Maintaining Community Harmony 1. Promote Racial Harmony Community Bonding Singaporeans share a common vision to build a harmonious multi-racial societ While maintaining their own language, culture and customs, they seek to develop a shared identity through common experiences such as attending the national schools and going through the National Service, and a common working language- English To grow the common space and deepen inter-racial understand ing, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong mooted the concept of"Inter-Racial Confidence Circles (RCCs) for the constituencies and "Harmony Circles(HCs) for schools, work places and other local organizat ions in January 2002. Both the IRCCs and HCs are meant to be informal, self-evolved bod ies. A National Steering Committee(NSC) on IRCCs provides broad guidance for IRCCs to deepen inter-racial and inter-religious rapport within the community The primary purpose of IRCCs is to provide a regular platform for leaders of the better.This will build confidence friend ship and trust among them. /one varie ial and religious communities to interact and get to know one another There are 84 constituencies in Singapore and there is an IRCC in each constituency. As at 30 June 2004, the total membership is 974, of which Chinese Malays, Indians and Others constituted 58%, 22%, 19% and 1% respectively. The roles of IRCCs are essentially to formulate strategies and initiat ives to promote greater knowledge and understanding among the different races and religions. They will also assist in the format ion of HCs and provide the hcs with guidance and information on inter-racial and inter-religious confident build ing As community leaders, IRCC members may take on the role of headmen", whom members of their respective communities can turn to for leadership when problems arise. IRCC members also keep track of grievances and complaints from the ground thus giving them a unique understand ing of local race/religious sentiments Peoples Assoc iation(PA)had formed Malay and Indian Activities Executive Committees(MAECs and IAECs) with the objectives of organising cultural educational, social and sports activ ities for Malay and Ind ian community and promote Malay and Indian partic ipation in community activities, As at 30 June 2004 there were 99 MAECs with 1309 members and 86 IAECs with 1100 members
Maintaining Community Harmony 1. Promote Racial Harmony & Community Bonding Singaporeans share a common vision to build a harmonious multi-racial society. While maintaining their own language, culture and customs, they seek to develop a shared identity through common experiences such as attending the national schools and going through the National Service, and a common working language – English. To grow the common space and deepen inter-racial understanding, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong mooted the concept of “Inter-Racial Confidence Circles” (IRCCs) for the constituencies and “Harmony Circles” (HCs) for schools, work places and other local organizations in January 2002. Both the IRCCs and HCs are meant to be informal, self-evolved bodies. A National Steering Committee (NSC) on IRCCs provides broad guidance for IRCCs to deepen inter-racial and inter-religious rapport within the community. The primary purpose of IRCCs is to provide a regular platform for leaders of the various racial and religious communities to interact and get to know one another better. This will build confidence, friendship and trust among them. // There are 84 constituencies in Singapore and there is an IRCC in each constituency. As at 30 June 2004, the total membership is 974, of which Chinese, Malays, Indians and Others constituted 58%, 22%, 19% and 1% respectively. The roles of IRCCs are essentially to formulate strategies and initiatives to promote greater knowledge and understanding among the different races and religions. They will also assist in the formation of HCs and provide the HCs with guidance and information on inter-racial and inter-religious confident building. As community leaders, IRCC members may take on the role of “headmen”, whom members of their respective communities can turn to for leadership when problems arise. IRCC members also keep track of grievances and complaints from the ground, thus giving them a unique understanding of local race/religious sentiments. People’s Association (PA) had formed Malay and Indian Activities Executive Committees (MAECs and IAECs) with the objectives of organising cultural, educational, social and sports activities for Malay and Indian community and promote Malay and Indian participation in community activities, As at 30 June 2004, there were 99 MAECs with 1309 members and 86 IAECs with 1100 members
To encourage MAECs and IAECs to organise a wide variety of activ ities to promote harmonious relations between Malay s/Ind ians and other communities, Pa has alse formed the Pa MaEC Coordinating Committee(MESRa)and the PA IAEC Coordinating Committee(narPani to oversee all MAECs and IaECs nationwide
To encourage MAECs and IAECs to organise a wide variety of activities to promote harmonious relations between Malays/Indians and other communities, PA has also formed the PA MAEC Coordinating Committee (MESRA) and the PA IAEC Coordinating Committee (NARPANI) to oversee all MAECs and IAECs nationwide
2. Revisiting the 'Asian Values Debate: Bridging Cultural and econo mic Divides in asian societies (Remarks by Yasuhisa Shiozaki Member of the House of Representatives Asian Statesmen 's forum Plantation Bay Resort, Cebu City, August 10, 2004) Thank you Chairman. It gives me a great pleasure to join the fifth meeting of the Asian Statesmen 's Forum and to have reunion at this beautiful place of Cebu City This time my wife ins isted to join me and actually i am planning to have a summer vacation after this meeting with her. So I would like to appreciate Congressman Acosta and all who prepared this meeting again at this beautiful Plantation Bay Resort in Cebu island. 1. What is Asian Values Today my task is to speak about Asian values and to revis it the meanings of the debate on asian values in the context of Today's Asian polit ics, economy and society I guess discussions on Asian values began took place in the 1970s in Singapore. But the concept had little attention form Western world until mid 1990s when Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, explicit ly ad vocated Asian culture against some Western culture. He stated the western idea of sacredness of individual has turned into creed and the exuberance of democracy leads to the und isciplined and disorderly cond itions, which are characteristics of development. According to him, in sum, discipl ine is more crucial than democracy in terms of development. In that sense, I guess he sounded a little bit suspicious about Western democracy when he wrote article in Foreign Affairs in 1994.// Interestingly enough, in this context, Kim Dae Jung, former President of Korea, rebuffed in the same year by stating that asian trad ition is not against democracy but for democracy as much as Western culture is Another echo of Asian political leader then came from former malay sia Prime Minister, Mahathir in 1996. He points out that Asian nations have highly varying historical and religious background: Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country Japan is somewhat Confusian, as is South Korea, with Shintoism and Buddhist play ing some role, and Thailand is Hinayana Buddhist. However, he believed that there exist a stratum of common values and beliefs that most asians follow as a
2. Revisiting the 'Asian Values' Debate: Bridging Cultural and Economic Divides in Asian Societies (Remarks by Yasuhisa Shiozaki Member of the House of Representatives Asian Statesmen's Forum Plantation Bay Resort, Cebu City, August 10, 2004) (Thank you Chairman. It gives me a great pleasure to join the fifth meeting of the Asian Statesmen's Forum and to have reunion at this beautiful place of Cebu City. This time my wife insisted to join me and actually I am planning to have a summer vacation after this meeting with her. So I would like to appreciate Congressman Acosta and all who prepared this meeting again at this beautiful Plantation Bay Resort in Cebu island.) 1. What is Asian Values ? Today my task is to speak about Asian values and to revisit the meanings of the debate on Asian values in the context of Today's Asian politics, economy and society. I guess discussions on Asian values began took place in the 1970's in Singapore. But the concept had little attention form Western world until mid 1990's when Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, explicitly advocated Asian culture against some Western culture. He stated the western idea of sacredness of individual has turned into creed and the exuberance of democracy leads to the undisciplined and disorderly conditions, which are characteristics of development. According to him, in sum, discipline is more crucial than democracy in terms of development. In that sense, I guess he sounded a little bit suspicious about Western democracy when he wrote article in Foreign Affairs in 1994.// Interestingly enough, in this context, Kim Dae Jung, former President of Korea, rebuffed in the same year by stating that Asian tradition is not against democracy but for democracy as much as Western culture is. Another echo of Asian political leader then came from former Malaysia Prime Minister, Mahathir in 1996. He points out that Asian nations have highly varying historical and religious background: Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, Japan is somewhat Confusian, as is South Korea, with Shintoism and Buddhist playing some role, and Thailand is Hinayana Buddhist. However, he believed that there exist a stratum of common values and beliefs that most Asians follow as a
guide through the world these formed the concept of Asian values. Mr Mahatir went so far as to say that Asian value is universal and Western value is just European Many discussions have occurred since then including academics especially in terms of universality of Asian values Indeed, the concept of Asian value can hold many different meanings in different contexts. A comprehensive understanding for Asian value can generally be described as follows. First, a harmony in community rather than conflict should be regarded as essential of all. and thus clear legal standards can sometimes be overlooked in order to preserve a harmony in commun ity. Second, soc iety or community tends to be given higher priority than individual right to choice and at the same time people stressed on respect for authority, which are seen to guarantee stability for an entire society. Third, in this sense, it can be critically described as paternalistic society or crony capitalism. And fourth, usually speaking, various religions peacefully coexist and supplement each other. // Let me point out that these arguments on Asian value were made by the first generation of giant Asian political leaders who accomplished prosperity in Asian society. In my view, increased economic power of Asian countries and attainment of more robust position in the world economic sy stem after 1970,s gave Asian leaders elf-confidence and wish to play a more substantive role in international politica arena. Also, the concept of Asian values was often used by the asian pol itical leaders to somet imes oppose Western, particularly American, pressure to honor their claim of a set of universal standards of democracy and human rights. I suppose exactly same kinds of justification nowadays can be observed in Islamic countries in Asi and Middle East, claiming the ir Islamic values as opposed to universal American concept of democracy. /
guide through the world: these formed the concept of Asian values. Mr. Mahatir went so far as to say that Asian value is universal and Western value is just European. Many discussions have occurred since then including academics especially in terms of universality of Asian values. // Indeed, the concept of Asian value can hold many different meanings in different contexts. A comprehensive understanding for Asian value can generally be described as follows. First, a harmony in community rather than conflict should be regarded as essential of all, and thus clear legal standards can sometimes be overlooked in order to preserve a harmony in community. Second, society or community tends to be given higher priority than individual right to choice and at the same time people stressed on respect for authority, which are seen to guarantee stability for an entire society. Third, in this sense, it can be critically described as paternalistic society or crony capitalism. And fourth, usually speaking, various religions peacefully coexist and supplement each other.// Let me point out that these arguments on Asian value were made by the first generation of giant Asian political leaders who accomplished prosperity in Asian society. In my view, increased economic power of Asian countries and attainment of more robust position in the world economic system after 1970's gave Asian leaders self-confidence and wish to play a more substantive role in international political arena. Also, the concept of Asian values was often used by the Asian political leaders to sometimes oppose Western, particularly American, pressure to honor their claim of a set of universal standards of democracy and human rights. I suppose exactly same kinds of justification nowadays can be observed in Islamic countries in Asia and Middle East, claiming their Islamic values as opposed to universal American concept of democracy.//
2. Social Integrity and Economic Development Then, how does trad itional Asian values and integrity in development of society coexist? Here, I would like to touch upon our history. The success of Asia after World War II has often been referred to as a miracle in the world history, since it is d democracy at a time with some exceptions. If we take into account some comparable developments that took place in the rest of the world, for example, the collapse of the Soviet Union, slugg ishness in East Europe, insecur ity in the Middle East and atin America, struggles in Africa, you may comprehend why continuous prosperity and democracy in Asia, especially East Asia, can be described as a miracle in the world history. As a person liv ing in the political world, in particular of today's generation, I believe we must neither halt nor reverse this superb trad ition of continuing success in Asia. / East Asia including Japan and China increased its share of world gDP by 10 percent during the past three decades, while the others, except for Europe, have reduced it proportion. As you may all know, a source of economic prosperity in Asia lies in the model of"export-driven"economic growth. The term export-driven is often referred to with some negative tone, but I take it in a positive sense that they have been engaging themselves with the rest of the world by exporting goods and services. In other words, a unique characteristic of Asian trad ition is to keep their window open in the form of international div ision of labor and world trade system i think this is a true meaning of Asian value and an origin of our intrinsic strength / If we compare Thai land with My anmar, or South Korea with its northern neighbor. apparently the latter countries have heavily suffered from their isolation. You may real ize how crucial it is for a country to keep open itself to the world in order to achieve not only economic prosperity but also democracy To be sure, in terms of pol itics and democracy, it is a truth that authoritarian political regime of national governance structure can practice political repression and starve the poor at the same time. Conversely, an end to oppression commonly realizes the alleviation of poverty. Indeed, to quote a phrase of Amartya Sen, Novel Prize academics, accountable governments manage to avert famine by heed ing the warnings of a free press. Apparently by integrating Asian values many Asian countries succeed in accomplishing both prosperity and democracy. I believe the notion of Asian value has our wisdom in it. /l
2. Social Integrity and Economic Development Then, how does traditional Asian values and integrity in development of society coexist? Here, I would like to touch upon our history. The success of Asia after World War II has often been referred to as a miracle in the world history, since it is regarded that Asian countries have achieved both economic prosperity and democracy at a time with some exceptions. If we take into account some comparable developments that took place in the rest of the world, for example, the collapse of the Soviet Union, sluggishness in East Europe, insecurity in the Middle East and Latin America, struggles in Africa, you may comprehend why continuous prosperity and democracy in Asia, especially East Asia, can be described as a miracle in the world history. As a person living in the political world, in particular of today's generation, I believe we must neither halt nor reverse this superb tradition of continuing success in Asia.// East Asia including Japan and China increased its share of world GDP by 10 percent during the past three decades, while the others, except for Europe, have reduced its proportion. As you may all know, a source of economic prosperity in Asia lies in the model of "export-driven" economic growth. The term export-driven is often referred to with some negative tone, but I take it in a positive sense that they have been engaging themselves with the rest of the world by exporting goods and services. In other words, a unique characteristic of Asian tradition is to keep their window open in the form of international division of labor and world trade system. I think this is a true meaning of Asian value and an origin of our intrinsic strength.// If we compare Thailand with Myanmar, or South Korea with its northern neighbor, apparently the latter countries have heavily suffered from their isolation. You may realize how crucial it is for a country to keep open itself to the world in order to achieve not only economic prosperity but also democracy. To be sure, in terms of politics and democracy, it is a truth that authoritarian political regime of national governance structure can practice political repression and starve the poor at the same time. Conversely, an end to oppression commonly realizes the alleviation of poverty. Indeed, to quote a phrase of Amartya Sen, Novel Prize academics, accountable governments manage to avert famine by heeding the warnings of a free press. Apparently by integrating Asian values many Asian countries succeed in accomplishing both prosperity and democracy. I believe the notion of Asian value has our wisdom in it.//
3. Japans Case astly, let me make an example of a more contemporary version of Asian values issue we are now experiencing in Japan. That is, how Asian value-type argument can be employed in domestic reform process In the Upper House election held in July, the LDP, a ruling party, lost by decreasing its seat from 51 to 49, while the DPJ, largest opposing party increased from 38 to 50 As long as current ruling coal ition between the ldp and the Komei Party maintains this election result does not necessarily stand for a possible change of the current administration, but apparently it indicates falling popularity Koizumi administration among voters. Indeed, in this three years Prime Minister's approval figure has dramatically dropped from above 80%to below 40 %./ The incumbent Koizumi Administration was unprecedented when Mr Koizumi won the LDP leadership race against the background of people's enthusiasm for reform in March 2001. Mr. Koizumi was emerged as genuine reformer. He has proposed wide spectrum of reform items including privatization of postal services, highways and fiscal consolidations. But in my judgment, the structure itself, which Mr. Koizumi declared to reform and break down, has been a strong political base of the LDP in terms of votes and campaign contributions. / It is commonly observed in Asian countries that structural reform tends to enlarge a disparity between who has and has not, between urban area and rural area,o between new emerg ing industry and old ailing industry. Therefore as Mr. Koizumi's reform plan put into place, it is quite natural that the number of supporter of LDP evidently started to decline since he hurts specific groups which have been protected by the LDP. On the other hand, ironically, who benefited form the reform tends to support opposing party, since they desire more drastic reform and generally find Mr Koizumi's approach to be so slow. The LdP may continue to suffer from Koizumi's reform in both ways, unless we could convince people where Japan should arrive after this reform plan. / Interestingly enough, in the privatization of postal services, which is now intensely debated, the old guard group in the ldP generally states that postal service must be nationally owned in order to preserve good and trad itional rural community, because postal stations in rural areas usually function as a community service center. Well, I think this sounds like mislead ing Asian value argument, because apparently those who benefit from privatization should be Japanese consumers. Traditional
3. Japan's Case Lastly, let me make an example of a more contemporary version of Asian values issue we are now experiencing in Japan. That is, how Asian value-type argument can be employed in domestic reform process. In the Upper House election held in July, the LDP, a ruling party, lost by decreasing its seat from 51 to 49, while the DPJ, largest opposing party increased from 38 to 50. As long as current ruling coalition between the LDP and the Komei Party maintains, this election result does not necessarily stand for a possible change of the current administration, but apparently it indicates falling popularity of Koizumi administration among voters. Indeed, in this three years Prime Minister's approval figure has dramatically dropped from above 80% to below 40 %.// The incumbent Koizumi Administration was unprecedented when Mr. Koizumi won the LDP leadership race against the background of people's enthusiasm for reform in March 2001. Mr. Koizumi was emerged as genuine reformer. He has proposed wide spectrum of reform items including privatization of postal services, highways and fiscal consolidations. But in my judgment, the structure itself, which Mr. Koizumi declared to reform and break down, has been a strong political base of the LDP in terms of votes and campaign contributions.// It is commonly observed in Asian countries that structural reform tends to enlarge a disparity between who has and has not, between urban area and rural area, or between new emerging industry and old ailing industry. Therefore as Mr. Koizumi's reform plan put into place, it is quite natural that the number of supporter of LDP evidently started to decline since he hurts specific groups which have been protected by the LDP. On the other hand, ironically, who benefited form the reform tends to support opposing party, since they desire more drastic reform and generally find Mr. Koizumi's approach to be so slow. The LDP may continue to suffer from Koizumi's reform in both ways, unless we could convince people where Japan should arrive after this reform plan.// Interestingly enough, in the privatization of postal services, which is now intensely debated, the 'old guard' group in the LDP generally states that postal service must be nationally owned in order to preserve good and traditional rural community, because postal stations in rural areas usually function as a community service center. Well, I think this sounds like misleading Asian value argument, because apparently those who benefit from privatization should be Japanese consumers. Traditional
value in community can be used as pretext not to reform it. But I believe Japanese traditional value of community and efficient management of public services should coexist. and a lot of evidences can be observed in Asian countries. 4. Conclusion In conclusion, I would like to put an emphasis on the importance of the fact that asia ion of diversity with various cultural, ethnic, language and religious backgrounds as well as in terms of its developmental stages. Unlike Europe, asi may not be one Asia yet in view of its diversified nature of the region. But we must not allow this asian divers ity into a div ide in Asia. asian diversity is a chance for Asian people. I believe, as long as we could share the sense of this Asian value, our wisdom will work for positive way. / Thank you
value in community can be used as pretext not to reform it. But I believe Japanese traditional value of community and efficient management of public services should coexist, and a lot of evidences can be observed in Asian countries.// 4. Conclusion In conclusion, I would like to put an emphasis on the importance of the fact that Asia is a region of diversity with various cultural, ethnic, language and religious backgrounds as well as in terms of its developmental stages. Unlike Europe, Asia may not be one Asia yet in view of its diversified nature of the region. But we must not allow this Asian diversity into a divide in Asia. Asian diversity is a chance for Asian people. I believe, as long as we could share the sense of this Asian value, our wisdom will work for positive way.// Thank you
SOCIAL COHESION We in Singapore have a shared history of nation build ing. Our people live and work together as an integrated commun ity and the emotional ties that we have formed with one another help bond our society. By coming together to plan for the bursary awards, members of the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, Jamiyah S ingapore and Hindu Endowments Board exhibit one of the values that we hold dear in Singapore- tha every citizen and all who contribute to Singapore's well-being can live together in one harmonious, multi-religious and multi-racial community. / Social cohesion and the harmonious interaction among our people have contributed greatly to the strengthening of our social fabric. However, we must also be conscious of the fact that fostering social cohesion is hard work and requires the concerted ffort of every Singaporean. Should solidarity among our people be disrupted, what would ensue would be an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion. Such mutual antagonism can effectively drive a discordant wedge into our social compact, causing unspeakable damage to the peace and harmony of our nation. / The members of the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, Jamiyah Singapore and Hindu Endowments Board understand this concept very well. Therefore, in the past years, they have come together to organise activities to strengthen racial and religious harmony in Singapore. These activities, such as Carnivals, Children's Performances and, Inter-Faith Good-Will Tea Receptions and festival celebrations have provided invaluable opportunities for people of different races and religions to foster friendships and build ties with one another The combined activities also served another objective-to raise funds for education and provide help for the poor and needy in our society. These activities provided a good avenue for Singaporeans to come together as one united people to care and share with those who are less fortunate, regardless of race. They foster community spirit and help Singaporeans of different races and religious backgrounds to understand our obligations and responsibilities to our fellow Singaporeans
SOCIAL COHESION We in Singapore have a shared history of nation building. Our people live and work together as an integrated community and the emotional ties that we have formed with one another help bond our society. By coming together to plan for the bursary awards, members of the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, Jamiyah Singapore and Hindu Endowments Board exhibit one of the values that we hold dear in Singapore - that every citizen and all who contribute to Singapore's well-being can live together in one harmonious, multi-religious and multi-racial community.// Social cohesion and the harmonious interaction among our people have contributed greatly to the strengthening of our social fabric. However, we must also be conscious of the fact that fostering social cohesion is hard work and requires the concerted effort of every Singaporean. Should solidarity among our people be disrupted, what would ensue would be an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion. Such mutual antagonism can effectively drive a discordant wedge into our social compact, causing unspeakable damage to the peace and harmony of our nation.// The members of the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, Jamiyah Singapore and Hindu Endowments Board understand this concept very well. Therefore, in the past years, they have come together to organise activities to strengthen racial and religious harmony in Singapore. These activities, such as Carnivals, Children's Performances, and, Inter-Faith Good-Will Tea Receptions and festival celebrations have provided invaluable opportunities for people of different races and religions to foster friendships and build ties with one another. The combined activities also served another objective - to raise funds for education and provide help for the poor and needy in our society. These activities provided a good avenue for Singaporeans to come together as one united people to care and share with those who are less fortunate, regardless of race. They foster community spirit and help Singaporeans of different races and religious backgrounds to understand our obligations and responsibilities to our fellow Singaporeans
ROLE OF PARENTS AND COMMUNITY It is important to note also that a child s experiences in school form only part of his education. The family, community and society also play a critical role in complementing schools' efforts to strengthen racial harmony among our young ommunity groups and parents ought to take on a more active role to promote racial harmony values, foster social cohesion and exercise social responsibility among our young already contributing to broadening inter-racial mixing by participating in the de I am pleased that some parents and the Community Development Councils are home-stay or home visit programme to give students the opportunity to experience first-hand the lifestyle of another ethnic group. In consciously putting in effort to make connections with fellow Singaporeans, to bond with each other in mind and spirit, we are all more able to realise the vision of a cohesive and vibrant Singapore socle fostering social cohesion. Yours is a fine example for our young to emulate %.on On this note, I commend the Singapore Buddhist Lodge Education Foundat Jamiyah Singapore and Hindu Endowments Board for investing time and eff
ROLE OF PARENTS AND COMMUNITY It is important to note also that a child's experiences in school form only part of his education. The family, community and society also play a critical role in complementing schools' efforts to strengthen racial harmony among our young. Community groups and parents ought to take on a more active role to promote racial harmony values, foster social cohesion and exercise social responsibility among our young. I am pleased that some parents and the Community Development Councils are already contributing to broadening inter-racial mixing by participating in the home-stay or home visit programme to give students the opportunity to experience first-hand the lifestyle of another ethnic group. In consciously putting in effort to make connections with fellow Singaporeans, to bond with each other in mind and spirit, we are all more able to realise the vision of a cohesive and vibrant Singapore society. On this note, I commend the Singapore Buddhist Lodge Education Foundation, Jamiyah Singapore and Hindu Endowments Board for investing time and effort in fostering social cohesion. Yours is a fine example for our young to emulate
Dr Shirley Lim President, 3 lst Council, Singapore Institute of Biology Dr Lim tit meng Vice-President, 3lst Council, Singapore Institute of Biology Ladies and Gentlemen It gives me great pleasure to be here this morning at the opening of the biology Asia conference. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all participants, and especially to our foreign friends 2 The conference brings together the two big themes for coming decades: Biology the root discipline in the explosion of knowled ge in the Life Sciences around the world and Asia a region that is growing and opening up faster than any other in the world. And it is not surprising that the conference being held in Singapore, a city nation that is harnessing scientific knowledge to secure its own future HARNESSING THE LIFE SCIENCES 3 The Life Sciences are indeed a major investment in our future. It is a key thrust in Singapore's strategy to move upstream, in other words, to being an efficient, highly-skilled and reliable location for global manufacturing and service industries to being a centre for knowledge creation and management. The opportunities are tremendous, with the frontiers of knowledge being redefined and pushed out dramatically every year 4 Already, we are seeing positive yields, in the rapid growth of industries built around the biomedical sciences. But we are not in this as a short term play. The vestments we are making will yield full reward over the next 20-30 years, not 5 years. That s also why we are going about this comprehensively. We are investing in infrastructure and human capital. We are building on our reputation in high value manufacturing, and attracting lead ing pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology companies to use Singapore as a centre for research. We are ensuring high standards of intellectual property protection, which give us a real edge in Asia, and developing a coherent and credible bioethics framework. We are build ing on a good public health system, and seeking to establish deeper capabilities in clinical science and translational med icine
Dr Shirley Lim, President, 31st Council, Singapore Institute of Biology Dr Lim Tit Meng, Vice-President, 31st Council, Singapore Institute of Biology Ladies and Gentlemen It gives me great pleasure to be here this morning at the opening of the Biology in Asia conference. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all participants, and especially to our foreign friends. 2 The conference brings together the two big themes for coming decades: Biology - the root discipline in the explosion of knowledge in the Life Sciences around the world; and Asia - a region that is growing and opening up faster than any other in the world. And it is not surprising that the conference is being held in Singapore, a city nation that is harnessing scientific knowledge to secure its own future. HARNESSING THE LIFE SCIENCES 3 The Life Sciences are indeed a major investment in our future. It is a key thrust in Singapore’s strategy to move upstream, in other words, to evolve from being an efficient, highly-skilled and reliable location for global manufacturing and service industries, to being a centre for knowledge creation and management. The opportunities are tremendous, with the frontiers of knowledge being redefined and pushed out dramatically every year. 4 Already, we are seeing positive yields, in the rapid growth of industries built around the biomedical sciences. But we are not in this as a short term play. The investments we are making will yield full reward over the next 20-30 years, not 5 years. That’s also why we are going about this comprehensively. We are investing in infrastructure and human capital. We are building on our reputation in high value manufacturing, and attracting leading pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology companies to use Singapore as a centre for research. We are ensuring high standards of intellectual property protection, which give us a real edge in Asia, and developing a coherent and credible bioethics framework. We are building on a good public health system, and seeking to establish deeper capabilities in clinical science and translational medicine
