award a couple of years ago in 2022. Ningru pursued a degree at the LASALLE College of the Arts, specialising in Sound Design. She received NAC's National Arts Scholarship and furthered her education at the renowned Sound Design programme at the University of California Irvine. As a creative entrepreneur, Ningru creates 360-degree soundscapes, where audiences are immersed in an aural world. But what struck me about Ningru is a young creative, passionate about a very discrete area of the arts – sound engineering, how we deliver sound from the stage to the audiences. She developed a deep passion and interest in it and she is now highly schooled, well-educated in this area. She is now working in this area, freelancing, working with different companies, both local as well as regional, embarked on a career as a creative entrepreneur. And that is what we want to see. Sir, we now have a vibrant and spontaneous group of freelancers as well supporting the arts economy. About one in three arts and heritage workers is a self-employed person, or SEP. Working in a wide range of roles, arts SEPs primarily take on gig work and generally do not have structured support from employers to support their training or career development. But they are very critical to the continued success and growth of the arts ecosystem. They play a vital role.”
“If you are a young creative today, there are many more pathways to pursue an arts education and make something out of it. The School of the Arts, or SOTA, our first specialised pre-tertiary arts school, was set up precisely to do this. The School of the Arts (SOTA) graduates go on to pursue careers in the arts or tap on their arts-enriched educational experience to embark on diverse careers. At the tertiary level, those interested in the arts can also pursue diploma programmes. Take, for example, Republic Polytechnic's School of Technology for the Arts, or courses at the School of Art, Design and Media at the Nanyang Technological University, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory at the National University of Singapore for those inclined, or the degree programmes offered by Singapore's first arts university, the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS), that was established as an alliance between local arts institutions, LASALLE College of the Arts, as well as the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. They will welcome their first intake in August this year. 11.45 am Both these arts institutions have an impressive faculty and alumni who have earned national recognition and also championed Singaporean creativity on the global stage. MCCY and the National Arts Council (NAC) have been working closely with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and UAS to ensure that there will continue to be good opportunities for arts graduates because it is one thing to have these courses and programmes, but it is another to ensure that when they graduate and they finish with their education, that there is a space for them in the creative economy. And it is the creative economy which I now turn.”
“Our young singer-songwriter, Shazza, was featured at the iconic New York Times Square billboard just last year, as part of Spotify's EQUAL campaign, which spotlights women in music from around the world. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra presented "Legends of Nanyang" in Shanghai, and later this year, they will be in Suzhou, Tianjin and Beijing. Singapore Ballet will also open the Gala event at Washington's Kennedy Center's "10,000 Dreams: A Celebration of Asian Choreography". And this will happen in June 2024 and they will present the late Cultural Medallion recipient Goh Choo San's choreography, "Momentum". The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has been invited to perform in Japan, and they will take part in the Kyoto Concert Hall in October 2024, an invitation by the Asia Orchestra Week. Sir, these examples and many more, show that Singaporeans are already present at the top table at many of these events, and they include our own flagship festivals, such as the Singapore International Festival of Arts, Singapore Writers Festival and Singapore Art Week. These festivals have drawn a strong international crowd and at the same time, they also allow Singaporeans to access the best in the world, as they come into Singapore and exhibit in Singapore. Singapore Art Week, or SAW, for example, has grown annually to encompass more areas and districts in Singapore. Arts businesses, like art galleries and ceramic studios, have actively participated in SAW, to grow access to new audiences and new markets. In SAW this year, for example, we had 183 arts events across a 10-day festival, with the majority organised by these companies, enjoying also a very strong international presence. Next, turning to a young creative.”
“Let me give Members an update and explain why I am confident of our arts and practitioners, as we seek to make the leap to the next level. Sir, our arts and culture sector has come a long way over the last 10 years. It has become more vibrant and arts appreciation more widespread. The average number of arts and culture events per day has risen steadily, to more than 120 in 2022, almost double of what it was 10 years ago. More people are enjoying the arts. Arts in-person attendance in Singapore has grown to 59% in 2022, from 48% back in 2011. And if you include digital attendance – which is, post-COVID-19, now the rage, a very common way to access art these days – that figure goes up to 83%. We have also developed top-class national institutions, like the Esplanade, National Gallery of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery, complemented by a rich array of private institutions, like the ArtScience Museum and The Private Museum, as well as private spaces, Artspace@Helutrans. And we have a number of established arts companies today, reflecting the diversity of culture that I mentioned earlier. Companies like Nadi Singapura, Bhaskar's Arts Academy, Ding Yi Music Company, which offer a range of different art forms, genres, representing all of us, a diverse cross section of Singapore's ethnic and cultural make-up. At the same time, our homegrown artists are rapidly establishing themselves on the world stage and bringing Singapore to the world. Multidisciplinary artist Robert Zhao will be showcasing his work titled "Seeing Forest" at the upcoming Venice Biennale 2024. This will happen in Venice next month. The Biennale is amongst the world's most prestigious platforms to showcase contemporary art.”
“Ms Usha Chandradas made an impassioned speech yesterday evening and asked about our plans to transform and grow the arts ecosystem. Sir, like sports, which I spent some time on, the arts and culture have the innate power to inspire, challenge and connect people. To quote one of our Cultural Medallion recipients, poet Prof Edwin Thumboo, he says "Art, whatever its form, helps to define the texture, the rhythm, imagery, symbolism, energy of life in society." And that is why the arts is so important in our society. Singapore is a multicultural society, where the tapestry of our nation is so woven by the colourful threads of our unique diversity. And because of this, we have a special heritage to preserve, which in turn, spawns its own unique art forms in Singapore. It is not everywhere in the world that you can enjoy poetry in a range of different languages, all of which we can associate with, including dialects and Singlish, and have both traditional and contemporary forms of dance, music, theatre and visual arts. I mentioned the late Santha Bhaskar earlier. She epitomises our multicultural spirit so well. Santha formed friendships with other dancers, who were also Cultural Medallion winners, like the ballet-trained Goh Lay Kuan, as well as the Malay dancer, Mdm Som Said. They learnt each other's dance styles, appreciated the beauty of each other's culture, which they then infused into the expression of their own craft. I think that is unique, that is special, that is Singapore. This story reflects a distinctive feature of our arts and culture sector that we must continue to cherish, the shared multicultural diversity that Mr Sitoh Yih Pin spoke about. So, we will continue to support our arts practitioners.”
“We are considering an arena that can host more sophisticated events, that can also flexibly accommodate different types of events and have a faster turnaround time between the different types of events. It will be different between sports and entertainment and you have to turn it around very quickly. And also, an arena that offers greater value to spectators, such as more varied hospitality suites, better seating and a better overall experience for the spectator. We are considering for this new arena to be developed adjacent to the current SIS site. This location will continue to give the new arena a synergistic connection to the rest of the Sports Hub and Kallang, and also allow us to plan events and programming as an entire precinct, benefiting from the economies of scale. It will also allow the current SIS to operate until the new indoor arena is operational and this minimises disruption to the pipeline of events and programming, which can continue throughout the construction period for the new arena. We will study plans for the SIS and provide more details when it is ready. We are currently studying the capacity of this new indoor arena, taking into account existing and upcoming venues. It should, in our view, have at least the same capacity as the current SIS and also be future-proofed, so that it can continue to serve Singapore's interests in the foreseeable future. The new indoor arena will operate alongside the rest of the Sports Hub, offering synergies with the other sporting and community facilities at the Kallang Alive precinct, and also seek to inject further vibrancy into the precinct. Sir, let me now move on to our arts and culture sector.”
“The latter includes 12 outdoor, seven indoor and two mini tennis courts, that will complement the facilities at the Sports Hub, as we plan for more world-class sporting events at the Sports Hub. For our TeamSG athletes, hosting such events will also mean more opportunities for them to compete. They get more wild cards when the event is held in Singapore and they test themselves, measure themselves up against some of the world's best, right here, on our home ground. Sir, there are immense benefits beyond those attributable to our athletes alone. Singaporeans will also get to watch more of the world's best athletes in action, adding to an already vibrant sporting calendar. It also boosts economic growth and global recognition, possibly unlocking latent potential in hosting entertainment and sporting events, and concurrently strengthening Singapore's reputation as a choice destination for high-signature international events. This segues nicely into Mr Sitoh's point about the Singapore Indoor Stadium, or the SIS. The hosting of high-quality international events is valuable and also highly sought after. Our competitors are not standing still and we, likewise, must continually innovate and evolve if we want to continue to attract top-tier events. The SIS is part of the Sports Hub, but it was built in 1989 and is now more than 30 years old. Since then, others around the region have refreshed their facilities, with new, modern indoor arenas that are state of the art. So, we believe that it is now an opportune time to develop a new indoor arena that will be amongst the best-in-class globally. We have gone around to study some of the best arenas in the world, to learn from them.”
“So, the spexPotential programme is a new one that bridges this gap, allows more athletes with potential to be supported at an earlier stage of their sporting career. spexPotential will provide both financial, as well as programmatic support – such as coaching, overseas training and competition, local training, sports science, sports medicine, as well as equipment – for our junior athletes. This will give them even more support to realise their potential. Next, let me turn to Mr Xie Yao Quan and Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, who asked about our plans for Sports Hub. I have spoken at some length earlier this week on the Sports Hub and will not repeat the points. Let me just reiterate that our vision of the Sports Hub is to establish Singapore and the Sports Hub as the leading sports and entertainment destination in the region, inculcate a strong sense of affinity between Singaporeans and the Sports Hub, and also maximise the synergies across the suite of facilities that we have at Kallang Alive. Kallang Alive is a bigger precinct, Sports Hub occupies about a third or so of that space. So, we have got a lot more potential at Kallang Alive. Against that backdrop, Mr Xie says that we should continue to bring major sporting events to Singapore. We agree. The Government will invest S$165 million in the Major Sports Events Fund over the next four years to do this. The Sports Hub is already well poised to host many of these events. In addition to the suite of facilities within the Kallang Alive precinct, such as OCBC Arena and the Aquatic Centre, there will be new facilities ready soon, like the Kallang Football Hub and the Kallang Tennis Centre.”
“We have a programme with these employers, so that our athletes can work with them but enjoy flexible work arrangements to accommodate training and competition. They also provide employment to ex-Team Singapore athletes and, to date, 400 athletes have been hired under the spexBusiness programme. But of course, we can do more and we can encourage more corporates to come onto the programme, because this programme is really as strong as the number of corporates who enter the programme with us. In addition, when athletes need to go for training, even if they are not on the spexBusiness programme, there is spexTAG, which stands for spex Training Allowance Grants, to help athletes defray training costs. And for those who miss work while training for or competing or taking part in overseas competitions and major games, spexGLOW offsets lost wages. So, this is the programme that we have to support an athlete on their path, even as they manage work and school together, with training for their sport. In addition, from August 2024, the spexPotential programme will support more young athletes trying to make the transition to the next level. I spoke earlier about how we had good young athletes at SEA Games, debutants who won a third of our gold medals.[Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth", Official Report, 7 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 132, Correction By Written Statement section.] Our spexScholarship, the one I just mentioned, has been very successful. But the bar for acquiring that spexScholarship can be high – often benchmarked at Asian Games medal potential. This could mean that an athlete might sometimes be less supported earlier on in their journey.”
“We, therefore, work with the national sports associations (NSAs), with schools, as well as with private sporting academies, to identify and track good talent, give them a structured framework for development, with good coaching and mentorship. 11.30 am Our second key strategy is then to put these talents through a structured development pathway, with a comprehensive support programme either by Sports Science Institute or by the NSA. Take, for example, the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA). Their Junior Development Squad (JDS) is one good example. Over the years, they built up a strong pipeline of local talents. We now have Koen Pang, we have Zhou Jingyi and we have Izaac Quek, all graduating from STTA's JDS. STTA and the Singapore Sports School also work closely together to set up the School Within a School programme. This programme enables our student table tennis athletes to get extended training twice a day, with a customised academic support programme that is worked around their sporting needs. So, if they need to make up classes, they need to do courses outside of competition period, this programme helps them to catch up, helps them to keep on par with their classmates. We invest not just in the training of our athletes, but also support their sporting journey throughout their education and, eventually, their employment as well. For athletes still in school, the spexEducation programme helps them manage, both sport and education, by supporting them with school admissions, scholarships and also trying to schedule classes around trainings and competitions. For athletes who have finished with school and are seeking to enter the workforce, they can apply to our spexBusiness partners, and they include corporates, like Grab, CapitaLand, DBS and Quest Ventures.”
“He is the first Singaporean to be nominated World Sailings' Male Sailor of the Year. He is all of 16, going on 17 years old. He is leaving this evening for further training in Europe in preparation for the Olympics. We wish him well. For athletes competing at the world level like Maximilian and others like Kean Yew and Shanti, we give them the highest level of support. Let me just sketch out for members what that means. They are all on the highest tier of the Sports Excellence (spex) programme, which provides a monthly stipend to the athletes. This is so that they can be full-time athletes and free from distractions. On top of this, we also provide funding for their training and their travel overseas for competitions, or indeed, even if the competition is in Singapore here. They are further supported by a sports science team in areas, such as sport biomechanics, nutrition, sports psychology, physiotherapy and physiology as well. We work with them on a curated coaching programme: help them with their diet, with sleep, with recovery, with preparation; just about everything that we need to get an athlete in peak performance. We will continue to strongly support their quest for sporting excellence, as Mr Darryl David and Dr Syed Harun mentioned. But for every athlete who has found success, there will be many more, just below at the next tier, aspiring to find their next peak. We will endeavour to support them on their journey too. Let me just broadly sketch out what we do for them. I spoke earlier about broadening the base, and I think this is a critical starting point if we want a strong and sustained pipeline of talent coming through for Singapore.”
“Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua will elaborate more about our initiatives to make sports even more accessible to all. So, let me turn next to high-performance sports. Overall, Team SG athletes have done well in 2023. To give you some highlights: in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), Team Singapore brought home 158 medals and ranked sixth overall. There were also eight Games records, 17 national records and 40 personal bests achieved by Team Singapore. But what is even more encouraging is that we continue to field a young team. Athletes under the age of 24 made up the majority of the contingent and they delivered outstanding performances. Also, critically, 30% of our gold medals were won by debutant athletes at the SEA Games. That gives us tremendous optimism moving forward. In the Asian Para Games 2023, our athletes delivered their best away performance of all time. With eight medals, they shattered collectively, nine national records – including two Asian Paralympics records and achieved 12 personal bests. We now have our sights set on the next major Games for the year, which will be the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. Many Members have spoken about how we support our elite athletes in high-performance sports. So, let me come back to this point. We are constantly on a mission to find our next sporting champion and to create as many options and pathways as possible for athletes to reach their peak. Champions like Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder, who is one of the Team Singapore athletes who will be at the Olympics this year. He won a gold at the Formula Kite Youth World Championship in July 2023. He followed that on with a gold in the Asian Games, winning all 16 of his races on his way to that gold medal.”
“Over the years, SportSG has retrofitted swimming pools with ramps for wheelchairs at eight ActiveSG sport centres, with two more pools being retrofitted by 2025 and we have built eight inclusive ActiveSG gyms. We are also on track to make all ActiveSG gyms inclusive by 2026. Having the hardware and the physical set-up to accommodate PwDs is a good step forward, but we cannot just be satisfied that a PwD can navigate the pool and gyms with barrier-free access and then think that, that is enough and stop there. We have to go further and support them with inclusive programming to build a community and to also have appropriately trained coaches to run these programmes. Today, when you visit our facilities, you can tap into a range of disability sport and inclusive sport programmes and services. For example, more than 3,000 individuals have attended disability awareness training and various coaching and technical courses to better support the PwDs' participation in sport, to allow them to take part actively in the programmes. They will also Learn-to-Play Programmes, such as Yes! I Can and Play-Ability Festivals, where both persons with disabilities as well as persons without those disabilities can come together and play sports together, and take part in sports, such as swimming, badminton, basketball, archery and shooting. SportSG is also developing an inclusive Train the Trainer programme, which will be a more structured programme to equip fitness instructors with the relevant skills to guide PwDs and recommend appropriate, suitable exercises for them. We therefore fully agree with Mr Ong Hwa Han that beyond just setting up the hardware, what matters is how empowered PwDs feel when they exercise in the public setting and come to our gyms and come to our pools at ActiveSG.”
“In addition, we are also building up an island-wide network of world-class sporting facilities right in your neighbourhood. One example is the Toa Payoh Integrated Development in the heart of a mature town. This new development will have top-notch sporting facilities to cater to a range of activities. This will benefit not only the athletes who train there, but also heartlanders, both young and old, who come together, play and bond through sport. There are many more other developments coming soon at the heartlands in Punggol, Clementi, Queenstown, Ang Mo Kio and Hougang. Third, we recognise that Singaporeans are interested in a broader range of diverse sports, some of which might not yet have mainstream appeal. So, we will do our best to broaden the options for Singaporeans to pursue a wider range of sports. This is why we extended the One Team Singapore Fund (OTSF) to 2027, as the Deputy Prime Minister announced and will be expanding the scope for donations eligible for one-to-one matching. This will catalyse even more support for our national athletes. Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman and Mr Darryl David spoke about this and they will be pleased to know that with OTSF, we will do more for emerging sports that are gaining traction in the community and where our athletes also do well on the international stage. These additional resources will also mean that these sports can encourage more grassroots participation and broaden the base, as I noted earlier. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric will speak more about the expansion of OTSF to include SportCares. Next, Sir, sports is for all. And as we talk about growing the base of participation, we also want to ensure that persons with disabilities (PwDs), are included.”
“Even if young people do not come from well-to-do backgrounds, SportCares is a programme that is set up to enable children from low-income families to also be included. For example, the SportCares bursary covers seasonal participation fees for nine ActiveSG academies and clubs the entire season – covered by the bursary. Other programmes, like the Saturday Night Lights football programme, helps to equip youths with holistic life skills using sport, in this case, football as a medium. At the grassroots level, Singaporeans from all walks of life can take part in exciting community-level competitions and games. Members might remember the inter-constituency games. They were very popular. So, I am very pleased to announce that this year, People's Association (PA), working with SportSG, will bring back the popular inter-constituency as well as inter-GRC community championship as part of Pesta Sukan, which means Festival of Sport. The community championship will focus on five popular sports to begin with – badminton, basketball, football, pickleball and table tennis. Teams will compete under the banner of their constituency, with a final round amongst the GRCs to determine the national champion. This will no doubt add some competitive spirit in community games. Second, we have been working on having more sporting facilities close to where Singaporeans live. In many Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, there are now free-to-play facilities like basketball or futsal courts. You see many of them. Some of them are fenced up so that you can protect passersby from a stray ball. In many of them, there are also badminton or sepak takraw courts, which sometimes also doubles up as pickleball courts.”
“So, Sir, in my response, I will set out the broad overarching framework of MCCY's efforts in these areas. My colleagues will develop the details further in their speeches – Minister of State Low Yen Ling on the arts; Minister of State Alvin Tan on the giving space as well as our youths; and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua on sports. Sir, let me start with sports. Our most basic goal is to drive interest and participation in sports. There are obvious strong social benefits, from keeping active and fit to encouraging intermixing and through that, strengthening our bonds and our social cohesion. It is also the basic building block to finding that next wave of high-performing athletes. A broader base leads to a stronger and more sustained pipeline for talent. Singaporeans are already getting more active in sporting. According to a national survey by Sport Singapore (SportSG), sport participation among Singapore residents risen from 54% in 2015 to an all-time high of 74% in 2022. The sports participation rate for persons with disabilities also nearly doubled from 28% to 54%, in the same period. Sir, it is encouraging, but we want to do more to broaden sporting participation in the community with a number of initiatives. First, through accessible sport programmes in the community. Our young can, today, join sports co-curricular activities (CCAs). They can also take part in junior sports academy programmes in primary schools, ActiveSG programmes or even take part in private academies and clubs. Members will recall that last year we topped-up the ActiveSG credits, so that these credits can be used to defray the cost of courses run by ActiveSG at any of their programmes.”
“Our work is diverse: from developing the arts and sports; stewarding our treasured heritage; empowering our youths; corporates and community; to give back; care for others; and come together to build Singapore. At the heart of everything we do is our goal to foster unity, cohesion and that unique Singaporean identity. This underscores all that we do at MCCY. And it is the powerful unifying force that helps us transcend our differences. We have seen this come to life when we rallied behind our national heroes in sports and in the arts. Dr Syed Harun yesterday made a very impassioned speech, noting that when Joseph Schooling won his Olympic gold medal, or when Loh Kean Yew became world champion, or when Shanti took on the very best in Asia and beat them all, we all remember and cherish those moments, we feel proud of their sporting achievements; but even prouder because each of these athletes represents something in each of us and, collectively, as Singaporeans, and it ignites our shared Singapore spirit. In the same way, our history is brightly lit with the many cultural icons who have inspired and united us. Dr Iskandar Jalil is a master at pottery, but he also creates poetry with his hands. The late Santha Bhaskar, who exemplified a deep appreciation for diversity, embodied multiculturalism throughout her life's work. Beyond sporting and artistic successes, though, these stories also teach us about strength, resilience, creativity and excellence; inspiring present and future generations to dream big in a pursuit of excellence. And that is why even in difficult times, it is so important that we continue to cultivate and nurture and develop our sportsmen and our artists.”
“Over the last few days we have discussed and debated many serious policy announcements in this House: from tackling immediate cost of living issues and concerns; creating good jobs for Singaporeans; reshaping our economy; to meeting housing demands; reimagining the future of education; and our response to climate change, to name a few. Many of these are policies which strike at the heart of Singapore's long-term interests. And these are very important matters for Singapore and Singaporeans, and some are even existential ones. Sir, we must get these policies right and we must obtain Singaporeans' support for them. But equally important is for us to achieve them together: as one people, united in our cause with a collective vision and a shared aspiration for Singapore's future. And that is the spirit of Forward Singapore (Forward SG), led by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence. Which brings to my mind an old African proverb: if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together. Indeed, Sir, we have to go together. Our unity has been our strength behind every success in our history. Few societies in the world have succeeded in societal harmony, let alone one that is as richly diverse as ours. According to a post-pandemic survey by the Pew Research Centre, Singapore was amongst a small minority of countries that grew more united after the pandemic. In today's increasingly divided world, fraught with war, rising inequality, misinformation, populist movements, political disenchantment, this unity is all the more rare and precious. It is ours to cherish and protect if Singapore is to succeed in our next chapter. And that is why it is fitting that the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) brings up the end of the Committee of Supply debates.”
“This platform helps to build a supportive community of homegrown talents and develop the careers of our songwriters, for example, by placing their works in Mediacorp drama serials. SG:SW also contributed to the body of cross-cultural work in the local music scene. For instance, one of the past prize-winning entries is Ku Mahu 在乎2 (Ku Mahu Zai Hu), a bilingual song featuring both Malay and Mandarin lyrics co-written by Jamiel Said and Lim Wei Bin (林维彬). Our individual artists have also achieved success at various levels. Flautist Rit Xu was conferred NAC's Young Artist Award for his outstanding artistic achievements and recently emerged as a winner of the 2023 London International Concerto Competition. Another of our talented young singers, Shazza, whom NAC had supported through its EP/Album Grants, also recently went viral on TikTok, with over 20 million views of her video with Canadian pop duo Crash Adams. Shazza was featured on a billboard at the iconic Times Square in New York City last year as part of Spotify's EQUAL campaign, which spotlights women in music from around the world. Our music artists have come quite some way in the last few years, and we remain committed to nurturing their progress. NAC will continue to support our artists and work closely with industry stakeholders to forge strategic partnerships that will further develop the music scene in alignment with the strategic thrusts3 of NAC’s Our SG Arts Plan 2023 to 2027.”