SINGAPORE: A major exhibition on street art – featuring important works by artists such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, JR and Space Invader – will be held at ArtScience Museum next year.

Art From The Streets, which opens on Jan 13, is touted as the first big street art retrospective to be shown in Southeast Asia.

Spanning 40 years of the art movement, it will comprise 200 pieces from 50 of the world’s best known street artists. These include paintings, installations, archives, sketches and even on-site projects by visiting artists. Emerging street artists from the region will also be included. 

Regarded by many as one of the most famous – and infamous – street artists around, the elusive UK artist Banksy is known for his satirical and politically loaded graffiti. This year, he controversially set up a hotel in the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, Fairey is an American artist behind the OBEY brand, who is best known for his “Hope” poster featuring former US president Barack Obama.

The street art exhibition is one of the highlights of next year’s Singapore Art Week (SAW), which will run from Jan 17 to 28. The sixth edition of the annual art showcase comprises over 100 events, including exhibitions, talks, and tours.

Aside from the street art retrospective, other highlights include the Light To Night Festival. Previously called the Civic District Outdoor Festival and first held last August, it has now been permanently moved to January as one of SAW’s marquee events.

The festival will feature outdoor events across institutions in the Civic District, including Art Skins On Monuments, a series of works projected unto the facades of buildings, which will be created by 30 local illustrators and media artists.

Another new addition is DISINI, a site-specific festival that will be held for nine months at Gillman Barracks. Its first iteration will include outdoor sculptures and murals by eight artists, and an all-purpose pavilion.

The two festivals join Aliwal Arts Centre’s own urban art fest, which will also put the spotlight on street art and other subcultures.

A joint initiative by the National Arts Council, Singapore Tourism Board, and the Singapore Economic Development Board, the annual SAW is a way to raise the profile of the local art industry as well as provide an opportunity for participating Singapore artists to push their own artistic boundaries, said Linda de Mello, the arts council’s director for sector development (visual arts).

She added that the diversity of next year’s programmes will bring a richness of experience to audiences from different communities.

Other returning events during SAW include the eighth edition of the fair Art Stage Singapore, the Little India tours, and the films-meet-art State Of Motion tours. The latter will revisit seminal Malay language films and instead of its previous bus tour format, it now will include a boat trip to Pulau Sekudu, off Pulau Ubin.

Among the shows presented by individual artists are urban artist Samantha Lo’s interactive installation Progress: The Game Of Leaders, based on the block-stacking game; recent Young Artist Award recipient Kray Chen’s 5 Rehearsals For A Wedding, which looks at the rituals of Chinese weddings in Singapore; and an exhibition of works by one of Singapore’s most overlooked artists, the late sculptor and printmaker Kim Lim. 

SINGAPORE: Two more littoral mission vessels (LMV) from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) have become fully operational, with a commissioning ceremony held at Changi Naval Base on Tuesday (Nov 14). 

The RSS Sovereignty and RSS Unity are the second and third LMVs in the fleet, after the RSS Independence was commissioned six months ago. 

Designed and built locally, the LMVs are equipped with smarter technology and sharper capabilities, and the commissioning of the latest vessels marks “a significant milestone in the RSN’s continued transformation to strengthen its capabilities”, the navy said.

In his speech at the commissioning ceremony, Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen highlighted the need to adapt and prepare for future challenges as the range of threats and spectrum of missions have expanded.

He noted that the Singapore navy already contributes to regional and global security through taking part in joint patrols in the Strait of Malacca, as well as being part of international efforts to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden. 

“Going forward, the demands on our RSN will increase. Part of this reflects both the rising trade as well as the military build-up of regional navies in our surrounding waters,” said Dr Ng.

He added that the LMVs are future-ready ships built to respond to different mission requirements, and fulfil the navy’s role in keeping Singapore’s sea lines of communication secure and accessible for the nation’s economic growth and prosperity.

“The LMVs represent a quantum jump compared to its predecessor, the Fearless-class patrol vessels. Whether it is speed, endurance, anti-air or Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) capabilities, the LMVs outperform by leaps and bounds the Patrol Vessels that were built in the 1990s,” said Dr Ng. 

There will be eight LMVs altogether that will replace the ageing Fearless-class Patrol Vessels which have been in service for more than 20 years.

The remaining five LMVs are expected to be operational by 2020.

MANILA: Singapore hopes to build up e-commerce frameworks, cyber capabilities and create an ASEAN network of smart cities as the incoming chairman for the regional bloc, the country’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday (Nov 14).

Mr Lee was speaking at a commemorative summit marking 20 years of partnership among ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, collectively called ASEAN Plus Three.

It is important that the group finds innovative ways to harness the opportunities afforded by new technologies, he said, adding that the East Asian countries are already at the forefront of technology adoption, particularly in e-commerce and smart cities.

“There is tremendous potential if we combine efforts and leverage on each other’s strengths,” he said. ASEAN’s digital economy is projected to grow by 500 per cent, to around US$200 billion (S$272 billion) by 2025, he added.

On Monday, at a summit with China, Mr Lee said there is much ASEAN can learn from the regional superpower when it comes to financial technology, e-commerce and smart cities. 

Since its establishment in 1997, ASEAN Plus Three has been a “valuable mechanism in our regional architecture”, Mr Lee said. “It has catalysed mutually beneficial cooperation across fields such as tourism, finance, health, education and food security,” he said.

He added that ASEAN Plus Three has fostered collaboration and sense of collective during tough times, such as the financial crises and the SARS epidemic. 

A report published by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), earlier this year said that the Asian financial crisis in 1997 was a “landmark event” for ASEAN Plus Three that spurred intra-regional integration in trade and investment and led to systems to ease the impact of global threats. Separately, the SARS epidemic in 2003 also prompted the countries to establish frameworks and mechanisms to combat such highly infectious outbreaks.

ASEAN PLUS THREE AN “ECONOMIC NEXUS”: PM LEE

Describing ASEAN Plus Three as an “economic nexus”, Mr Lee said that in 2016, ASEAN’s merchandise trade with the Plus Three countries amounted to nearly US$700 billion, or 31 per cent of ASEAN’s total merchandise trade.

Mr Lee added that ASEAN is happy to adopt the Manila Declaration on the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation. The declaration will take note of the significant achievements of the ASEAN Plus Three in the last two decades and also set the direction and priorities for the coming years.

Still, there is a need to further advance economic and financial integration, he said. While he said he was glad to see the region pressing on with economic integration amid growing sentiments against globalisation, he reiterated that it is important to intensify efforts to conclude a high-quality and comprehensive Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

RCEP is a free trade agreement under negotiation since 2012, involving ASEAN Plus Three along with India, Australia and New Zealand. RCEP will bring tangible benefits to the group’s businesses and citizens, and “show the world that East Asia is confident in our economic future”, he said.

ENHANCING CONNECTIVITY TO IMPROVE LINKS

“It is also encouraging that we are deepening regional connectivity to enhance our physical, institutional and people-to-people linkages,” Mr Lee said. He said that cruise tourism is a “particularly promising sector” to deepen infrastructural and people-to-people connectivity among the countries.

He said this as he spoke about the “potential synergy” among the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and Plus Three countries’ initiatives on infrastructure. ASEAN’s plan surrounds sustainable infrastructure, digital innovation, seamless logistics, regulatory excellence and people mobility.

“We can also push ahead with practical demonstration projects of common interest to showcase our commitment to promote connectivity,” he added.

He said that tourist flows across East Asia are rising rapidly, citing figures. Plus Three countries accounted for more than a quarter of tourist arrivals into ASEAN in 2015, up from just over a fifth in 2014, he noted.

He added that the group should continue to strengthen key ASEAN Plus Three initiatives such as AMRO and the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation. AMRO is seen as the Asian version of the International Monetary Fund and has been described as an “early warning mechanism” that can provide policy recommendations to avert crises, while the Chiang Mai Initiative functions as a joint reserve that provides loans for countries in financial trouble.

MAINTAINING REGIONAL PEACE AND STABILITY

He also spoke on the need to work together to maintain regional peace and stability. “Regional security is the cornerstone of our growth and development,” he said, adding that Singapore is “deeply concerned” about the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

Singapore strongly condemns recent provocations by North Korea, he said. 

“These actions pose a severe threat to regional peace, security and stability. Any miscalculation will have devastating consequences,” he said, urging North Korea to desist from its provocations and abide by international obligations and commitments.

In concluding his remarks, Mr Lee said that as ASEAN chair in 2018, Singapore will do its best to further deepen growing ties with the Plus Three countries and work towards achieving the long-term goal of building an East Asian Community.

“We should build on the ASEAN Plus Three’s dynamic character, and strengthen its role in our open and inclusive regional architecture,” he said.