24 October 2002

SPEECH BY DR NG ENG HEN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER AT THE OPENING OF THE ROBOT ZOO EXHIBITION, SINGAPORE SCIENCE CENTRE, ON 24TH OCTOBER 2002 AT 7.00 PM

Dr Chew Tuan Chiong
Director and Chief Executive of the Singapore Science Centre

1. I am pleased to be here to officiate at the opening of the Robot Zoo exhibition.

2. While formal educational institutions play the primary role of offering science as an academic subject, we must never forget that the desire to know, understand and explain all that is around us can and should be a passion-driven activity. The Singapore Science Centre has filled this niche as a promoter of scientific passion and curiosity admirably. Through its programs, it has reached out to the population at large and enabled them to appreciate aspects of science in a leisurely and entertaining manner.

3. The assortment of exhibits we see today span various scientific disciplines and emphasise hands-on exploratory learning. Through innovative ways, these exhibit stress aspects of everyday life and attempt to popularised science by creating an environment where the audience can participate actively while learning about modern scientific and technological developments.

4. An over-sized housefly 200 times larger than normal, mechanical chameleons 3 metres long and a 6 metre long robotic giant squid may seem to be strange exhibits but they are good illustrations of how Man's inventions can be used to mimic Mother Nature's designs. The Robot Zoo exhibition is about using computers, hydraulics and other mechanical devices to build individual components that mirror their physiological organs in real animals.

5. Very often, we assume that Robots involve only pumps and wires, filters and motors. These exhibits reveal that our pre-conceived notions may be too narrow and show, instead, an impressive array of mechanical engineering which will enthral the budding engineer. Further, the designers of this exhibition have explained the physiology of animals in easy-to- comprehend concepts, using mechanical components familiar to us from our daily lives. For example, they have used a mechanical pump to represent the heart, which, in essence, is a biomechanical pump.

6. Through this amalgam of life sciences, engineering and physical sciences into a fun and colourful exhibition, the Science Centre is reinforcing the reality that science can no longer be studied as discrete branches but, increasingly, in a multi-disciplinary mode. Futuristically, human/machine interface technologies are fast evolving to the point where people will be able to control machines, with the help of electrodes, by their thoughts alone.

7. Similarly, the emerging industry of Biotechnology is no longer the kingdom of microbiologists. Rapid DNA sequencing, for example, requires the skills of not only a molecular biologist who understands the fundamental language of DNA, but also the skills of a physicist to design the highly technical set-ups required for these ultra-clean experiments. It also requires the data handling skills of a computer scientist to handle the gargantuan amount of test data from each run, and finally, a market sociologist to turn investments into fundamental research into cold, hard investor returns.

8. This is the direction that science is taking, and I am heartened to see that the Robot Zoo is helping to present Science in this holistic light to the public.

9. I have been told that the Robot Zoo exhibition is one of the most successful exhibitions in the science museum circuit in the United States. The education value of this exhibition, its potential to excite and entertain children of all ages in the myriad possibilities of Science makes visiting the exhibition truly stimulating.

10. I am also pleased to announce that the Robot Zoo Exhibition heralds in a series of exciting events in the coming year, starting December 2002, to celebrate the Science Centre's 25 years of achievement since the first exhibitions were opened to the public in 1977. Judging from the Robot Zoo Exhibition, I have no doubt that the rest of these events will be equally or even more exciting.