YEARLASALLE IN2008 REVIEW LASALLE 2008 CONTENTS YEAR MESSAGE 5 STATISTICS 8 QUALITY 10 RESEARCH 12 BOARD 15 MANAGEMENT 16 CAMPUS 17 HIGHLIGHTS 26 IN LEARNING 33 COMMUNITY 36 EXCELLENCE 40 TEACHING 43 ALUMNI 51 MILESTONES 77 GUESTS 80 REVIEW EXAMINERS 82 LASALLE 2008 MESSAGE The lifeblood of our College is the diversity of our Validation by The Open University means that we have a students and the range of our staff. Our 2,300 students UK-benchmarked stamp of quality for our programmes, and over 400 staff represent over 40 nationalities. Having and more importantly, being the developer and owner of international students and colleagues coming to LASALLE our own curricula means that we are able continually to brings huge benefits in terms of the diversity of cultures enhance our courses in response to changes in the needs upon which our arts and education can flourish. of our partners in the creative industries of Singapore and beyond. To retain our Open University accreditation We are located at a possibly unique geographical, cultural we undertake a detailed audit every five years. In the last and intellectual crossroads where the debate between quarter of 2008 the whole of LASALLE was involved in the artists from both eastern and western traditions can first phase of this revalidation process; early 2009 will see be turned into real art. We have fostered a vibrant its completion. learning environment that explores cultural identity in contemporary art practices. It is essential that we recruit students into our programmes with the academic ability to thrive within The year 2008 was, in some senses, one of consolidation a thinking environment and also with the creative spark as we settled into our new home at McNally Street. that can ignite the art form within which they will work. The stunning design of the campus is a clear statement Our entry requirements are therefore stringent with all of who we are: a cutting-edge arts institution, rooted candidates being assessed individually by a portfolio in Singapore and thus fusing eastern and western interview or performance audition. To ensure a solid contemporary practices. In 2008, our campus was named academic grounding, those with ‘O’ level certification “Building of the Year” by the Singapore Institute of take a Foundation Programme that prepares them for Architects. It also received the President’s Design Award. the greater focus and challenge of later stages in their Diploma or Degree courses. LASALLE also accepts For the first time in the 24-year history of LASALLE, our ‘A’ level students who, if sufficiently skilled, can enter students now have access to state-of-the-art facilities the more specialised world of Level 1 without passing that promote excellence in practice-based learning through the Foundation Programme. and teaching. These include: a 500-seat auditorium; two ‘black box’ theatres for music, dance and drama I would like to thank Mr Lee Suan Hiang, the CEO of performances; dance and music practice studios; 1,500 Singapore’s National Arts Council, who held the position sq metres of museum-standard exhibition galleries; an of interim President of LASALLE from February to animation studio; a film studio; and a library of books and September 2008. He came at a crucial time and saw multimedia resource items specifically chosen to support the completion of the bulk of the building project that our unique range of programmes. has brought us so spectacularly from Goodman Road to McNally Street at the heart of Singapore’s arts and The academic year which began in August 2007 and culture district. I would also like to thank Mr Peter Seah, ended in May 2008 also saw the graduation of the first who became Chairman of the LASALLE Foundation cohorts of students completing our Diploma / Degree in Board in December 2007. His leadership, wisdom and Acting and Film, and our Masters course in Art Therapy. vision are invaluable. These programmes were developed by LASALLE and validated by The Open University (UK) and are the first As we welcome 2009, our 25th year as a tertiary arts and only such programmes offered in Singapore. college, I wish to extend our most heartfelt gratitude to our benefactors – The Lee Foundation, Singapore As an accredited and partner institution of The Open Airlines, The Shaw Foundation, The US Embassy, Dr University, LASALLE is unique among arts institutions Winston Oh, and many other generous supporters who in Singapore. In terms of range, we offer over forty have encouraged us over the years, in our mission to different awards, including Diplomas, Bachelor’s and develop the highest quality contemporary arts education Masters degrees. There is a common feature however: for Singapore and the world. The policy of the Singapore all our awards mark our graduates’ ability to practise Government in supporting tertiary arts education is their discipline at a professional level with the self- enlightened; I am happy to report that LASALLE sees its reflection and knowledge of the work-place that assists role in turning this policy into living art as both a duty and them in navigating the probable twists and turns of their an honour. subsequent careers. As a result they can expect rewarding and sustainable careers to the benefit of society as well as themselves. Our graduates of 2008 are already making Professor Alastair Pearce an impact internationally with careers now underway not March 2009 only in Singapore but also, for example, in London’s West End and Disneyland Hong Kong. 4 5 DESIGN PRINT SCULPTURE COMMUNICATION MAKING ANIMATION FILM FASHION ART TEXTILES INTERIOR PAINTING FASHION DESIGN MANAGEMENT MUSIC JAZZ PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY DESIGN STATISTICS STATISTICS GRADUATES GRADUATES ACADEMIC YEAR 08/09 BY FACULTY BY LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT STUDENT PROFILE A. DESIGN 399 A. DIPLOMA 481 FACULTY/SCHOOL LOCAL INTERNATIONAL TOTAL B. FINE ARTS 74 B. BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONOURS) 253 A. FOUNDATION STUDIES 322 169 491 C. MEDIA ARTS 100 C. MASTERS 41 B. FINE ARTS 120 42 162 D. PERFORMING ARTS 130 C. DESIGN 620 292 912 E. INTEGRATED STUDIES 72 D. MEDIA ARTS 133 71 204 E. PERFORMING ARTS 192 108 300 F. INTEGRATED STUDIES 126 22 148 G. THE LEARNING CENTRE 0 20 20 A A B C C B E D A B C D E F G TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN / RESIDENCE: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WHO TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT 2,237 ENROLLED IN ACADEMIC YEAR 08/09 for academic year 2008/09 AUSTRALIA HONG KONG NEW ZEALAND AUSTRIA INDIA PHILIPPINES TOTAL STAFF STRENGTH BELGIUM INDONESIA SOUTH AFRICA BRAZIL IRAN SERBIA FULL-TIME STAFF 149 BRUNEI IRELAND SRI LANKA as at 31 December 2008 CAMBODIA JAPAN SWEDEN PART-TIME STAFF 258 CANADA JORDAN SWITZERLAND as at 31 December 2008 CHINA KOREA TAIWAN CROATIA MADAGASCAR THAILAND DENMARK MALAYSIA URUGUAY ENGLAND MALDIVES USA FRANCE MYANMAR VIETNAM GERMANY NORWAY ZIMBABWE 8 9 QUALITY QUALITY ON MATTERS OF ART AND ITS ACADEME ... our graduates remain Venka Purushothaman Vice President (Academic) appropriately schooled and & Provost equipped to face the tectonic shifts of the 21st century. We train talented individuals to become successful artists, More importantly, the academic framework resonates LASALLE has developed its own core Quality Assurance It is important we continue to benchmark against performers and designers. with over-arching developments in the creative industries activities that support its on-going investment in the highest standards of academic practice and that in Singapore providing the sector with both vocationally enhancing the student learning experience. First, all LASALLE’s Faculties continue to engage with emerging This sense of purpose underscores LASALLE’s confident, thinking and innovating , graduates; thereby Faculties and Programmes undertake Annual Reviews of practices in arts education in the Asia-Pacific and other commitment to education founded on age-old principles ensuring the value-chain for the creative industries is their programmes in compliance with codes of practice worldwide education system committed to practice-based of learning through practice. At LASALLE, students who adequately supported. In testament to the success of our and secondly, LASALLE invests in External Examiners education. This will ensure that our graduates remain are committed to the creation of art undergo a rigorous graduates, our 2008 graduate survey revealed that 80% (subject specialists in practice-based arts from different appropriately schooled and equipped to face the tectonic and methodical pupilage of learning through practice. of our students were employed in an area related to their corners of the world) to annually review the programme, shifts of the 21st century. This distinguishes a LASALLE arts education from a area of study. Of these a growing number of graduates its teaching and learning strategies and student conventional liberal arts education. (20%) were embarking on an entrepreneurial drive assessment to ensure compliance with codes of ART MATTERS forming their own businesses – built through lessons practice. This has been most useful for the institution In keeping with the shifts of time and international learnt in class. to gain significant confidence in the development and But the bottom-line is about art. For the LASALLE teaching practices, LASALLE education celebrates delivery of its own programmes. student, becoming an artist is an investment in honing the development of the professional artist, the inter- QUALITY: COMPLIANCE AND ENHANCEMENT oneself to become an instrument of ideas, to present new disciplinarity and integration of ideas across artistic ways of seeing, questioning and engaging – to make the media, the commitment to research through practice and The epistemologies surrounding the teaching and learning world a better place – in a fast muddling world. We seek the contribution to the creative industries in Singapore. of practice-based arts is somewhat uncharted in the to help them in this journey.