For Tzang Merwyn Tong, the pandemic was an opportunity to slow down, to reassess his life. He had been making films since 1999, his first film being a no-budget teenage black comedy called [e’Tzaintes]. He later became a film critic at FiRST in SPH Magazines, and is the director of Faeryville, Singapore’s first dystopian teen movie, which made its world premiere to critical acclaim in Los Angeles, before going on to win the ‘Best Original Story’ award at FLIXX Festival (US). 

For Prarthna Agarwal, it was love at first sight when she came across LASALLE College of the Arts on her solo trip to Singapore in 2019. Originally searching for a master’s programme in psychology, the Indian national instead stumbled upon the programme of her dreams – LASALLE’s MA Art Therapy, which married her two favourite subjects of art and psychology.

As with many children growing up in Singapore, MA Creative Writing student Mary Christina Stanislaws believed that the ultimate profession to aspire towards was being a doctor. Her education trajectory was thus dominated by the sciences even though she would be the first to concede that she had no passion for the medical profession. “I didn’t love what I was studying but I was a ‘mugger’ you see,” Mary explained, invoking the Singaporean slang word for a mindlessly studious person.

Art therapy as a profession began in the 1900s in Europe and the United States. Hospitals and individuals tapped on art therapy for psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and cognitive impairment. While the practice gained recognition as a valid form of treatment, professional organisations began to form.