A $27million per year white elephant..
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well said.Originally posted by LazerLordz:that's a falsehood.
Have we become a nation of citizens that have forgotten what it means to express our souls and our selves in song ,prose, and dance? That we have to be told what is the best form of expression?
God forbid we let a plethora of technocrats form the majority in this country. We are not Singapore Inc, and we should resist all attempts at such moves to make it so. -
Haha..at the end of the day, the government will always be criticized if their investments in the Arts do not generate revenue, like the threadstarter. The Esplanade has been built and it is a stunning piece of architecture. Now we have to find ways of making it generate revenue.Originally posted by LazerLordz:that's a falsehood.
Have we become a nation of citizens that have forgotten what it means to express our souls and our selves in song ,prose, and dance? That we have to be told what is the best form of expression?
God forbid we let a plethora of technocrats form the majority in this country. We are not Singapore Inc, and we should resist all attempts at such moves to make it so.
Singaporeans obviously are not interested in the sort of pro grammes they have brought in. A change is necessary to bring in the audience and the dollars. -
I disagree... The government has already allocated lots of fund in science and technology... eg... the recent island wide wifi thingy...Originally posted by oxford mushroom:The government was wrong in trying to encourage the arts..
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Rather waste money on this, the government should invest in science and technology.
Investing in Art is long term investment... when they dun start... pple complain... when they start... pple grumble oso... Some thing must start somewhere to take off rite? -
It may not be the majority of Singaporeans that love or appreciate the Arts. However, the important thing is that the vehicle is there.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Haha..at the end of the day, the government will always be criticized if their investments in the Arts do not generate revenue, like the threadstarter. The Esplanade has been built and it is a stunning piece of architecture. Now we have to find ways of making it generate revenue.
Singaporeans obviously are not interested in the sort of pro grammes they have brought in. A change is necessary to bring in the audience and the dollars.
Programmes can be improved over time. Anyway, what's one man's meat is usually another man's poison. If the Arts has to be changed into some mass-market product, then it has lost it's meaning somewhere along the line. -
Maybe another 200 years of forming our own culture..with mixture of chinese, Indians, malays, Caucasians style of dressing, dancing, communication, food like Mee Siam with Hum...that sort of things.....
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It's not a white elephant. The Esplanade has intangible benefits to society n should not be measured by dollars n cents.
Give it a break n let the local arts scene grow.. other cities didnt become vibrant in an instant.
N i agree with bear.. if no money was invested in arts. Pple will definitely make noise how sg is boring. U have to admit, the general sgreans are hard to please n only know how to complain, dont know how to help urself. Dun complain when others' are doing ur dirty work. -
We are already paying $2.7 million for a roti prata man who adds no value to singapore and have not done his work.
So, what is 27 million ? -
SingaporePoolsOriginally posted by Fingolfin_Noldor:Let's put it this way. The shows hardly get advertising, and people hardly know what is coming to town.
Then couple that to the fact that the bulk of the population work like nuts for a decent wage (if one can even call it decent), with little time for other things, does anyone honestly think there will be great attendance for shows?
In actual truth, the Esplanade should be largely driven by donations from corporate sponsors. Do we have a statistic?
Contributing $409 million for the construction of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
The Singapore community benefits significantly from the sale of our products. Since we started operations in 1968, we have contributed more than $1.5 billion to support innumerable sports, charity, educational, community and arts projects that have enriched the life of every Singaporean, young and old. In FY 2003/2004, our community funding amounted to more than S$176 million.
From the building of welfare institutions and facilities at the zoo and bird park; from the equipping of kidney dialysis centers to the nurturing of national sports excellence and arts for all – we are proud to be able to contribute the much needed infrastructure, facilities and programs for Singaporeans. -
$1.5 billion for 38 year, which is $39.5 million a year, this pales in comparison to the amount of betting taxes they receive for 1 year, which was $1.5 billion for 2005. From betting taxes alone they made $1.5 billion, this won't even give you an idea the amount of money Singapore Pools make.Originally posted by zaxis:SingaporePools
Contributing $409 million for the construction of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
The Singapore community benefits significantly from the sale of our products. Since we started operations in 1968, we have contributed more than $1.5 billion to support innumerable sports, charity, educational, community and arts projects that have enriched the life of every Singaporean, young and old. In FY 2003/2004, our community funding amounted to more than S$176 million.
From the building of welfare institutions and facilities at the zoo and bird park; from the equipping of kidney dialysis centers to the nurturing of national sports excellence and arts for all – we are proud to be able to contribute the much needed infrastructure, facilities and programs for Singaporeans.
In the first place isn't the goverment suppose to look after these charities financially. -
have you wondered why countires like italy, japan, maldives are rich in their arts and culture? because it is nutured from young. We singaporeans care about making money, surviving, and one day, this appreciation for arts may be completely lost. To be a country in itself, it's more than making money and surving. What's a life only about making money and surviving but without appreciation about the finner things?
Esplanade may not bring in monetary profits that can be broadcast proudly on their balance sheets, but the investments in its people can never be measured in dollars and cents.
screwup investment. we should have start something on a smaller scale.
i work in Jap frm and frankly speaking i havent know any Jap in singapore or in japan who loves art. but come again. even 1 in 1000 in japan loves it. with a pop over 100 millions it would have 100,000 active in art.
if 1 in 1000 singapore loves art that would translate to 4000 ppl. hardly enough to fill up all the seats in the explanade every day. provided they see everyday.
another screw up by our govt.
%&^*+_ -
Originally posted by reyes:
They don't understand anything about our population and economy. Hey! Maybe if they keep letting in more immigrants, when our population hits 100 million, esplanade will be a profitable venture.
[b]have you wondered why countires like italy, japan, maldives are rich in their arts and culture? because it is nutured from young. We singaporeans care about making money, surviving, and one day, this appreciation for arts may be completely lost. To be a country in itself, it's more than making money and surving. What's a life only about making money and surviving but without appreciation about the finner things?
Esplanade may not bring in monetary profits that can be broadcast proudly on their balance sheets, but the investments in its people can never be measured in dollars and cents.
screwup investment. we should have start something on a smaller scale.
i work in Jap frm and frankly speaking i havent know any Jap in singapore or in japan who loves art. but come again. even 1 in 1000 in japan loves it. with a pop over 100 millions it would have 100,000 active in art.
if 1 in 1000 singapore loves art that would translate to 4000 ppl. hardly enough to fill up all the seats in the explanade every day. provided they see everyday.
another screw up by our govt.
%&^*+_[/b]
Hehehe -
Actually the arts in Singapore is pretty much alive... just go to DeviantArt and you will see a lot of local artists displaying their stuff there, and they are pretty good.
The irony is that I don't think there is a lack of artists in Singapore, just that what is officially reconized "channels" pratically misses out this vibrant art counterculture entirely. Not to mention a lot of our artists find it difficult to be accepted in the Singaporean mindset, where art is seen as an oddity and a waste to our "pragmatic" style of life. Hence while there is a lot of talent in our nation, a lot of it is squandered as many people with the heart and calling of an artists find themselves fighting an uphill battle to do art for life. More likely then not they have to make a living in something non-art related.
Art and artists in Singapore are everywhere... the tragedy is that they are mostly unseen. I just find that many of our offical art-drives are half-assed, because they are often throwing cash and slogans at the problem without really making the effort to introduce art into the hearts and minds of Singaporeans.
If you really want to turn Singapore into an arts hub? Time to lift many OB markers, realize that creativity often means asking uncomfortable questions, destroy this Singaporean mindset that anything not bread and butter is not worth our consideration, encourage self-expression... in short, a lot of things that I suspect the top brass are unwilling to really do in our nation.
In the meantime, they just keep setting up "official" art drives and hypes that try to keep everything safe and artsy, so sterile that it never really raises any real questions that Singaporean would ask and ponder.
Is it any surprise that the arts seem dead?