Parents are often worried about their children’s career prospects when they choose to pursue an education in the arts. Senior Education Correspondent for The Straits Times, Sandra Davie, assures though that such graduates will have bright futures as the interdisciplinary nature of their studies enables them to work in a variety of fields.

In a collaborative project between LASALLE’s BA(Hons) Arts Management students and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, members of the public will be able discover new perspectives of heritage neighbourhoods Telok Ayer and Kampung Gelam. Titled Project Rediscover, the students worked with industry and community stakeholders, as well as BA(Hons) Acting classmates and alumni, to conceptualise a nine-part audio tour on Spotify and two month’s worth of informative content on Instagram.

Time-travel back to Telok Ayer, when it was a landing ground for Chinese immigrants, by tuning in to nine audio tours on Spotify on 16 April. For a walk down memory lane at Kampung Gelam, check out your daily feed on Instagram.

In this commentary piece published in the Straits Times, Deputy President and Provost Venka Purushothaman says that the new arts university under an alliance between LASALLE College of the Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts will be Singapore’s unique contribution to the world of higher education. And that it should aspire to be a thought leader and industry standard-setter in the creative arts, regionally and beyond.

Innovation and creativity are highly sought after in the new digital economy and according to thought leaders, creative professionals and scholars, these skills are best cultivated through an arts education. Hence many welcomed the news when the Ministry of Education announced that LASALLE and NAFA will form an alliance to establish Singapore's first university of the arts.

We live in culturally significant times as the world becomes a battleground as to who or what defines the culture of the future.

Leaders define culture but leadership, as we know, has had to be redefined in the last three months as conventional wisdom no longer holds a mirror to the rapid changes in demographics, expectation or consumption patterns of the public and in managing crisis.

Scholars and industry professionals believe that the new university of the arts, co-managed by LASALLE and NAFA, will enhance arts education in Singapore and the region, as well as nurture more talents capable of driving innovation and creativity in diverse fields. Many believe that as Singapore move towards a new type of economy in the digital age, the demand for creative and innovative talents will increase.

Singapore will establish its first private university of the arts and it will be jointly managed by LASALLE and NAFA, announced Minister of Education Mr Lawrence Wong. During the parliamentary session, he acknowledged that both institutions have developed into centres of artistic excellence, each with their own unique identities and strengths. With the government's support, he hopes to leverage their respective strengths and traditions so that students and academics alike can benefit from more diverse opportunities.

LASALLE and NAFA will team up to establish Singapore’s first university of the arts over the next three to four years, said Education Minister Mr Lawrence Wong in Parliament. While both institutions will remain separate and distinct entities, students will benefit from increased opportunities to cross-institution projects, research, industry partnerships and sharing of learning resources. Both institutions will also be able to award degrees in the name of the new private university.