Speech at Opening Ceremony of the New Site of the Singapore Media Academy
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State , Riverside Point
Mr Lock Wai Han, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
Mr Lucas Chow, Chief Executive Officer, MediaCorp
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning
Introduction
1. It is my pleasure to be here today as the Singapore Media Academy (SMA) unveils its new training centre at Riverside Point. My Ministry is just a stone's throw away across the road, so welcome to the neighbourhood. SMA was appointed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) in November 2008 as the Continuing Education and Training (CET) centre for the media industry. It has done well in following the government's vision of a centralised and dedicated training platform to serve the talent development needs of this fast changing industry.
2. Over the years, technology has transformed the way we communicate, especially for the media industry. The ability to conceptualise new ideas and develop alternative business models while leveraging on new media touch points like social media networks represent today's competitive advantage. For example, those in the media industry today will most definitely need to see how they can tap on Facebook, Youtube, Mobile TV and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) to reach out to their audience, and more importantly, to develop new content and entertainment concepts so as to keep their audience tuned in.
The Need for Continuing Education and Training in Media in Singapore
3. For the industry to keep pace with rapid technological changes and be at the forefront of content innovation, businesses need to be agile, staying ahead of the curve while up-skilling themselves, so that they will not be left behind by the new economy.
4. In the past, many media workers and professionals honed their skills through on-the-job training or from observing their more experienced peers. Structured training opportunities were limited as only a handful of media courses were available.
5. To plug such gaps, WDA and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) developed the Creative Industries Workforce Skills Qualifications (CI WSQ) framework to professionalise and raise the skills standards of our media workforce earlier this year. The CI WSQ will help individuals gain access to industry-relevant training, regardless of whether they are employees or free-lancers, whether they work in a big company or a small studio. We also hope to help experienced media professionals get their skills assessed, certified and nationally recognised through WSQ Assessment-Only-Pathways. For employers, the CI WSQ promises a pipeline of skilled workers for them to tap on.
Creating a One-stop CET Centre in SMA
6. CET partners like SMA are an important part of the national CET Masterplan to develop the Singapore workforce. Equipped with the latest technologies, this new training centre can support a wide range of professional courses and specialist training in areas such as High-Definition (HD) Cinematography, Sound Recording and Post-Production. It provides an integrated suite of services, from WSQ training and assessment, post-training career counselling, to job placement. As a CET centre, it will serve as a platform for professionals, employers and media owners to network, exchange media ideas, collaborate and source for talent. Individuals aspiring to join the media industry can come to SMA to receive training and career advice before embarking on a WSQ programme. SMA is a one-stop training centre for the media industry.
SMA's work before today's launch
7. SMA has actually started work before today's launch. Since February, SMA has been delivering training in areas such as new media sales, IPTV and scriptwriting. On top of this, four Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) have been rolled out - we are grateful to the thirteen employers who provided apprenticeship opportunities for more than 40 PCP trainees.
8. One trainee is Ms Jean Sim, who is currently undergoing the PCP in IPTV Creative Design. With over 25 years of experience as a graphic designer, Jean sought to upgrade her skills in motion graphics. The PCP enabled her to undergo structured WSQ training and serve as an apprentice at Alcatel-Lucent's IPTV Development Centre where she gained experience spearheading interactive and digital media design projects. Such an opportunity would not have been possible without the CI WSQ and enlightened employers willing to grow her talent.
Update on Employer Supported Training
9. While it is encouraging to see employers such as Alcatel Lucent sponsor such training, smaller businesses continue to report challenges in sending staff for upgrading. According to the Survey for Employer Supported Training conducted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) earlier this year,1 the number of small establishments that provided structured training in 2008 fell, from 66% in 2006 to 57% in 2008. This underscores the need to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – to help them upgrade their workforce and educate them on the benefits of training. The survey showed that eight in ten employers reaped benefits from training. They saw productivity go up, with improvements in the quality of products & services. Seven in ten businesses polled also saw customer satisfaction improve. Many employers reported that training upped employees' skills, job responsibilities and work motivation, which was seen for both PMETs and non-PMETs.
10. After WDA's Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) was introduced in Dec 2008, training numbers have since gone up. In the month of October 2009, 11,000 more workers have committed to the SPUR training bringing the total number to 244,000 workers. Of these, 152,800 workers have already commenced or completed training. About two-third (or 163,000) of the committed numbers are workers sent for training by 3,400 companies. Despite the improvement, we must press on and not let up on efforts in training our workers. Employers must look long term, upgrade workers' skills to up productivity as well as the overall quality of the industry and workforce. You are encouraged to continue tapping on SPUR to upgrade workers at highly subsidised rates.
Developing Singapore as a media hub
11. Coming back to the media industry: today, the local media industry contributes about 1.5% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). MICA and the Media Development Authority (MDA) intend to double this over the next ten years. We hope to create and sustain a vibrant media ecosystem and hub to catalyse new content creation, production and media services regionally. Meanwhile, we remain committed to helping the industry develop a CET system that is relevant and responsive to your needs.
12. With the opening of this new training academy, I am confident the skills profile of Singapore's media industry will be raised. This will, in turn, attract more global media players to set up their bases here, joining Hollywood heavyweights already in Singapore today, such as Lucasfilm, Mark Burnett Asia and Hyde Park Entertainment.
Conclusion
13. I would like to commend SMA for conceptualising and developing this training centre, and for its commitment in training the next generation of media talents for Singapore. I want to thank MediaCorp for going the extra mile as an employer and supporting the national thrust of developing a competitive CET infrastructure. By extending its network of local and overseas collaborators, and sharing insights on designing manpower training solutions, MediaCorp has helped SMA ramp up very quickly.
14. Similarly, SPH has also been pro-active in its support for training. I applaud these companies for their generous support and contributions to Singapore's mediascape.
In closing, I hope more like-minded employers will come forward and work with the Academy and WDA to develop our media talents. Please join me in congratulating SMA on the successful launch of its new training centre.
15. Thank you.
1 The report on Employer Supported Training 2008 is available on the MOM website.