Distinguished guests,

Conference participants,

Ladies and gentlemen

 

1. May I first extend a warm welcome to all the conference participants, especially our overseas guests.

    

    

2. I am very honoured to be invited to deliver the keynote address at this global conference of the International Women’s Forum (IWF). As an international association of women leaders from 20 countries, the IWF is well positioned to provide women leaders with a strong network of support and opportunities, and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

    

    

3. The theme for this year’s conference, "Alliances and Alternatives", has a special meaning for both Singapore and the modern women. Both have historically been born into rather unfavourable and disadvantaged circumstances. The odds are stacked against them but through the forming of strategic alliances, the seeking of alternative solutions and drawing on the complementary strength of their partners, they have made remarkable achievements despite their difficult circumstances.

    

   The Singapore Story

    

4. It is perhaps in this context that the Singapore story, which I am about to share with you, may be of interest to the members of IWF. The dilemmas that Singapore faced and the trade-offs that Singapore made in this eventful journey may hold some interesting food for thought for the women leaders here. However, I would be careful not to draw too many parallels between countries’ and women’s struggles.

    

    

5. I will start by giving you a brief background of Singapore. Singapore is a small, densely populated nation state with a present population of about 4 million (20% of which are foreigners). Our forefathers came as early immigrants in search of a better life. They came from a great diversity of racial and cultural backgrounds from various parts of Asia, and beyond. Our population is broadly grouped into four major ethnic communities: Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasians and others, roughly in the proportions of 75:15:7:3. Singapore went through a very turbulent history in the middle of the 20^th century. Within a short span of 25 years, from 1940 to 1965, we had experienced British Colonial rule, World War II, the Japanese Occupation, self-government, merger and then separation from Malaysia. Perhaps, a graphic way of capturing the turbulence of that period is that, within those 25 years, the people in Singapore had to switch through four different national anthems!

    

    

6. I will begin the Singapore story in 1965 – the year Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent nation. To many people, both within Singapore and outside, the future of an independent Singapore looked very bleak. Not only does Singapore have no natural resources to rely on, but we were also cut off from our natural hinterland and surrounded by nationalistic new states. Indonesia was then waging a confrontation against Singapore and Malaysia wanted to bypass Singapore as its commercial outlet.

    

   Economic Survival

    

7. For a tiny island that earned its mark in the world as a trading post, Singapore’s economic role as the entrepôt of the region was fast becoming defunct. This gravely threatened our survival. Unless we could find and attach ourselves to a new hinterland soon, our unemployment rate would have exceeded 14% by 1966. This would have led to great social unrest and probably spelt the end of our existence when Singapore was just barely a year into nationhood.

    

    

8. To survive, we decided to go beyond the region and seek direct industrial investment from Europe, Japan and America. On hindsight, we owed our success partly to luck. Boosted by a global environment that was favourable to the free flow of capital and technology from the developed world, Singapore was able to industrialise rapidly and expand its labour-intensive exports. By the 1980s, Singapore had developed itself into a booming industrial and commercial hub in Southeast Asia, with near-full employment. With a per-capita GNP of US$4,500, Singapore was classified by the World Bank in 1980 as an upper-middle income economy.

    

    

9. But we soon realised that a heavy reliance on labour-intensive manufactured exports would not bring us sustained growth in the long term. Increasingly, we were faced with acute labour shortages and a climate of protectionism in developed countries towards labour-intensive exports. In the 1980s, we mounted a second "industrial revolution" to restructure our economy towards more capital-intensive and higher productivity activities. By the 1990s, our economy had become much more broad-based and resilient. It has a strong manufacturing sector that comprises many technology-intensive industries, and a wide range of tradable services such as banking, finance, communications and transportation. By 1997, with a per-capita GNP of US$26,600, we were classified by the IMF as an "advanced economy".

    

    

10. However, restructuring the economy alone could not have brought us this far if we did not have a regional environment that was conducive to economic activities. Amid the regional uncertainties of the mid-60s and united against the common threat of communism, Singapore grouped together with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to form ASEAN in 1967. Through this strategic alliance of Southeast Asian countries, we sought to create a sense of stability and security in the region for economic growth to take place. By the mid-1980s, countries of ASEAN were achieving an economic growth of 6-8% yearly and ASEAN was becoming the most dynamic region of the developing world. More countries began to join ASEAN as members and dialogue partners to discuss political and economic issues. This strategic alliance has given ASEAN countries a more credible international voice and a platform for resolving issues amicably.

     

     

11. The Asian financial crisis 3½ years ago had wreaked much havoc in our region. It had weakened many Asian economies and uncovered deep-seated problems in some of their financial institutions. While most of these economies are now on the mend, in some countries, these economic difficulties have given rise to much social and political instabilities. As a regional grouping, ASEAN is also trying to find new directions. All these developments have set back the confidence level of investors in Southeast Asia. There is a real danger that Singapore will be bypassed by investors who take heed of the troubles in the region.

     

     

12. At the same time, the stalling of the WTO process has led some major economies to turn to regional trade arrangements as a supplement to multilateral liberalisation. We have also seen some backlash against globalisation in some quarters of the world. Small, open economies like Singapore are especially vulnerable to any rolling back of cross-border trade and investment flows. We are therefore engaging more actively in the negotiations of bilateral free trade agreements with our key trading partners. This will help to expand our economic space and secure market access for our companies.

     

     

13. Looking back, our economic progress since independence has been one long struggle to keep Singapore and its people relevant to the world. We have thrived so far because we have remained useful to the world. But having succeeded in the last three decades does not ensure our continual success in the future. To remain economically successful, Singapore needs a world where there is a balance of power that allows small states to survive. We also need a people who will continue to learn, innovate and be part of the new knowledge-based world.

     

     

14. Singapore today is known for its first-class infrastructure, such as our airport, seaport, IT and communications infrastructure. However, without human capital development, all these modern facilities would serve little purpose. A second important consideration for our economic growth is the delicate balance of our ethnic mix and geopolitical situation. This requires that any progress has to be predicated on a careful management of racial relations.

     

    Education for All

     

15. Investment in education or human capital development has proved to be the best friend of economic development, particularly for the Asian NIEs. In our case, it is also a successful means for social and ethnic integration. Hence, let me move on from economics to education.

     

     

16. Under British colonial rule, Singapore’s education system was highly fragmented, with schools using different languages as their medium of instruction, teaching vastly different curricula in schools mostly set up by their own ethnic communities. The school systems were divided and politicised.

     

     

17. In an independent Singapore, such a segregated education system is untenable. Not only was there a lack of standards in many of the traditional schools, but this system would also deprive our young of a common educational experience and the opportunity to interact with other ethnic groups in their formative years. We needed an education system that would strengthen the communication and bond between the different races, rather than exacerbate their differences.

     

     

18. Therefore, in the 1960’s and 70’s, we undertook a series of educational reforms to unify and raise the standards of the education system. We implemented a bilingual policy in schools, where English is used as the medium of instruction but all pupils also learn their mother tongue. It was a long and tedious process to unify the education system in an ethnically plural society, as language and culture are highly emotional issues. However, we believed very strongly that, as an international but ethnically diverse trading community, English had to be the language of the workplace and the common language in society. It would facilitate inter-racial communication, provide us with wider access to knowledge and technology, and give us a competitive edge in international business. On the other hand, retaining our cultural identities through the teaching of the mother tongues is crucial, as this would allow our different ethnic groups to interact with each other with a sense of self-assuredness that comes from knowing their cultural roots.

     

     

19. Our national education system provides equal opportunities for all students to learn and to achieve their potential. Promotion by achievement has allowed all races to advance in fields of their choice, solely on the basis of merit and hard work. After 35 years of nation building, meritocracy has become a unifying philosophy in our multiracial society and it has helped our minority groups to make big strides in social mobility.

     

     

20. Since 1980, our schools provide a number of academic streams to cater to the different abilities and interests of the students. For the very able, we develop programmes to stretch them to the maximum. For those who are not as academically inclined, we provide them with a curriculum that better match their learning pace and ability.

     

     

21. Taking stock, Singapore has done very well in education. Today, over 93% of a grade 1 cohort finish at least 10 years of general education. About 85% receive post-secondary education, with 60% studying in institutions of higher learning (i.e. polytechnics and universities). Such proportions are high by international standards. In the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Study, which is the largest international study done on 38 countries on performance in mathematics and science, our grade 8 students were ranked first in mathematics and second in science. It is noteworthy that pupils who participated in this study were of diverse abilities, ranging from the academically bright to the weaker pupils.

     

     

22. Although such an education system has served us well, there are signs that it needs to be adjusted and improved to meet future challenges. We have built a robust education system with high averages and academic rigour. These are strengths that we need to retain, but there are also weaknesses that we need to address. For example, it is generally acknowledged that our pupils tend to focus too narrowly on academic achievements and lack an all-round development. In the new economy of the 21^st century, having knowledge in itself will cease to be a nation’s competitive edge. What is of greater advantage is the ability of its people to make use of knowledge to create new opportunities for themselves, to be innovative and entrepreneurial.

     

     

23. This requires our education system to move away from its present paradigm to one, where the focus is on developing the varied potential of all students and preparing them for jobs of the future. Over the last few years, we have carried out a major review of our education system and is in the process of making some fundamental re-alignments to it. Our intention is to make our education system more responsive to the challenges of a knowledge economy, our school environment more student-centred, and our curriculum more effective in inculcating core values and nurturing creativity and thinking skills.

     

     

24. While it is difficult to tell exactly what the working environment of the future will be like, we can be quite sure that IT competency will constitute a basic skill of the future. Towards this end, we launched a 5-year IT Masterplan in 1997 to IT-enable all schools and train all teachers and students to be IT-proficient. Today, our schools are equipped with a teacher-notebook ratio of 2:1 and a start-up pupil-computer ratio of 6.6:1 at the primary level and 5:1 at the secondary level. Schools are fully networked and enjoy a wide range of IT resources. Over the next few years, most schools would have achieved IT-based learning for 30% of the curriculum time.

     

     

25. Globalisation has social and psychological implications for our young’s sense of belonging. To strengthen this sense of belonging and national identity, we introduced a National Education programme in our schools in 1997. All countries consciously teach national values to their young through subjects such as history, citizenship studies and social studies. We too aim to instil in our pupils a sense of pride and belonging to Singapore, teach them to respect self and others, and underscore the importance of racial harmony.

     

     

26. Looking back, our education system has come a long way, and it will continue to play a pivotal role in promoting economic progress and preserving social cohesion. We do not know for sure if the IT Masterplan will lead to more effective teaching and learning, or if the National Education programme will bring about stronger national identity and sense of belonging, or if creativity and thinking skills can actually be nurtured. But we do know that, if we do not try to refine our education system to positively influence the outcomes, we will not be preparing our students for the emerging challenges and opportunities.

     

    Housing the People

     

27. Let me now move briefly to 2 other areas which are highly relevant for our topic of "infrastructure". First, public housing, the significance of which goes beyond physical infrastructure. Housing is an area that also shapes our social fabric and the way society turns out.

     

     

28. In the early 1960’s, we inherited a very serious housing shortage from the colonial era. About a third of the population were still living in slums and squatter settlements. One of the top priorities of the government was therefore to solve the pressing housing problem. A Housing and Development Board (HDB) was set up to provide public housing. To solve the housing problem, HDB estimated that it would need to build 110,000 flats within 10 years. It was a very challenging task.

     

     

29. To overcome the scarcity of land in Singapore, we built upwards. The height of our public housing flats has risen over the years. The latest proposal will see these flats reaching the 40^th storey. It was also a tedious and unpleasant task to resettle people but this was a necessary step to improving their living conditions. Many people were used to rent-free village life and had a hard time adapting to living in high-rise, compact dwellings. In the early days of resettlement, there were even cases of farmers refusing to part with their pigs and insisting on rearing them in their high-rise flats! To these individuals, the resettlement was a wrenching experience.

     

     

30. Despite these difficulties, HDB persevered and their efforts paid off over time. Singapore’s public housing policy, however, goes beyond that of providing a roof over the head. It aims also to give every Singaporean a stake in the country through widespread home ownership, to foster social cohesion and to share wealth.

     

     

31. Today, 92% of Singaporean households are homeowners. 86% of the population live in public housing and nine out of ten public housing families own their flats. With rising incomes over the years, the demand for higher quality public housing also rises. The quality of public flats and the living environment in public housing estates in Singapore have received much international acclaim.

     

     

32. To foster social cohesion, we ensure, as a matter of policy, that every housing estate reflects the multiracial and multi-religious character of our society. People of different races are settled into the same housing estate to facilitate social interaction and community building efforts.

     

     

33. Public housing estates will degenerate quickly into slums if they are not well maintained. Hence, apart from regular maintenance, Singapore implemented a multi-billion dollar Estate Renewal Strategy in the 1990s to rejuvenate the older public housing estates. More than 200,000 families or nearly 1 in 4 HDB households have since benefited from the upgrading and redevelopment programmes. The renewal process has injected a new lease of life into the older estates. It is also a means of redistributing and sharing the nation’s accumulated reserves.

     

    AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

     

34. The second area I want to briefly mention is healthcare. Our population is ageing rapidly. In Singapore, we expect our elderly population to increase sharply from the current 7% to nearly 20% by the year 2030. Closely related to the issue of an ageing population is our health care system. Today, health care is consuming an increasing share of the national wealth in many countries. In the developed countries, health care expenditure ranges from 6.9% of GDP for the UK to 14.5% in the USA. In Singapore, health care expenditures are still modest, totalling about 3% of GDP. But it is expected to rise significantly with our ageing population.

     

     

35. To face this challenge, we have designed a health care system which is based on individual responsibility, coupled with Government subsidies to keep good, basic health care affordable. Patients are expected to pay part of the cost of medical services which they use, and pay more when they demand a higher level of services. This principle of co-payment is an important feature of our health care system. We believe very strongly in the importance of encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their own health by saving up for medical expenses. We have seen how a liberal approach to health care has led to wasteful and extravagant medical expenses in other countries. In many welfare states, it is their future generations who will have to pay for the health care consumption of the present generation.

     

     

36. We have introduced a scheme (Medisave) whereby every working person is required by law to set aside 6-8% of his income into a state-managed account which can be used to pay for the hospitalisation expenses incurred by him or his immediate family members. We have also a national health insurance scheme (Medishield) that is designed for major or prolonged illnesses, but with a strong element of co-payment. For the poor, we have set up an endowment fund (Medifund) with money from government revenue that acts as a safety net.

     

     

37. The Singapore healthcare philosophy emphasises the building of a healthy population through preventive healthcare programmes. The population is encouraged through sustained public health education to adopt a healthy lifestyle and be responsible for one’s own health.

     

     

38. The state of health in Singapore is on par with developed countries. Our infant mortality rate stands at 4 deaths per thousand live births, and maternal mortality rate at 0.1 per thousand births. The life expectancy of females in Singapore has increased from 67 in 1970 to 80 in 1999.

     

    Concluding Remarks

     

39. To conclude, it has been an extraordinary journey for Singapore, transforming from a third world to a developed economy in slightly over one generation. The progress we made did not come about as a matter of course. Our instincts for survival and confidence are built upon the principles that underpin our past success, namely meritocracy, clean government, strong political leadership, racial and religious harmony. These characteristics will remain the pillars of our society in the future. But in moving forward, we can see several dilemmas that Singaporeans would have to face. These dilemmas follow the kinds of trade-off we have to make or have made:-

     

40. How do we balance the need for more public consultation and consensus-building with the need for decisiveness and quick action?
41. How do we promote internationalisation and regionalisation, without diluting our people’s sense of attachment to Singapore as home?
42. How should we continue to attract foreign talent to help us develop in more areas, without causing Singaporeans to feel less valued?
43. How do we encourage individuals to be enterprising and competitive, while retaining the value of society above self?
44. How do we develop a more active civil society so that our people can become more self-reliant as a community?

     

45. Casting our eyes ahead, will Singapore be as successful in the next 35 years as it has been in the last 35? No one can be sure. The future is as full of promises as it is filled with uncertainty. But our economic fundamentals are good, our education system is robust and our social infrastructure strong. On that basis, I think we are definitely in a much better position today to secure future successes than when we were three decades ago, even though the going will be much tougher.

     

     

46. On that note, let me end by wishing all of you an interesting and fruitful conference. I also hope you will all have an enjoyable time together.