Royston Tan praised by Education Minister a decade after his film is labelled “Threat"

<above pic: Screen grab from www.visakanv.com>

Here’s the full text of what our Education Minister posted:

“The aim of our education system is to provide a BROAD and DEEP foundation for a LIFELONG journey of life and learning. What does BROAD mean? Think of the story of Royston Tan, whom many of us know today as a filmmaker. Did you know he might never have found his passion for filmmaking if not for a video he made for his Art O-Levels at Zhonghua Secondary? His principal Mrs Ng-Gan Lay Choo personally coached him and even went to school on the weekends to teach him film-editing. That’s how his love for film got sparked. He went on to study visual communications at Temasek Polytechnic, and to make thought-provoking works that have made a connection with many people.

How could Mrs Ng-Gan have known this would happen? She probably did not! But she embodied BREADTH in recognising the talent Royston had in an unconventional area, and in embracing it. That is what a BROAD education does – it provides opportunities for every child. We never know what we can trigger in a child when we believe in him. Let’s work together to build an education system that lets every child trust that we believe in him, and know that he is worth believing in.”

In 2004, Royston made a film that was banned by the authorities and labelled a threat to national security. A decade later, the education minister holds him up as an example of a person with “breadth”.

It’s interesting to contemplate. I remain convinced that Royston and his principal are anomalies, people who slip through the cracks of the broader industrial-assessment complex. Why? Because there are so few Roystons around. (We could probably fit all of them in a single MRT. Perhaps with seats to spare.)

Is there a learning point here? The Minister says some nice sounding things, but I don’t know how we’re going to adjust our massive education apparatus to allow for more Roystons. The Ministry of Education can’t afford to take risks with our kids, because it is accountable to parents, and to the State. Yet almost all of the best learning happens in those little, hallowed spaces that educators manage to create for their students- spaces in which they can share genuine passion, sincere joy. Moments where they disregard the Syllabus.

It’s staggering to think about how much of what we remember and cherish about school tends to be limited to such small, precious spaces.

Royston’s principal taught him how to use a camera. That’s great, sure. But the more important, interesting and telling question is- who taught him what to point the camera at? I’d like to hear the Minister address that one.

Kids have to take risks and create things that matter, to themselves and to others. This means encouraging them to have a perspective on how they are educated and governed. To take an interest in politics and governance, and in social issues that affect them and their peers. And to have the guts to say “I believe this needs to be done, even if the authorities label me as a threat.”

Their education minister might just celebrate them a decade later.