Yesterday, the RAT attended the Institute of Policy Studies’ closed-door discussion on The National Art Gallery, Singapore. But since it was a closed-door thing, I’m not allowed to talk about it. Yet. So in the meantime, other news!   NEWS #1 Rennaissance City Plan? That’s probably going to be pretty passe very soon. They’re talking about 2025 now! MICA announced today the formation of the Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) steering committee which will look at “Singapore’s next quantum leap in cultural development up to 2025”. 2025. Wonder what “culture” means by then. Poetry slams between cyborgs and humans? Cats v.2? Will they be selling Singapore Biennale microchips? Anyways, some details: The review kicks off on Sept 6 and, according to the release, the committee “aims for twice as many Singaporeans – from 40% to 80% – to attend and benefit from at least one arts and cultural event a year by 2025” and to “encourage Singaporeans’ active engagement in arts and cultural activities, up from the current 20% to 50% by 2025. This could include learning or taking up an arts activity in their personal time, or volunteering for the arts.” The 19-member ACSR comprising members from the private and public sectors is led by School of the Arts and Shell chairman Lee Tzu Yang. They  include those from government, media, design. NAC/Esplanade CEO Benson Puah and Arts NMP Audrey Wong are on the list. Read the whole thing here. Be sure to click on the PDF file for the details. Let me know what you think.   ***    NEWS #2 This week marks the annual thank-you dinners for last year’s arts supporters. As in those who give lots of moolah, not those who pay to watch shows and visit exhibitions. Last Tuesday, it was the “Arts Supporters”. Around 113 organisations and 35 individuals gave some $2.7 million to the arts. Tonight, it was the turn of the big boys, the Arts Patrons – with 88 companies and 4 individuals giving $19.4 million. Reading the figures always give me a headache every year so I’ll end here. Thanks for the support, lovely moneyed folks! But more than how much they've given for the arts, don’t you think the more interesting question to ask here is: What kind of art do they support?   ***    NEWS #3 And finally, some news from the local film scene front. Asian Film Archive’s Tan Bee Thiam has resigned as executive director after issues about the conflict of interest in helming both AFA and his private company 13 Little Pictures. Pretty juicy details here. BT care to comment?