\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE \u2013 With dozens of eyes trained on him, Jonathan Goh scales a wobbly, unsupported ladder to the top rung before gracefully guiding himself back down to earth with a deft front somersault close to the crowd, as the ladder crashes behind him.<\/p>\n
While it is clear hours of training have gone into this and other stunts he performs as a busker, what spectators may not know is that the 30-year-old has a degree in his craft.<\/p>\n
The National Centre for Circus Arts in London confirmed, in response to The Straits Times\u2019 queries, that Goh is the first Singaporean to graduate with its honours degree in Circus Arts, doing so in July 2025.<\/p>\n
His field of study might make him an outlier, but his mindset during his educational journey was quintessentially Singaporean.<\/p>\n
Said Goh: \u201cI was like \u2018Okay, die die must at least have good results.\u2019 Throughout my studies, most of the time I\u2019m the just pass, average kind of student…<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there was a lot of pressure when I went to circus school knowing that I\u2019m the first… If you don\u2019t do well, then what\u2019s the point of being the first?\u201d<\/p>\n
Xyn Foo, an independent circus producer and director whose master\u2019s thesis was on Singapore\u2019s circus landscape, believes Goh is the first person here to earn a degree in circus arts from any institution, let alone one recognised by FEDEC \u2013 the\u00a0international network for professional circus education.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have someone who\u2019s willing to invest both financially and time to pursue a degree, especially in Singapore, where culturally we may not truly value arts as a career, I think it is a very significant thing,\u201d said Foo, who is in her 40s and a member of the local circus collective Bornfire.<\/p>\n