Speech by President S R Nathan at Honorary Degree Conferment Ceremony at Keio University

President of Keio University, Professor Yuichiro Anzai
Vice President of Keio University, Professor Taro Nishimura
Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management, Professor Naoyuki Agawa
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

     Let me begin with a word of thanks to Professor Anzai, President of Keio University for bestowing on me this honour of the Doctorate in Media and Governance Honoris Causa on the occasion of my State Visit to this great country.

     It is with humility that I accept this Honourary Doctorate.  This is not an honour I deserve for any contribution I have made to scholarship or any eminent contribution to world affairs.

     Looking at the array of luminaries who have preceded me in being similarly honoured in the last 50 years, I am indeed awed at being included in such an eminent and distinguished company of world leaders, distinguished scholars, Nobel Laureates, scientists, public figures and academicians of such diversity and eminence.

     Having received this honour, I shall strive to do my very best in all my endeavours, private or public, and try to live up to the high expectations of this august and illustrious Institution – Keio University – with its 150 years of tradition and achievement and whose history parallels the history of Modern Japan.

     This award also marks the recognition by Keio University of the growing links with the National University of Singapore, of which I am its Chancellor.   Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities, a joint research centre for collaboration in the emerging field of Interactive and Digital Media has been established – the first such centre outside Japan for Keio.  It will have more than 50 academics, researchers and PhD students from both universities working on fundamental research projects.  I hope this will be a forerunner to many other areas of academic collaboration between the two universities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

     Being in the confines of this eminent University and particularly in this historic   Public Speaking Hall, where the Founder of this University Yukichi Fukuzawa Sensei once taught his students Western speech and debate methods, permit me to direct my speech to the young men and women of Keio and her recent graduands.

     Let me begin with a quote from none other than your esteemed Founder, who in his Fifth Essay of “Encouragement of Learning” (in Japanese “Gakumon no Susume – Dai Gohen”) is said to have made this remark, which I quote: “ … the trends of the world can engulf us like rapids or great winds. It is not easy to stand up against these great forces … Those who have acquired the means in our group must be willing to suffer poverty and privations, in order to impart the learning they acquired for the building of our civilization.”

     What he said way back in the 1870s, remains valid to this day and will remain so even in the days ahead.

     For this is a pivotal moment in history for Japan, nay Asia. The global economy is in the midst of an almost unprecedented crisis. We would have to go back to the Great Depression in the late 1920s and 1930s to find a crisis of comparable magnitude, even though the specific details were clearly not identical to the present situation.

     I am well aware that Japan has not been spared the ill effects of this global crisis. Indeed, it could be argued that but for a brief recovery in the last few years, Japan has faced rather difficult economic circumstances in the last two decades, starting in the early 1990s, in marked contrast to the glory years of the 1970s and 1980s.     

     However, these prevailing circumstances in Japan today are not unique and bring to mind comparable challenges in the past.  Japan’s leaders and the Japanese people have responded to those challenges with renewed vision, resilient efforts, and decisive actions, sometimes transforming Japanese society in fundamental ways as a result. Some periods that come to mind are the Meiji Era in the late 19th century, the building up of industrial Japan from the early 20th century to the 1930s, and the post-war reconstruction of Japan from the ashes of World War II.  Each experience laid the foundations for the re-emergence of Japan as one of the leading nations and economies in the world.

     It is this success against long odds that led to Japan becoming the object of admiration the world over, and particularly among national leaders in different countries of Asia in years past.

     Japan has long been held up by Asian leaders as an example of a society that has shown the strength to re-invent itself time and again, while maintaining its glorious continuity of tradition dating back several thousand years.

     The way forward for Japan out of the present period of crisis clearly will require transformational change. It will involve coordinated efforts on multiple fronts by multiple actors - political leaders, corporate leaders, leading universities such as Keio. The young will also have important roles to play in this endeavour.

     I believe that it is your generation that has the most critical role to play in defining, indeed, in determining the future of Japan; the Japanese economy and Japanese society. The question for all present here today to ask is this: what will be your role in helping fix Japan’s problems of today?

     As the leaders of tomorrow, you will face a challenging period ahead for Japan. There is no reason why Japan will not surge forward again. History has shown, time and again, the resolve and resilience of the Japanese people in overcoming set-backs and re-emerging as an even stronger nation.

     During the last years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan was a society in great ferment. With the inauguration of the Meiji Era, one of the most notable features of the Charter Oath of April 1868 was its fifth provision: “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.” Japan subsequently borrowed ideas from all over the world and incorporated them into a new synthesis. Such a calling was lucidly captured in the eminent Yukichi Fukuzawa's writings, such as his “Encouragement of Learning”, which I cited earlier.

     As a result, during the Meiji Restoration, Japanese politics, society, and economy, among other aspects, were fundamentally transformed. On the political front, Japanese leaders studied various systems -- British, US, Prussian, French and Spanish -- in their efforts to design the Japanese political model, eventually adapting much from the Prussian constitutional system. The Meiji Constitution was thus promulgated in 1889.

     As in the political domain, significant changes occurred both in the Meiji Japanese society and economy.  The Meiji rulers adopted the concept of the market economy as well as British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. Significant economic reforms were implemented and in the early 20th century, Japan emerged as the first Asian industrial nation.

     The capacity of any society to adjust to challenges that are not easy to anticipate in advance is I think linked to the diversity of ideas, concepts, mindsets, technologies and strategies. The lesson from the Meiji period is that Japanese society has tremendous potential to adapt to change. Whenever Japan opened its doors to new influences from abroad, its society and economy thrived and flourished.

     This again happened during the 1950s, the years when Japan rose from the ashes of World War II and leading up to the quality revolution in Japan during the 1970s and 1980s. It is interesting to recall that leading “quality” theorists like Joseph Juran and Edwards Deming who had so much influence in Japan were in fact Americans. The significant quality improvements achieved by Japanese firms, in industry after industry, gave Japanese products a significant competitive advantage over their American and European competitors.

     Eventually, the quality revolution came back to America through firms like Xerox, which learned it, ironically, from their Japanese joint venture, Fuji-Xerox. I believe these lessons can be applied again in the present global environment.

     Singapore too has learnt much from Japan.  In 1965, when we became independent, Singapore was one of the poorest countries in Asia. Singapore’s economic development was given a pivotal boost in the 1970s by Japanese investments, technology transfer and training.  

     We witnessed first-hand Japanese companies’ emphasis not only on acquiring advanced technologies, but investing in the very workers who work the machines and manage the companies.  The Japanese worker, who personified discipline, hard work and efficiency, was greatly admired.  

     In 1972, Singapore established a National Productivity Board. With the help of Kohei Goshi, who was the Chairman of the Japan Productivity Centre at that time, the National Productivity Board helped to improve the productivity of Singapore workers through greater worker-management cooperation.  Our Work Improvement Teams (WITS), Quality Control Circles (QCCs) and On-the-Job Training (OJT) were learnt from Japanese companies and enabled our workers to improve productivity and work quality.

     In education, our schools have emulated Japan in emphasizing the sciences, mathematics and computers.  In public safety, we have modeled our neighbourhood Police Posts after the Koban (交番) system in Japan.  In the environment, our Public Utilities Board studied how Japan had succeeded in conserving energy.

     Like Japan, Singapore is what it is today because it was able to adapt to changes by adopting an open mindset and implementing new and constructive ideas. Only with such an attitude can we face the tough challenges of today and those ahead of us without fear but with confidence and assurance.

     In the future, Japan, even as it maintains its status as an important developed economy, will face rather unfavorable demographics, an aging and declining population absent significant inflows from immigration, and thereby a slowing GDP growth rate.  While it is for the political and economic leadership of Japan to decide on the appropriate policy approach, it would appear to interested observers like me that the potential growth of China and India and the rest of Asia presents quite interesting opportunities for Japan.

     The people of my generation, from leaders to simple folks, have all contributed their fair share to creating a better life for ourselves and our children. In the 21st Century, it falls to you – the Youth of Japan - to take the lead. While current circumstances may appear dire, I will remind you of the saying that it is always darkest just before the dawn. What matters most is to make a commitment to get engaged, and start wherever you can.

     Every journey, howsoever ambitious it may be, starts with the first step. I am reminded of a story I read some years ago of a young, intrepid explorer who had single handedly rowed in a row boat the entire length of the mighty Amazon River amounting to almost 4,000 miles. At the end of his trip, a reporter asked him if there was ever a point in his journey when he felt overwhelmed and was ready to give up. He thought for a while, and then he said, “You know, the first day was the most difficult.

     As I contemplated the enormity of the task ahead, I was ready to give up immediately. Then I thought to myself, what if I only think of the next one mile. And after that, the next one mile.  And as one mile led to another, as one day led to another, one month led to another, before I knew it, I was at the end of my journey.”

     I am reminded of my own life, where one challenge led to another until I assumed the Presidency of my country.  I had left school before the Second World War without completing my schooling.  The War years gave me a new lease of life.  I acquired some proficiency in the Japanese language and was always encouraged by those I came into contact with.  They frequently reminded me that I had a “good head”.  This was what encouraged me after the War to continue studying, juggling my time between work and study.   That was how I was led into entering the university at the age of 28.  

     Thereafter, as had been said in my citation - I moved from one position after another, but always learning on the job - often facing challenging responsibilities and accomplishing them even without much guidance from the top.

     I want to share with you the essence of what I have learned from my life experience: it matters not much where one starts from, the modesty of one’s beginnings is little constraint; what matters more is how steep the learning curve, and how well and deeply one learns from the raw material of one’s life experience. It is not the content of the experience per se, but what learning one extracts from it that makes the crucial difference.

     In the globalised world that we face, greater integration of our economies with the rest of the world will continue and is not reversible. That being the case, Japan, like other major economies, will have to adapt to such changes quickly. It behooves Japanese youth to recognise this reality and move forward. As Japan has done time again since the Meiji era and after World War II, my call to young Japanese is to go out again into the world that is marked by technological innovations and scientific discoveries and profound change. Bring back ideas to revitalize your country and your economy and take the next economic leap that Japan must endeavour to re-establish its pre-eminence among the leading nations of Asia in the 21st Century.

     In conclusion I can only exhort the young men and women of Japan, so filled with energy, enthusiasm, and idealism, and urge you to ask yourself, “What is the next mile that I will help row the boat?” And take that first step.

     Seize the moment, and you will have a very challenging life ahead, full of great changes and interesting surprises!

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for the great honour you have bestowed upon me.