Remarks by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Tong SC, at the Jazz Association (Singapore) (JASS) Benefit Gala 2025

Jazz Association (Singapore) (JASS)
Honorary Chairman Mr Albert Chiu
Chairman Dr Edmund Lam
Vice Chairperson Mrs Susan Peh
Executive Director and Music Director Maestro Jeremy Monteiro
Ambassadors Chan Heng Chee and Rosa Daniel

Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

1.                       I am here this evening, because of the kind invitation of Jeremy. When Jeremy calls you, and say “come”, you cannot say “no”.

2.                       I want to give a real shout out to the musicians in our midst. I want to say thank you very much for the work that you do. You lift our spirits. You reflect what we have in our emotions in the work that you do. We want you to know that what you do on stage, off stage, in the studio, is very much valued by us in Singapore, and we wish you every success and will continue to support the work that you do. You make us all feel so proud that we have top-class musicians in Singapore, punching well above our weight, flying our flag high all over the world, and we want to say a really big thank you to all of you.

3.                       I promised my table that I would not be making a long speech because this evening is for music and not for monologues.

4.                       It is really  wonderful to be back here at the JASS Benefit Gala. I think you saw in the video that I was last here in 2023. I was just reminiscing as I was watching the video. Back then I was in a different Ministry. Back in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY),  we were thinking of different ways in which we could support our musicians and artists, and arts and culture in Singapore. I remember back in 2023, we were sharing our plans at this very same forum – what was Our SG Arts Plan like? We had a second top-up for the Cultural Matching Fund. By the way, I want to just say that every dollar that you donate tonight will be matched dollar for dollar by the Cultural Matching Fund. So, there is really no excuse not to donate even more.

5.                       Of course, along the way, we have also introduced other measures, like the Arts Resource Hub which caters to self-employed persons. We deeply understand that many musicians are freelancers, and as freelancers, you are often self-employed persons. We want to keep the freelance economy and ecosystem running because the spontaneity, the vibe and the verve that you have in being a freelancer, working with different musicians on different occasions each time, adds to the vibrancy. So, we want to support more of what they do, and the Arts Resource Hub is one such programme. We, of course, also have a third top-up to the Cultural Matching Fund. And since then, we have also introduced the Culture Pass, which I hope you are all using, because I think it is a great way of showing our support to our musicians and our artists.

6.                       I have always said to the audience, whenever I could when I was at MCCY that it is important not just to support our artists in name, but to also support them by buying a ticket and watching performances, and being part of the audience. Because that is how we can grow our entire arts ecosystem, and we can make it first class and something to rival the best in the world, which I believe we have the talent for. What we now need is for the audience to also support our artists in the same way.

Jazz and Law

7.                       When people think of jazz and law, sometimes they say, well, they cannot be more different.

(1)    Jazz is expressive - it is colourful, it is emotional, it is full of personality. It has got vibe, verve, it has got intuition, it is spontaneous, and all of what the law is not. The law, on the other hand, is structured, it is precise, it is often meticulously reasoned - full of footnotes and cross-references.

(2)    In jazz, you can often bend a note, stretch a phrase, and let the music breathe. I learnt all these from Jeremy. In law, if you bend anything, you will be in trouble very quickly.

(3)    In jazz, there are famously no wrong notes, only unexpected ones you turn into something even more interesting. They call it improvisation. In the law, every wrong note becomes an appeal.

8.                       So yes, on the surface, law and jazz seem worlds apart and a bit like oil and water, never meeting one another.

Importance of IP

9.                        There is one area which intersects beautifully, and I want to just speak about that for a few moments, if you will permit me. That is in the area of intellectual property (IP). I think the law as framed, protecting intellectual property rights, supporting the enforcement of such rights, allows us to better support the work of musicians.

10.                   Let me explain how. In IP, we often say that creating a musical masterpiece deserves both recognition, support from the audience, which I spoke about earlier, but also legal protection. This is something that the Ministry of Law deeply understands.

11.                   Tonight, we are surrounded by people who keep our jazz scene thriving. As I said, musicians, composers, producers, sound engineers, those who do the lights, those who do all the work backstage, and of course, the Jazz Association team that continues to lift the entire ecosystem.

12.                   All of you know this best. Every riff, every arrangement, every improvisation has value. But protecting creative work is not just about legal rights. It is also about honouring the artistry, the discipline, and the countless hours that you rehearse, you practise, and that you pour into every note and every arrangement.

13.                   IP allows us to give this recognition, and I think it is important. It says, “This is your work and it belongs to you.”

14.                   Second, IP allows us to create value. It allows musicians to earn from their compositions, their recordings, and their performances, turning passion into a sustainable profession.

15.                   Third, IP encourages creativity. When artists know that their ideas will be protected, they will be more willing to take risks and innovate, and I think that is the heart of jazz.

16.                   Many of the legends we admire today never had the protections and the support systems that we have today, but they have also not had to grapple with the advent of technology and AI in the same way that musicians today grapple with. We want our musicians, and indeed our entire jazz industry, and all in the arts ecosystem, to be in a better position - to do better, to grow, to flourish, and to be able to know that the work that they produce, that they innovate with, will be protected and will be attributed.

17.                   That is why we made significant amendments to our copyright framework and our regime over the last couple of years, and we will continue to monitor and review them to keep up with GenAI and other advancements. Our goal is simple – to continue to empower the creators. Artists must know that there are rights and that they have rights over the works that they produce. When we can do that well, then we will continue to incentivise our artists to find new forms of innovation and new platforms for creation.

18.                   Indeed, the work of the Jazz Association is very integral to this vision. You nurture talent and I think we saw the best of that on stage earlier, and we will see more later.  I was just telling Jeremy earlier this evening that what I found really refreshing about the Jazz Association, Jeremy, in particular, and all your musicians, is that you bring onboard young musicians, to take the stage, to share the stage with you. That generosity and spirit, allowing young musicians the platform to experience, to grow, and to have that confidence to be on this stage, is really wonderful. The Jazz Association also builds community. You can just look around this room, you will see this very special community, people from all walks of life coming together to support Jazz Association, because we believe that we must keep jazz music, the arts, thriving and growing in Singapore.

19.                   I want to say a big thank you to the Jazz Association. The work that you do is invaluable. I know this is just your ninth year, but it feels that you have been here for ages, having a wonderful gala this evening, and celebrating your 10th anniversary next year. I want to say that the work that you do is invaluable, important. One day, when we have a first-class thriving jazz music ecosystem, where we have performers and entertainers and musicians, freelancers, performing all over the world, we will look back at the efforts that the Jazz Association has put in over many years, to build this entire ecosystem and platform. I thank you very much for that.

Conclusion

20.                   I want to just end by thanking all the partners and donors of the Jazz Association. It is not possible to do this alone. It is important that we also have occasions like this where we have partners, donors and sponsors to come together to support the work done. I think the contributions and the donations that you make, come to life in a very tangible way on stage, when you see young musicians perform well, when you see those with disabilities express themselves so well on the camera. I think all of that makes that donation, that sponsorship, and that partnership come to life.  

21.                   I want to thank all of you for supporting the Jazz Association. May you continue to thrive, may you continue to punch above your weight, and one day, we would like to see Singapore thrive as a real, buzzing, vibrant, full of verve, arts ecosystem. Thank you very much.

Last updated on 16 November 2025