How can Singapore stay ‘Forever young’, that is the title of the speech by Deputy prime minister Teo chee Hean at Kent Ridge ministerial forum. This means that we must keep ourselves socially and economically energetic, competitive and attractive compared to other countries worldwide. There are 5 building blocks that are fundamental to reach our goal.
First, a strong culture of education and learning. Singapore students have done well in international comparisons in science, mathematics and English literacy. Singapore students being able to do very well in English literacy is an amazing achievement because English is not the home language for most of the students in Singapore. For example, I speak Malay language at home and my Chinese friends speak Chinese at home. Thus, it is quite challenging for me strengthen my English when I was in high school. But with the help of dedicated teachers, I am able to cultivate English in my daily speech. Thus, this shows that Singapore has a strong culture of education and learning. Also, the universities, polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education located in Singapore are among the best in their class in the world. But education is not about institutions, but it is an attitude of mind. This means that people, no matter what their ages are, should continuously acquire knowledge and develop new skills. And by having a strong culture of education and learning, Singapore would be able to nurture talents to keep up with the rest of the world.
The second building block is a culture of seeking knowledge, innovation and ideas. Singapore has invested itself as a research and development hub in different sectors. And Singapore also has managed to attract a critical mass of top scientists to work in Singapore, and also to spread passion for research, and nurture and groom young scientists among our top students. Many foreign and multinational corporations that are drawn to Singapore have created revenue and job opportunities for people in Singapore. As we do so, we keep Singapore forever young with knowledge and innovations from these companies.
The third building block is to make Singapore an environmentally sustainable city. Singapore has set aside marina bay and Punggol to serve as live laboratories for new ideas and technology in sustainable development. It is important to make Singapore as an environmentally sustainable city because if a city is not built for sustainable and renewable living wills eventually cause itself damage.
A magnet for talent, that is the forth talent. Singapore does not have the luxury of having a vast population that can migrate into the country. Thus to sustain population and economic growth, Singapore has to open its doors and allow this flow of migrates. But still, Singapore does keep a watchful eye on the people that are brought in to sustain stability. Singapore has an aging population, as even if the birth rate improves, Singapore still needs to bring in others with skillful expertise to add to our population and talent pool. However, we cannot be sure that this current wave of migration to Singapore will continue as conditions in the home countries of potential migrants improve.
And finally, the last but most important is a strong and forward-looking leadership. A group of leaders should be a capable, experienced and committed team who is able to look ahead and face the challenges that arises. Without a good leadership, a nation would fall; just like what happened to the Venetians in the past where they were doing very well in their trading prospects until leadership falls into the wrong hands of the rich but not capable of leading. I agree that leadership renewal is key because only those countries and organizations, which has in place a system and process for leadership renewal, continues to maintain their vitality and success over the long term.
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