29 November 2002

SPEECH BY DR NG ENG HEN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER, AT THE OPENING OF THE FORUM ON CREATIVITY IN THE ARTS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON FRIDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2002, AT 9.00AM, NANYANG POLYTECHNIC AUDITORIUM

When Prof. Bernard Tan said in his invitation letter to me that my acceptance as Guest of Honor would 'signal the government's strong support for fostering creativity', I thought it an innovative way of arm twisting! I had almost in the 'spirit of creativity', wanted to reply through an encoded message. But discretion and pity got the better of me, so I simply said yes. I am happy to be here this morning to officiate the opening ceremony of the Forum on Creativity in the Arts, Science and Technology. I understand that this year's Forum is a follow up to the first and very successful Forum held last year.

This forum is also temporally finessed (another creative way of saying timely) as Singapore is in the midst of remaking itself to stay competitive and relevant in a radically new landscape, characterised by globalisation, global competition, rapid technological advancements and changing business models. Amidst these changes, we remain committed to the tried and tested, which is that the development and deployment of human capital is a winning proposition for Singapore's future growth and prosperity. The capacity of Singapore to meet the challenges in the new economy will depend very much on our ability to realise the creative potential of our people. Indeed, we will require a great deal of creativity and ingenuity in facing the many challenges over the next few decades. We need to harness and add to the creative talent which we have in Singapore. We need to nurture the creativity, curiosity and innovation of our young people. They will need to become the creative artists, scientists, inventors and technologists who will help our nation not just to face these challenges, but also to prosper Singapore and the region.

To achieve these needs and wants, our education landscape has evolved, particularly over these last few years to develop our intellectual capital. In 1997, Prime Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong unveiled "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" as a vision to prepare our schools and our nation for the future that would be vastly different from the present. Education in Singapore has shifted into an ability-driven paradigm. This ability-driven approach to education will require a responsive education structure, the creation of a learner-centred school environment, inculcating values and nurturing thinking skills and creativity through the formal and informal curricula; and building a quality teaching service.

Many of you would have followed the parliamentary debates recently concluded on the JC curriculum review, which is the natural extension of the earlier initiatives. The school curriculum has been revised to emphasise skills for thinking and independent learning. Content has been reduced to free up more time for learning activities that foster critical and creative thinking. Modes of assessment have been expanded to stimulate thinking and to elicit problem-solving behaviour, collaboration in groups and effective communication. These efforts would ensure that our students are given the space and environment to stimulate independent thought; express their ideas, beliefs and solutions; subject themselves to scrutiny and challenges within groups and hopefully want to learn throughout their lives.

Our universities, polytechnics and ITE have also geared and aligned themselves towards meeting the challenges of this new economy. New strategies and programmes include establishing and strengthening alliances with both local and overseas institutions and industry, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation through the setting up of new enterprising groups, and making changes to the curriculum and pedagogy.

This Forum on Creativity is therefore appropriate and relevant to our overall efforts. And I would add that the focus on arts, science and technology as creative endeavours is entirely logical. After all it is only in recent times, that these three areas have been artificially circumscribed; when indeed they are inextricably linked, each activity continually reinforcing and aiding the other. I need to enumerate only a few examples such as Pythagorus, Galileo, Newton to drive home the point that great scientists were also men steeped in art and philosophy. Leonardo da Vinci was not merely one of the world's greatest artists, famous for The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, but also a father of modern science, a respectable engineer, architect, physicist, astronomer, anatomist, storyteller, philosopher and inventor. Da Vinci was able to express his creativity with scant respect for the boundaries between various disciplines, which we have so often erected for ourselves today. In fact, leading universities have now recognised the futility and disadvantages of such artificial divisions. They are differentiating themselves between the spaces and interfaces of traditional and formal disciplines. Whether in information technology, multimedia communications and biomedical sciences, the best insights and advances are often emerging from the intersections of disciplines where creativity reigns unfettered from intellectual prejudices.

I am therefore pleased to note that a number of very distinguished speakers from overseas will be delivering keynote addresses at the Forum and share their personal views on the crucial role creativity plays in their respective fields. With the insights from these internationally renown academicians such as Frank Shu, Eija Nieminen, Trevor Baylis; and our own Sim Wong Hoo, I am sure that participants will be greatly challenged and inspired.

On this note, I now have the pleasure in declaring the Forum on Creativity in the Arts, Science and Technology, open.