ISSUE
Singapore’s aggressive campaign to create awareness regarding the local arts scene is visible with the introduction of new museums and festivals being held here. With the recent opening of the Peranakan Museum as well as the upcoming Singapore Biennale, the Government has pumped in a fortune in making Singapore an international arts hub. In recent years, there are concern voices on Singapore youth being politically apathetic. However, some have noticed that Singapore youth are also apathetic towards the local arts scene in Singapore. Is this really true?
GENERAL RESEARCH QUESTION
Is Singapore youth REALLY apathetic towards the local arts scene and why do they do so?
HYPOTHESIS
Singapore youth today ARE apathetic towards the local arts scene because they feel that the type of local arts scene here is out of their general mainstream preferences. (too avant-garde etc)
PURPOSE STATEMENT
Objective
It is to inform the National Arts Council regarding the level of awareness among youths on the local arts scene. Another objective is to identify the causes of such sentiments among Singapore youths. This report would enable NAC to evaluate on whether they should continue promoting the local arts scene.
TARGET AUDIENCE
ARTS SOCIETY IN SINGAPORE
This report could benefit aesthetic companies such as local theatre companies so that they will know what kind of theatre performance would attract the youths. This goes the same for the music industry.
NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL AND YOUTHS THEMSELVES
This report could also expose the youths (especially the respondent from the survey) to the current local arts event that has been held and what plans the National Arts Council has in the future. In this way, the survey itself is a tool itself to increase awareness to those who are clueless regarding the local arts scene.
WHY A SURVEY?
An attitudinal survey is very much needed to gauge the level of awareness among youths today on their understanding of the local arts scene. It can also be a medium for them to voice their opinions and suggestions on whether the National Arts Council are doing enough to generate such interest. It can also be a tool in finding the root cause of such disinterest, if any. With this, NAC would be able to tackle the problem head on.
3 comments:
Hey Illya! A very intellectual topic indeed. It gets me to question myself whether i'm one of the apathetic souls out there. Most of us would be quite familiar with the foreign art scene (like US music,movies, etc..) in one way or the other but when we talk about the local scene, I suppose we are lacking indeed.
Hence, I thought that by discussing this topic through our project, we can find out the reasons as to why the youths are apathetic towards the local art scene. (if that is what the 2nd part of your research question meant)I suppose the survey would be feasible since it's obviously targeting at youths. However, my concern would be how to phrase the survey questions to answer the question of whether they are really apathetic. Would it be a qualitative or quantitative measure of how much they know about the happenings of the local art scene?
Hi Illya! I think it'd be a topic that would grab the attention of the NAC. Could feel the recent efforts and attempts into pumping up the arts scence in Singapore. I guess the furthest I'd go in attending such arts-related events would be to watch a musical perhaps.
Somehow, I feel such a phenomenon manifest due to the focus of our education system here in Singapore. I personally feel that Singapore youths are apathetic (if they really are), not really because the local arts scence is out of their general mainstream preference. But rather, we weren't really "taught" how or "cultivated" with the habit with regards to appreciating art.
I don't know about you, but I definitely felt that throughout my education life here in Singapore, I was frequently told how I shouldn't venture anywhere near the arts, because that spelt a career disaster. So, it's probably also got to do with a certain mentality implanted unknowingly.
Maybe you could re-phrase your hypothesis instead into, "Singapore youths ARE apathetic towards the local art scence". Stating a generalised reason as to why they are apathetic wouldn't be too accurate in my opinion.
Hope that helped (:
Wow, this is a very interesting topic indeed. I guess the main reason for the lack of awareness or appreciation for the local arts scene is due to our family upbringing and Singapore's education system. From young, our parents would usually discouraged us from venturing anywhere near to the arts sector as they feel that there is no career prospect in this area. Plus the fact that the education system in Singapore is more biased towards the science stream, thus Singapore youths are instilled with a rather negative and ignorant outlook reagarding the arts. Another possibility is that the local arts scene can be considered as non-mainstream and so publicity and awareness among the youths are generally lacking since most of them are more familiar with stuffs such as pop culture which is commonly disseminated by the mass media. Unless one got good "lobangs" on arts performances, otherwise seldom do people bother about the arts unless they are genuinely interested.
I feel that arts has been commonly utilized or stereotyped by society as an indicator of social status, e.g. most people feel that arts is too abstract or refined for their taste and so they regard it as something only the classy and influential people in society enjoy indulging in it. Money is also another factor as most people tend to think that the arts are too expensive but that is not the case, because there are some that is relatively cheap and even free as well, such as free musical performances etc. Thus, I believe that your research project is quite feasible and practical as it may help to clear up any misconceptions as well as attempting to promote youth involvement and appreciation in the local arts scene. Think the National Arts Council would like that as you are also helping them to publicize about the local arts scene and attempting to solve the apathy of the youths towards the arts.
The mindsets of youths are actually quite flexible and open-minded and so if sufficient publicities, campaigns, programs and policies are implemented, I believe that there will be at least a certain degree of success as the number of youths who are aware of and appreciate the local arts scene increases with time. A good example would be the construction and opening of the Esplanade which seeks to promote the arts in Singapore. Personally, I think that arts is like a mediator which can improve the quality and meaning of our lives and it will be good if everyone of us can at least try to learn to enjoy the arts and be less ignorant.
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