So last week, an article on The Straits Times raised the idea that maybe the School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA) hasn’t been turning a generation of students into the country’s flag-bearers for the arts — a big percentage of ‘em actually go on to pursue non-arts studies and careers.
The discussion went on to the point where folks were questioning if SOTA was even necessary in the first place, especially since a tiny portion of the students actually go on to have an arts-related future. Others expressed disappointment that said students ditched their expected future in the arts, calling them weak for forsaking their initial ambitions.
Enter SOTA alumni Claire Chung, who counts herself as one of the students who’s not carrying on a career in theatre, the subject she specialized in at the school. In a lengthy, viral post on Facebook, she defended her decision in changing her mind about her future.
Exit, stage left, Chung. Enter, stage right, prominent playwright Alfian Sa’at. Rebutting Chung’s assertion that one can have more than one passion, Alfian states that “it’s possible to bite off more than you can chew”.
Expressing disappointment at the responses from SOTA students about why they’d choose non-arts careers despite an arts-based education, the playwright asserts that creating a thriving industry for the arts is not possible if people keep treating it as an “after-hours hobby”.
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