The developments of the civic-cum-tourist district around the Esplanade and the Little India Arts Housing Belt, where Sri Warisan is located, testify to the profound changes in the city's arts scene over the past decade.

Reflecting on the Lion City's efforts to develop arts and creativity in late 1990s, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang said the massive arts construction project had been greeted with doubt. 'Singapore is known as a fast-paced society with a hectic urban lifestyle,' he said. 'People [thought they wouldn't] have time to enjoy arts. When we embarked on the Esplanade, people wondered whether ... it would become a white elephant.

'Now, people go there to listen to music and attend exhibits. They got attracted and cultivated an interest. It stimulated demand for the arts. Today, nobody questions whether Singapore needs the Esplanade. It's accepted as an icon of Singapore.'

The National Arts Council survey shows that, over the past 10 years, the number of Singaporeans who participate in at least one arts or cultural event a year rose from one in 10 in 1996 to one in three this year. There are now 700 registered arts groups, almost double the 400 that existed barely a decade ago.

Last year, there were about 7,400 arts events and, on average, Singaporeans had a choice of more than 50 arts performances and exhibitions on any given day, nearly 40 per cent of which were free.

National Arts Council chief executive Lee Suan Hiang said: 'The old perception of Singapore [was] as a cultural desert - economically successful, mechanical and efficient, a little cold, but without vibrancy and vitality. If you are in Singapore now, you can see a big change ... Our own people are seeing Singapore quite differently.'

Sustained economic growth for the past few decades, Mr Lee said, had created an environment conducive to more balanced development. 'Our mission is to make arts an integrated part of the life of people. Over time, people will see arts not just as something good to have, but a must-have.

The programming of the annual Singapore Arts Festival this year attests to the city's attempt to find a balance between nurturing local artists and making a mark on the global arts scene.

Of the 25 main productions, 15 are by foreign artists and the rest are local. Some art critics have lamented the lack of big names in the international arts community. But Jonathan Mills, director of the Edinburgh International Festival, was impressed. Mr Mills, who was in Singapore in June to discuss festival co-operation, questioned the wisdom of 'reinforcing the status quo' through the festival.

'It's important that arts festivals introduce new, fresh ideas. When people cast doubts about the prominence of artists, it's the kind of risk arts festivals are uniquely created to serve ... If an arts festival is only a new way of marketing tourism, I don't think it's successful,' said Mr Mills.

Goh Ching Lee, director of the Singapore Arts Festival, is keen to offer programmes that 'people normally don't see. We are taking more risks than before by commissioning work by local, Asian artists. We want one-third of our programme [to consist of] completely new productions, [and] the rest from the region and the rest of the world,' said Ms Goh.

Dr Lee, the arts minister, is convinced Singapore is well positioned to become an arts hub.

Asked about Hong Kong's multibillion-dollar plan to turn a huge piece of land on the West Kowloon waterfront into an arts hub, he said: 'If you have a vibrant arts hub in Hong Kong and we have a hub in Singapore, we can work together on major exhibitions or performances. We can have travelling exhibitions from great museums in Europe to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing. We can build an Asian network.'

Tay Tong, managing director of TheatreWorks, has mixed feelings about the increase in arts productions and audiences in the past two years, which he agreed was a positive development.

'There is also a negative side ... the majority of the works currently produced [at least in the performing arts] tend towards the populist and mainstream,' he added. 'Companies are less willing to take risks and experiment. This could be largely due to the pressures of having to observe the bottom line.'

As a result, he has observed there was a phenomenon of 'plateauing' of performing arts in Singapore. 'At the same time, there is an increasing confusion of entertainment being seen as art. So a large number of audiences are flocking to entertainment events thinking that they are attending arts events. More in numbers is not necessarily better.'

Mr Tay said the government's greater emphasis and push to create a more creative environment in the past two years had given the concept of creativity some profile.

'But making Singapore a more creative nation or to have us swimming in the pool of creativity will need a major mindset change among Singaporeans from top officials to the men in the streets.

'I hope for more spontaneity; where creativity is a way of life, rather than a 'project' or a 'programme' that is linked to entrepreneurship,' he said.

Mr Tay pointed out that the Singaporean authorities 'are less tense over censorship issues compared to the past'.

Dr Lee said the issue of censorship should be viewed from the perspective of the city's history. 'We are a young country ... We have our sensitivity, issues that may be divisive and may not help social cohesion.

'In any society, there are areas that are sensitive. You cannot go to Germany and put on a play that glorifies Nazism ... Artists need to beware of that. They will know how to manage the sensitivity. This will come with maturity and increasing experience.'