SIGNATURE ART PRIZE

SINGAPORE’S CULTURAL efflorescence over the past decade has been a source of wonder even to the Singaporeans themselves, who are forever celebrating their own progress. Every arts function in this most regulated of nations devolves into a recital of miracles achieved in a short space of time, with exaggerated displays of respect for the politicians and sponsors that made it possible.

To the Australian sensibility this feels slightly bizarre. Such Neo-Confucian antics would not go down well in Sydney or Melbourne, where politicians and their benevolent motivations are greeted with scepticism. Sponsorship is delivered and thanks returned, but in a comparatively straightforward manner. Not so Singapore,