20 July 2002

SPEECH BY RADM (NS) TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION & SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, AT THE YOUNG INNOVATORS' FAIR ON SAT, 20 JULY 2002 AT 9.30 AM AT THE PERFORMANCE THEATRE, VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE

It is my pleasure to be here today at the Young Innovators' Fair, the tenth in the series. Looking at the many bright-eyed and eager faces in front of me, I'm excited and encouraged that so many of our young are fuelled by the impulse to create and innovate.

2 The spirit of questioning why things are the way they are, and how they can be improved, lies at the heart of innovation. Throughout human history, people in search of solutions to everyday problems have come up with inventions that have made a significant difference to their lives. Arguably, the earliest known act of human invention was that of tool making by hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic era. This crafting of composite tools by early man was a giant step in creativity that extended his strength and reach, thereby making his existence more comfortable.

3 A more contemporary example of an ingenious invention that helps us with our work is Liquid Paper. Not many of us may know that it was actually invented by a newly employed secretary using the electric typewriter for the first time, who was terrified that her boss would fire her because of her typing errors. Bette Nesmith's typewriter used carbon ribbon, which meant that her mistakes could not be rubbed off with an eraser. In desperation, she put some diluted white paint into a nail polish bottle, took it to the office and painted over her mistakes. And so, Liquid Paper was born.

4 There is another dimension to innovation apart from a desire to make life easier and more comfortable. This is the economic dimension to innovation. Let me illustrate with the example of Thomas Edison, often hailed as one of the world's greatest inventors. Before Edison, inventing had been a largely individual, one-off activity. Edison transformed it into a business, setting up workshops that he used as a base from which to operate. So prolific were his inventions that he was granted over 1,000 patents in his lifetime, becoming a multi-millionaire in the process. Just imagine the boost that his country's economy would have received from just some of his inventions, like the light bulb and the phonograph!

5 As a country with no natural resources, we rely greatly on our human capital to spur our economy to greater heights. Where in the past we did well by making existing products efficiently and by adding value, today we have entered the knowledge-based economy, where economic growth is increasingly driven by the ability to innovate. The key now is to compete on the basis of innovation and entrepreneurship, as these determine how well a nation performs in the global marketplace. We therefore need to continually innovate and invent new products, processes and services so that we can maintain our competitive edge. Innovation doesn't always have to be high-tech. Liquid paper, for instance, was a low-tech invention that took off because no one had thought of it before. What is important is to have a basic instinct of not being satisfied with the status quo, and to always look for new and better ways of doing things.

6 Indeed, most people would agree that the qualities that make for innovation lie in personality traits such as an inquiring mind, a creative imagination, a willingness to experiment and the tenacity to persevere in the face of failure. Those of us who have read the work of chemical engineer Manoj K. Chaudhury would have marvelled that he managed to make droplets of water "creep" uphill against their natural instincts. He accomplished this in 1992 by varying the degree of water resistance on the surface of a polished silicon wafer that he used.

7 However, Professor Chaudhury did not rest on his laurels. Today, after extensive research, trial and error, those same creeping droplets that defied gravity one millimetre at a time have been induced to move at rates of centimetres, even a metre or more, per second. In short, they now move at the speed of an Olympic sprinter, a phenomenon that can be potentially applied to heat transfer problems, especially those involving systems operating in zero or micro-zero gravity.

8 Over the past few years, this spirit of creativity and enterprise has been nurtured and encouraged in our schools through a number of ways. We have cut down curriculum content by 30% in some subjects to free up space for more open-ended learning, to develop pupils who can question, explore and experiment. Inter-disciplinary project work has also been introduced in all schools since 2000, to allow pupils to apply multiple banks of knowledge and acquire practical and problem-solving skills. A number of school programmes give pupils the opportunity to be mentored by lecturers from our universities and polytechnics and by experts from industry, who guide them to think more analytically and creatively. Some schools also send their pupils on vacation attachments to industry to expose them to the world of business and to the realities of the marketplace.

9 The Innovation Programme, started in 1993, provides yet another platform to nurture an interest in innovation among pupils. Over the years, participation has grown steadily, with 525 pupils from 36 schools taking part this year. I understand that a 'Mature Schools' category has been newly added, that highlights schools which have participated in the programme in the previous two years.

10 The exhibits displayed here today are some examples of the creative efforts of our pupils. The 4-in-1 table, by pupils of Kranji Secondary, uses panels and screws to create a flexible design that allows the desk to be adjusted to suit the need of the moment. When the panels are placed horizontally, they add space for students to do their project work. When placed vertically, the panels create sufficient partition to give students some privacy during examinations. The table also comes with a locker for books and a water bottle, and castors to enable it to be moved around easily.

11 Another interesting exhibit is Fast Service, by students of Ai Tong Primary. Noticing that the serving staff at a restaurant were too busy to attend to waiting patrons, the students came up with an idea to help them with their work. It involves placing two coloured button switches at restaurant tables. Patrons can use one when they are ready to order and the other when they are ready to call for the bill. In this way, the waitresses and waiters can work more efficiently as the colour of the flashing lights will tell them what the patrons require.

12 Such projects bring home the point that innovation need not always be radical; it arises from everyday ordinary problems that require practical solutions.

13 I would like to commend the many teacher-mentors and expert-mentors who have contributed to the success of the Innovation Programme. The time you have invested and the knowledge you have shared have benefited the participants greatly. I urge you to continue with your gift of developing and nurturing our young people. I would also like to commend 3M and the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Association for their steady support and contribution to the programme.

14 Young participants, today's Innovators' Fair marks the start of an exciting journey in innovation. Over the last seven months, you would have experienced for yourselves the personal discipline required of an innovator, the synergy that comes from working in partnership with others, and the adrenalin rush that accompanies a breakthrough in thinking. You would also have made many new friends who share your passion for innovation. I urge you to keep the spirit of inquiry burning bright, and to make the quest for innovation an integral part of your lifestyle.

15 Allow me to congratulate you on your achievements today. I leave you with this quote from Charles Darwin, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."