Minister Lim at the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts Convocation Ceremony

SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE LASALLE-SIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS CONVOCATION CEREMONY, ON FRIDAY, 4TH AUGUST 2006 AT 10.25 AM

Mr Michael Hwang, Chairman, LASALLE Foundation

Brother Paul Rogers, Deputy Chairman, LASALLE Foundation

Professor Robert Ely, President & CEO, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts

Distinguished Guests,

Parents and Grad ands,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be with you this morning to witness the successful completion of the first phase of your creative journey. I would like to start by congratulating all grad ands and parents who are here on this special occasion. Congratulations also to LASALLE for producing such promising talent in the creative field. I have no doubt that these inspired young minds will go on to do Singapore proud in the international arena of fashion, design, performing and visual arts.

Already, your predecessors who graduated from LASALLE have made a name for themselves as music composers, fashion designers, artists and even actors. Some notable examples are: Philip Lim, a movie director and TV producer, Leslie Chia, designer of “The Clothes Publisher” and “Haberdasher”, and Khiew Huey Chian, an artist who has exhibited in Hong Kong, Australia and Japan.

I am keen to see what you will go on to achieve. You are graduating at an exciting time when great opportunities abound. The creative industries, such as design, media, and the performing and visual arts, are among the fastest growing industries in the new economy. Singapore recognizes that the next phase of our development depends on the creative capacity of our people. Alongside healthcare and education, the creative industries are part of the new promising services sectors that are being cultivated in Singapore

A Vibrant Creative Industry

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) is spearheading the Creative Industries Development Strategy, investing more than S$200 million over five years, and working in collaboration with partner agencies and stakeholders to develop the creative cluster into a key pillar and strategic enabler for the Singapore economy. Its vision is to develop a vibrant and self-sustaining creative cluster.

The digital media industry is particularly exciting. Over the last three years, Singapore has developed rapidly towards becoming a digital media capital where Singapore creations are made for the global market. Global industry leaders such as Lucas film, Electronic Arts and Koei, have chosen Singapore as their base for animation and games development. Singapore is also the choice location in Asia to host international gaming competitions and conferences. The Cyber athlete Professional League World Tour 2005 and the World Cyber Games 2005 were convened in Singapore last year.

In the area of design, we also see an increasing number of companies such as Motorola, BMW Design Works, HP and Nakamichi siting their industrial design activities here. BMW Design Works, for example, established its first ever design studio outside USA and Munich in Singapore last year, selecting us over Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. The red dot design awards, the equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscar Awards in the design world, has selected Singapore as the only country in the world, besides Germany, to host a red dot design competition.

These exciting developments have created interesting job opportunities for all of you here today. As we continue to develop our creative clusters, we will need to cultivate even more creative talent. This is why we have worked towards making available a wider range of quality education options in Singapore.

Increasing Diversity in Singapore’s Global Schoolhouse

Let me now turn to the education scene. In recent years, we have successfully attracted a range of reputable foreign institutions to set up their campus in Singapore. Besides the 16 leading foreign universities such as INSEAD, University of Chicago and Waseda University, we have also brought in world-class foreign specialized institutions, offering a wide spectrum of courses ranging from digital animation, luxury brand management and hospitality, to fashion, visual and performing arts and culinary arts.

Some of these renowned institutions include the DigiPen Institute of Technology, the Culinary Institute of America, and ESSEC. In fact, the University of Las Vegas Nevada just officially opened its campus in the National Library building two days ago. These foreign institutions clearly recognize the viability of Singapore’s Global Schoolhouse programme and have chosen to set up their campus here to reach out to the students in the region. For many of the schools I mentioned earlier, their campus in Singapore is the only one outside their home countries. Moving forward, our polytechnics will also be collaborating with foreign specialized institutions to offer degree programmes different from those offered in our three local universities.

Our local private institutions are also gearing up. The Tourism Academy, Raffles Design Institute, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE now offer a range of specialized courses. Singapore looks set to becoming the premier education hub in the region. These specialized courses will enable us to attract students from the region who are seeking alternative and specialized education choices.

These institutions are crucial to our Global Schoolhouse initiative which aims to attract 150,000 international students to Singapore and boost the education sector's GDP contribution to 5 per cent by 2015.

An “International” Singaporean Arts Institution

LASALLE, in particular, is an important partner in Singapore’s Global Schoolhouse initiative. LASALLE has grown from strength to strength, offering close to 50 degree programmes accredited by the Open University UK in art, design, media arts, film, music, theatre, dance, arts management – all developed in Singapore, by Singapore, for an international market. Many of these specialist degrees are Singapore’s first, some even the region’s first.

LASALLE’s international focus has also brought about valuable partnerships with respected educational institutions in Australia, the UK, France, Japan, China, India and the USA. These distinguished partners view LASALLE as an equal, recognize the excellence of LASALLE’s graduates and are committed to common strategic objectives. A good example is ESMOD International Paris, a world leader in fashion education and also the world’s first institution to teach fashion. LASALLE partnered ESMOD to offer a joint Master’s degree in Fashion. Another example is LASALLE’s partnership with the International Institute of Fine Arts to run its Visual Studies Foundation programme, which led to the setting up of LASALLE’s first offshore campuses in Dehradun and New Delhi in India. Their first cohort of Foundation students will begin their studies this month.

LASALLE is a shining example of a home-grown education institution which has succeeded in building up a brand-name for itself. I urge other education providers to follow in LASALLE’s steps by having a clear vision, develop your own quality in-house programmes, and work towards exporting your education services to the region and beyond.

LASALLE’s New City Campus

In early 2007, LASALLE will move to its New City Campus in the Arts, Culture, Learning and Entertainment hub of Singapore. Students will have easy access to excellent amenities that will contribute to their research and learning - the new National Library, the Drama Centre, Singapore Art Museum, as well as arts organizations, art shops and galleries.

The design of the city campus will showcase the finest in Singapore’s contemporary architecture, and was exhibited at the prestigious Architecture International Biennale in Venice in 2004. When completed, the new campus will have three state-of-the-art performance spaces, Asia’s first theatre and art production workshop, the largest contemporary art gallery in Singapore, a museum of modern design as well as a ‘living’ museum dedicated to LASALLE’s founder, the late Brother Joseph McNally.

LASALLE also plans to build a student accommodation complex adjacent to the New City Campus that will provide quality housing for up to 850 international students. The campus will be the nurturing ground for up to 3,000 students who can pursue one of possibly 80 degrees by 2008. Already, amongst today’s cohort of grad ands, more than a third are international students, coming from over 20 countries, such as Australia, Myanmar, Maldives and Norway. The New City Campus will accommodate even more international students and cement LASALLE’s position as a leading arts institution in Asia and beyond.

Conclusion

As LASALLE spreads its wings, so will your students. To the graduating class, congratulations again. As artists, I urge you not to compromise your values and always remember your culture, your identity and where you came from. Celebrate your talent and make full use of it. Dream the dreams that have never been dreamt. I wish all of you success as you begin your life-long creative journey.