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Creativity and Freedom of Expression - A case from Singapore
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 | Associate Professor Can-Seng Ooi (Department of International Economics and Management) made a presentation of lessons learned from Singapore's Management of the Creative Industries on April 7th. |
Singapore is the size of Bornholm but houses four million people. It has no natural resources and has the highest per capita income in Asia after Japan. Singapore is also known for its strict and regulated environment. The streets are clean and walls not vandalized because anti-littering and anti-vandalism laws are strictly enforced. If one is caught carrying cocaine the weight of a 25 øre coin, that person will be hanged for drug trafficking. In this no-nonsense country, the same political party - the People's Action Party - is in power since 1959.
From manufacturing to innovation and creativity
Singapore has reached its current level of economic development because of many reasons, including its prudent economic policies, friendliness towards business and a highly disciplined workforce. Singapore has moved quickly up the economic food chain. It has shifted from being a manufacturing base in the 1960s to a site of innovation and creativity today. Singapore is actively developing its creative economy.
Since 1989, Singapore wants to be a global city for the arts. And more recently, it wants to develop various creative businesses, ranging from film making to PC game development, fashion design to developing gene therapy techniques. Why the creative economy?
- Firstly, the business of intellectual property rights is highly lucrative;
- Secondly, creative services, such as advertising and international cultural events, have high value-added components;
- Thirdly, Singapore needs to be more exciting to attract talented foreign workers. Singapore, like all industrial societies, has a falling birth rate. After more than two decades of unsuccessfully trying to get Singaporeans to reproduce, the authorities have decided to attract talented foreign labour;
- Fourthly, Singapore wants to attract more tourists.
Singapore - a 'funky town'
The first creative turn that Singapore took was in 1989. It was when the government acknowledged that the promotion of art and culture is essential for nation building and for attracting tourists. In 2000, the government further committed itself to make Singaporeans more sensitive to aesthetics by having art programmes in schools, encourage art festivals and building cultural infrastructure. Indeed, in the last few years, the cultural scene in Singapore has become much more vibrant. Time magazine has even called Singapore a 'funky town'.
Singapore is thus actively courting chaos. And through chaos, the authorities hope that they will produce a bigger workforce for the creative industries. The creative streak would be embedded in workers. Not only will there be artists but also fashion designers, innovative music producers, imaginative film makers, resourceful businesspeople, inventive engineers and pioneering medical researchers in Singapore's creative economy. The Singaporean workforce will be familiar with the creative process and become consumers of creative products. To profit from intellectual property rights, the government has tightened the laws. And the authorities have made it easy for companies to employ foreign persons from the 'creative class'. It seems to be okay to be naughty in Singapore today - but within legal limits.
Can people be creative in political oppressive environment?
There are problems when more spaces are given for creative expressions. For instance, some Singaporean artists make some less flattering comments on the Singaporean government. The authorities put a stop to these. Young film maker, Martyn See, was interrogated by the police twice after he produced a 30-minute documentary on an opposition party member in 2005. His film is considered party-political and is banned. See's films and equipment were confiscated. Can people be creative in such a politically oppressive environment?
It seems so. Lucas Animation has set up its first office outside the USA in Singapore. MTV, BBC, HBO and a host of other media houses have made Singapore their regional headquarters. Singapore hosts design and development centres for BMW and HP. Creative businesses are investing in the new Singapore, never mind that political expressions are limited.
People argue that a functioning capitalist economy needs to be supported by a free democratic political system. The economic successes of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, China and others show that this is not necessary. With the argument that democracy is needed for the cultivation of a creative economy, Singapore shows again that that is another wrong assumption. Without businesses demanding political openness, and at the same time, these same businesses enjoy a compliant workforce, a pro-business environment and a fair judiciary on commercial matters, creativity will be commodified selectively - only certain chosen creative spaces are needed for commercial exploitation. Despite what they may say, many businesses do not find that political freedom is necessary for profit.
Questions: Can-Seng Ooi, tel. +45 3815 2516
| Additional information |
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Sidst opdateret af Insights@CBS 27.4.2006 | april - 2006, nr. 20