Cultural Policy in Singapore Government Funding and the Management of Artistic Dissent

Abstract

             Singapore is arguably the most artistically vibrant city in Southeast Asia today. Its arts calendar is jam-packed with performances, exhibitions, festivals, and a large-scale international contemporary art biennale. The small island nation does not merely rely on foreign imports for its programmes but counts on its thriving local cultural industry that comprises many professional arts companies and independent artists. The present vivacity of the arts is undoubtedly the result of the government’s cultural policies and plans over the past two decades. However, despite the state’s arts support and promotion structures and its aspiration to build a “Global City for the Arts,” artistic integrity remains a highly contentious issue. This essay attempts to explicate the relationship between government funding and the management of artistic dissent in Singapore through the prism offered by developments in its English language theatre. It begins with a history of the formulation and implementation of various government funding policies and assistance plans to demonstrate how they were primarily motivated by the government’s cultural, social, economic, and political imperatives. I argue that although the policies were beneficial to the development of theatre, they also functioned as tools for regulating the content of theatrical discourse. In examining the case of Singapore, I hope to illustrate how a government’s hegemonic cultural policy can serve as an ideological apparatus to advance its governance and to sustain the status quo. I will also suggest how the mechanisms of local and global market economy can offer avenues to protect and sustain artistic integrity.