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SPEECH BY RADM (NS) TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AT THE FULBRIGHT ASSOCIATION (SINGAPORE) TALK ON 31 JUL 98 AT NUSS ORCHARD GUILD HOUSE, LEVEL 8, CINE-LEISURE ORCHARD @ 7.15 PM

"SINGAPORE AS A HUB FOR HIGHER EDUCATION"

President of the Fulbright Association (Singapore)
Fellow Fulbrighters
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. My heartiest congratulations to the President and other newly elected office-holders of the Fulbright Association (Singapore). You will have a challenging task ahead of you as you play your part in furthering the Fulbright spirit in Singapore.

The Fulbright Vision

1. The "Fulbright Experience" that so many of us has gained was the brainchild of Senator J. William Fulbright 52 years ago. Senator Fulbright wanted to create a programme to encourage students from as many countries as possible to study in the US and to persuade young Americans to live in and come to know and understand other countries.
   
2. The Fulbright vision of bringing "a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs" has indeed succeeded. The Fulbright Programme has brought nearly a quarter of a million people to the United States, to learn from the US and from each other. Today, some 4,400 people from the US and 140 countries participate annually. It has contributed tremendously to global co-operation and mutual understanding, and counts among its alumni many distinguished leaders in business, industry, academic and government in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.
   
3. In the early years, this programme was largely dependent on American generosity and enthusiasm. Today, I am glad to know that about 40% of the programme's cost comes from sources other than the US government. Educational institutions, the governments of more than 40 nations, and the private sector join hands in ensuring the continued success of the programme.
   
4. At fifty, the Fulbright programme has matured into a world that is very different from the bi-polar world it was born into. Then, the Iron Curtain divided the world into two main blocs. Even regional conflicts could be seen in terms of proxy wars between the two superpowers. Today, with the end of the Cold War, the international geopolitical situation has become more complex. The once dogmatic but clear ideological differences and rivalries between the superpowers have been replaced by rather less well understood regional, ethnic and religious disputes.
   
5. Fulbright's work to build bridges among peoples is not done. The annual funding Fulbright programme is today in excess of 100 million US dollars, but even such resources are insufficient to meet the many needs. There is room for other countries and regions to step forward to play a part for a more peaceful and stable world.
   
6. Today, I would like to share with you the steps that Singapore has taken to play a part in increasing understanding and promoting educational exchanges.

Putting Singapore at the Centre of the Flow of Talent and Ideas

1. Singapore has thrived by being a hub for manufacturing and services for the region and beyond. Currently, about 4,000 large foreign manufacturing companies have operations in Singapore. The extensive commercial and business network that we have developed in Asia make us an attractive location for investors to make inroads into the region. Many other cities and states have paid us the compliment of emulateding these sameour economic strategies.
   
2. We cannot hope to stay ahead by doing more of the same. We will have to go beyond being a congenial host for businesses created elsewhere to becoming a partner and co-creator of new businesses.
   
3. Human capital is the key to the creation of wealth. We will continue to put great emphasis on human resource development, be it cultivating our own or drawing the best talent from all around the globe. And we must show the same openness to the rest of the world which we have shown in our trade and investment links. Singapore must be a key player in the flow of talent and ideas in the region and for the world.
   
4. As a port of call for talent and ideas, Singapore will have to manage a certain tension in the system. On the one hand, Singapore would like to retain and "indigenise" as much of the talent and ideas that pass through as possible. On the other hand, Singapore must be prepared to "let go" and accept that some of the talent and ideas that flow through would have enriched Singapore during their time here. And if we can make Singapore a hospitable port of call, talented individuals will continue to see Singapore as a good place to put their abilities to good use and a place with which they will be happy to work with even after they return home. This is indeed the essence of the Fulbright programme - a community of individuals from different societies all having been enriched by their experiences in the US and have in turn added to the goodwill and understanding towards the US, and vice versa.

Singapore as a Hub for Higher Education

1. The success of the Fulbright programme in drawing talented individuals to the US rests in part on the strong foundations of a dynamic and diversified higher education sector. The creation of higher education opportunities prompted first by the G.I. Bill and progressively through the growth of a network of four-year state colleges and two-year community colleges provided a huge magnet for aspiring students from the rest of the world.
   
2. For Singapore to play a role in the international flow of talented people, it will have to start by re-orientating its higher education sector. Instead of being passive trainers of graduate manpower to feed the economy, the universities should increasingly be seen as partners in our drive to be a centre in the flow of talent and ideas.
   
3. To achieve this, we will need to work on two fronts. On the one hand, we need to develop outstanding institutions in Singapore. On the other hand, we need to attract more talented people to make these institutions even better. Both must go hand in hand.

Developing Outstanding Institutions

1. The two universities in Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have come some way in establishing themselves in the region. In a recent Asiaweek survey of universities in the Asia-Pacific, NUS was ranked 5th among multidisciplinary universities while NTU was ranked 4th among technology universities.
   
2. Our local universities cannot insist on the selectivity of students that world-class universities like Harvard or MIT enjoy because of their mission as trainers of graduate manpower for the economy. But there is much that we can do to develop centres of excellence within them, and to raise overall standards.
   
3. NUS and NTU are taking steps to broaden undergraduate education. In NTU, this is being done through the addition of elective courses on non-technical subjects from this academic year. In NUS, a Core Curriculum is being drawn up to provide an intellectually stimulating programme designed to broaden students' knowledge, skills and approaches to issues. NUS plans to start this off with a selected group of undergraduates from July 1999. NUS and NTU are also studying the recommendations on the review of the engineering curriculum by the MIT review team.
   
4. Postgraduate education and research at NUS and NTU have been expanded through collaboration with overseas universities, industry and public sector organisations. Both universities have targeted to double the number of postgraduate students by the year 2000. University admission criteria are being reviewed, with the objective of making them more relevant for the future.
   
5. Just as Singapore has gained from the introduction of technology, management expertise and business experience from MNCs, there is room for the attraction of top foreign universities to Singapore, especially at the postgraduate level. The presence of the top foreign universities will not only help to draw and develop the high quality human resources needed for Singapore, it will also challenge and motivate local universities and propel them to greater heights.
   
6. Top universities in the US and Europe recognise that they too need to adopt a more internationally oriented stance in order to better prepare their graduates to compete in the global market. The economic and social problems in Asia may temporarily set back some of these plans, but the long-term trend is a clear one. Top universities which have a head-start in Asia will have the benefit of learning about Asia and working with top Asian talent.
   
7. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has announced the establishment of Johns Hopkins Singapore to provide clinical services, education, and conduct research and development. This will be in collaboration with NUS and the hospitals.
   
8. Other top foreign universities with which we are exploring collaborative or independent set-ups include INSEAD, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and MIT.

Attracting Talent to the Universities

1. NUS, NTU and their predecessor institutions have been receiving a natural inflow of foreign students from the region. However, with the establishment of more universities throughout the region and the urgent need to expand higher education opportunities in Singapore, the attraction of foreign talent was not seen as top priority for NUS and NTU. The inflow of foreign students stagnated at around 10% of the undergraduate intake.
   
2. But a world-class university cannot be built upon the natural talents and abilities of a small country with only 3 million people. Top universities go in search of the best talent in the world, especially at the postgraduate level. For example, in MIT, up to one-third of the postgraduate students in the engineering school are international students.
   
3. NUS and NTU have to do likewise. They have set a target of filling 20% of their undergraduate places with foreigners. Fortunately for us, NUS and NTU can do this while expanding intake so that no qualified locals will be displaced. At the same time, to make it more attractive for foreign students to study in Singapore, tuition fees have been reduced. In 1996, the fees for foreign students were 1.5 to 2 times those for Singaporeans. From this year, foreign students pay only 10% more than locals.
   
4. This target of 20% gives a push to the two universities to get out of Singapore and find the best foreign students they can. This is a useful discipline, as a constant reminder to the universities that Singapore thrives on being open to the rest of the world.
   
5. The presence of foreign students adds some "fizz" to the student body in Singapore universities. The students draw upon different experiences and look at problems from different perspectives. There is no better way to promote critical and creative thinking among our young than to be confronted with different view-points and ideas.
   
6. I am pleased to note that NUS and NTU have marketed themselves aggressively in the past years and are on track to reach their target of 20% foreign intake. For the academic year 1998/99, preliminary figures (up to 20 Jul 98) indicate that NUS and NTU have recruited more than 1,500 foreign students which make up 16.5% of their undergraduate intake. 70% of these foreign students are taking up courses in Engineering, Computers and Science. It is particularly important for Singapore to build up centres of excellence in these areas in order to catalyse the growth of high technology industries and ensure an adequate supply of qualified persons.
   
7. To give better focus to our efforts to attract foreign talent to our universities within existing regional co-operation frameworks, Singapore has also proposed the establishment of education hubs in the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) region and between Asia and Europe.
   
8. Another recently announced initiative is the hosting of Education Hubs in Singapore. This is part of the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) and ASEM (Asia-Europe Summit Meeting)'s effort to encourage more academic exchanges among students and to promote greater sense of community and understanding among scholars from North America, Europe and East Asia.
   
9. The Prime Minister first mooted the proposal of establishing regional education hubs in the Asia-Pacific in 1996 and this was endorsed by APEC leaders in Vancouver, Canada in November 1997. Singapore has offered to host two education hubs, in public policy and business. I am happy to note that two scholars, from the PRC and Korea, have started their studies in public policy in NUS from July this year. We hope to welcome more APEC scholars to Singapore in the coming years.
   
10. Singapore has also proposed the establishment of ASEM education hubs to encourage more academic exchanges between students of European and Asian universities. Singapore has proposed to host undergraduate exchange programmes in the fields of South East Asian studies and Information Technology.
    
11. Singapore is working on other regional and bilateral arrangements to increase the flow of students and scholars.

Conclusion

1. Singapore students have benefited from the generosity of other governments, foundations and organisation, including the Fulbright Programme, scholarships from Japan's Ministry of Education (Monbusho), the Colombo Plan and the Commonwealth Trust Fund.
   
2. We are a small country. But we have always played a useful role in international affairs. The efforts outlined above represent a most direct way of developing mutual understanding, trust and a sense of shared vision, by drawing people together in the pursuit of knowledge and education.
   
3. As Fulbrighters, all of us have a special role to play in supporting the exchange of students and scholars. There may be opportunities to host a foreign scholar, to work on exchange programmes, or to work with youth exchange groups.
   
4. I wish the Fulbright Association (Singapore) every success as we continue with the good work of the Fulbright Exchange Programme.