Minister Lim Hng Kiang's Written Reply on the Closure of New York University Tisch Asia’s Singapore

Question​

Ms Janice Koh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the reasons for the closure of the Singapore campus of New York University Tisch Asia; (b) what are the options explored by EDB and Tisch Asia on its continuity; (c) how much has been spent by EDB in loans and grants to Tisch Asia in total; and (d) how will the failure of this partnership affect EDB's strategies in working with and retaining similar institutions in Singapore in the future.

Ms Janice Koh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how has the Singapore arts and media scene benefitted from our partnership with New York University Tisch Asia; (b) how many Singapore citizens and PRs have enrolled in and graduated from its programmes since the Singapore campus opened in 2007; (c) what impact will its closure have on the local arts and media industry; and (d) how will EDB support existing Singapore students to enable them to complete their studies in Tisch in New York.

Written Reply by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry

Tisch School of the Arts Asia (Tisch Asia) was set up by New York University (NYU) in 2007 under EDB’s Global Schoolhouse initiative.  The Global Schoolhouse initiative aims to develop Singapore into an education hub offering a diverse mix of quality education services to the world and to build industry-relevant manpower capabilities for our economy.

Tisch Asia has enhanced the scope and diversity of Singapore’s education landscape and the vibrancy of our arts and media scene. Several Tisch Asia graduates have received international recognition and awards¹. Local talents such as Adeline Foo, author of “Diary of Amos Lee”, and Wee Li Lin, filmmaker and recipient of the Honorary Award at the Singapore Short Film Awards, are Tisch Asia alumni. Furthermore, Tisch’s links with influential international practitioners allowed Tisch to bring them in to teach and conduct workshops at Tisch Asia.  

Tisch Asia was established on the basis that it would be financially sustainable after a few years. However, the school faced financial challenges in its operations in Singapore. Its revenues turned out to be lower than projected while its costs exceeded projections due to factors such as the appreciation of the SGD against the USD and the construction boom in 2007. To address this financial gap, NYU contributed over S$20 million in subsidies to Tisch Asia from 2007 to 2011.

EDB worked closely with NYU and various stakeholders to explore options for the long term sustainability of Tisch Asia’s operations. EDB and NYU considered fund-raising and the establishment of an undergraduate programme. Unfortunately, none of these options were viable or sustainable, and Tisch Asia made the difficult decision to close down.

We regret Tisch Asia's decision to pull out, but recognise that this was a decision made after careful consideration by NYU. Investors know their business better than the Government and are in the best position to assess the viability of their plans. There will be specific circumstances that affect the viability of a school’s operations in Singapore.  Our role is to facilitate and support projects where there are benefits for Singapore, while ensuring that public monies are used judiciously and that processes are in place to monitor the progress of these projects. EDB provided Tisch Asia with a level of support that was commensurate with the anticipated benefits of having the school in Singapore. 

[1] These include winning the Grand Prix at the 2012 Short Film Festival, Asia and being nominated at the Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation Selection in 2011 – every year, more than 1,000 student films are submitted to the Cinéfondation and only 15 to 20 are eventually nominated.