Speech by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Law, Ms Sim Ann, at the Originals IP Spectacular! Finale Event

25 Apr 2012 Posted in Speeches

Mr Quek Tong Boon, Chairman of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS),
Mr Tan YihSan, Chief Executive of IPOS,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

1. Good evening. I am very happy to join you for today’s celebration of the World Intellectual Property Day (or World IP Day). Organised by the Honour Intellectual Property (or HIP) Alliance, which is IPOS’ flagship public outreach initiative, “The Originals IP Spectacular!” celebrates the respect for IP as an important part of our lives.

2. As part of this year’s celebrations, the public have been treated to an exciting slew of programmes over two days. These include a movie screening, community art participation, and tonight’s finale concert featuring our home-grown singer-songwriters. The aim is to raise awareness of and promote respect for IP through things we do in everyday life, such as movies, music, art and design .

An Innovative and Creative Singapore Bolstered by a Strong IP Regime and Vibrant IP Industry

3. Last month in Parliament, the Minister for Law spoke about our intention to formulate a new Master Plan to develop Singapore into an Asian IP hub. An IP Steering Committee is being set up to look into growing Singapore as a vibrant marketplace to transact and commercialise IP, and building world-class IP capabilities and infrastructure in Singapore. This will bring benefits for our creative, technology and R&D industries, which now make up an important part of our economy.

4. Over the years, Singapore’s excellent reputation for strong IP protection has given international multi-national companies, such as Rolls-Royce, Proctor and Gamble, Bayer, Nestle and 3M the confidence to choose Singapore as their base for long-term investments in R&D and innovation. Gross expenditure on R&D accounted for about 2.14 per cent of GDP in 2010, but this is set to increase to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2015. Separately, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2011 ranked Singapore second in the world and top in Asia in terms of IP protection. Such international surveys have also affirmed Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s best countries for businesses for which a reliable and business-friendly IP protection regime is a very important consideration.

5. Our conducive environment for IP protection has also helped to grow our creative industries. The creative industries’ value-add to our economy in 2010 was S$11.8 billion, a four-fold increase from a decade ago. The interactive digital media industry, in particular, has not only seen rapid expansion, but has also attracted leading players such as Lucasfilm, Double Negative, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft to set up development studios in Singapore to harness our creative expertise. “Rango”, a computer-animated film which bagged the Oscar for Best Animated Film at this year’s Academy Awards, saw over 100 animators from Lucasfilm Singapore working on the film together with their colleagues from San Francisco for 15 months. Several animation works from homegrown production houses such as Tiny Island Productions and August Media have also been broadcast on television internationally.

6. The Singapore music industry has done very well too. Not only did royalties collected in Singapore hit a record high last year, our homegrown music talents have also done Singapore proud. JJ Lin (Jun Jie) is already a familiar household name. He has successfully broken into the regional and international market with his original songs, and received various accolades including “Best Male Artist” at the World Music Awards 2007 and “Best Local Singer” award for the fourth consecutive year at the COMPASS Awards 2011.

7. Tonight, I am extremely delighted to appoint JJ Lin as one of Singapore’s IP Ambassadors. As one of Singapore’s most accomplished and sought-after singer-composers, it is our honour to have JJ on board to champion the cause and help promote the importance of IP. He will share with us why it is important to respect IP and its significance to music professionals like himself. I hope his passion for music and originality will inspire amongst Singaporeans greater appreciation, support and respect for IP.

Conclusion

8. “The Originals IP Spectacular!” is yet another milestone in Singapore’s IP public education efforts. It brings together members of the public from all walks of life to honour IP as a community. From yesterday’s movie screening, to the youth creators’ bazaar, community art participation, and tonight’s finale concert, this event has something for everyone to gain a better understanding and appreciation of IP, and make IP a part of our way of life, so that creativity and innovation can continue to thrive here. We can do this through supporting original works, be they music, movies, art or design. The inventors and creators have invested a lot of effort in their works, and to ensure they are duly rewarded for their creative efforts, we should buy original products. This will spur the inventors and creators to create more good works for us to enjoy.

9. This event will not be possible without the collaborative effort between the private and public sectors. On behalf of IPOS, I would like to thank these partners for their invaluable support:
   • Composers & Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (COMPASS);
   • Warner Music;
   • Walt Disney Studios;
   • School of the Arts; and
   • Singapore Polytechnic.

10. I know all of you are eagerly awaiting the start of the music extravaganza featuring original compositions by our homegrown music talents, including JJ, Tay Kewei, Dick Lee, Chen Wei Lian and Derrick Hoh, so I will not hold back the start any longer. As you enjoy the wonderful performances tonight, do remember that everyone has a part to play to honour and embrace IP as part of our way of life. Pledge your support for originality, because by doing so, you can make a difference in all our lives!

11. Thank you.

Last updated on 25 Nov 2012