Three years ago, LASALLE College of the Arts opened its doors to welcome its first batch of students to its twelve new diploma programmes, designed to train vocationally confident graduates for the creative industries in Singapore. Today, these students, hailing from a range of disciplines, stood proudly on stage to receive their Diploma certificates at LASALLE’s 28th Convocation ceremony.
The twelve new diploma programmes are: Design Communication, Fashion, Interior Design, Product Design, Fine Arts, Animation, Broadcast Media, Audio Production, Dance, Music, Performance, and Technical and Production Management.
This year also marks the College’s 30th anniversary. In a show of incredible growth from its first cohort of twenty-seven graduates in 1987, 941 LASALLE graduates received their Diploma, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts certificates this afternoon at the Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre. Gracing the ceremony with his presence was Guest of Honour Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.
Alongside the strong performance of the new Diploma programmes, the maturing needs of Singapore’s rapidly expanding creative industries are well reflected in the growing number of students opting for LASALLE’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with 60% of students this year graduating with BA(Hons) or MA degrees. As the arts and cultural landscape in Singapore continues to evolve, the College is well poised to meet demand by offering Singapore’s largest range of BA(Hons) and MA arts programmes, designed in Singapore to meet the needs of the local creative industries, and carefully curated to nurture cultural influences and leaders of the future.
Graduating as the top student and the winner of the College’s most prestigious award, the McNally Award for Excellence in the Arts, was Thaïs Breton. A graduate of the BA(Hons) Film programme, the French filmmaker, who grew up in Singapore,majored in Directing for Documentary and in Post Production. Her films are largely influenced by her strong multi-cultural background from having travelled and lived in multiple cities.
"What made my experience in LASALLE so enriching were the encounters I had there. You get to have real-world experience of the creation of a project, and you have the luxury of a wide network of students from other faculties who are of stellar help in the completion of your work. The school is constantly buzzing with artistically innovative and stimulating content,” said Thaïs in her valedictorian speech. Thaïs is currently pursuing her strong interest in documentaries and is in the midst of working on documenting the cultural neo-colonialism present in Cambodia.
“You follow in the footsteps of many other great fellow LASALLians, and you join a long list of distinguished, innovative and award-winning alumni of the College," said Professor Steve Dixon, President of LASALLE, addressing the graduands at today's ceremony. "Many of you have already commenced a career in the creative industries, others are starting higher degrees, and still others new vocations such as teaching. LASALLE has instilled in you the determination to persevere in the search for new ideas, approaches and horizons.”
Thaïs added: “Because LASALLE is also a centre of gravitation for the contemporary arts in Singapore, there is direct contact between the students and potential clients and employers outside of the school: I met my very first client at the occasion of an event in LASALLE and from the project I had with her, my professional network expanded so much that I was constantly working as a freelance videographer in addition to my studies.”
