Speech by President Tony Tan at Conferment Ceremony of King Charles II Medal

Your Royal Highness

Sir Paul Nurse
President of the Royal Society

Your Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

        Good morning. It is a pleasure and a privilege for me to address this distinguished audience at the Royal Society. It is a great honour for me and my country that I am being conferred the King Charles II medal, whose previous recipients were all leaders of powerhouses in the sphere of science and technology. This award is a strong recognition of the progress that Singapore has made in scientific research and technological development in our short history. It is also a tribute to the strong bilateral co-operation that exists between Singapore and the UK in science and technology.

        I began my career in academia as a lecturer first with the Physics Department and then with the Department of Mathematics in the University of Singapore. My association with science continued even after I left the University and entered politics. As the saying goes “once a scientist, always a scientist”. I found myself taking into account the impact of Science and Technology in policy considerations during my appointments as a Cabinet Minister overseeing various portfolios including Education, Trade and Industry and Defence and Security. After leaving the Cabinet, I was involved in advancing Scientific Research and Development as Chairman of the Singapore National Research Foundation. In my current position as President of Singapore, I am glad to continue advocating the importance of Science and Technology through initiatives including the Global Young Scientists Summit, and the President’s Science & Technology Awards.

Role of Science and Technology in Singapore’s Development

        Ladies and Gentlemen, Singapore’s transformation from third world to first world has been recounted by many observers who attributed the country’s progress to the Singapore Government’s commitment to long term planning, and consistent execution of sound policies guided by clear vision. Let me take this opportunity to share the instrumental role that Science and Technology played in shaping our country’s development.

        When Singapore became independent in 1965, we suffered from poor infrastructure and limited capital. Our economy then comprised low-end commerce and industries that produced only for domestic consumption. Public health standards were poor and people lived in slums. Even though we have one of the highest annual rainfalls in the world, we had to import water from our neighbour, Malaysia.

        We could not change the hand that nature dealt us as a small tropical island with no natural resources when independence was thrust upon us. With our domestic market too small to support sufficient jobs, Singapore had no choice but to go against the conventional wisdom of newly independent countries at that time and liberalise our economy and welcome foreign investments to produce for the regional and global markets. This has proven to be the right strategy, and allowed Singapore to create jobs for our people and raise living standards over the last five decades.

        These achievements would not have been possible if not for the scientific and technological advancements that made air and sea travel prevalent, and the internet revolution which accelerated globalisation over the last few decades. As a small and open economy, Singapore has been a major beneficiary of globalisation.  More directly, Singapore has also benefitted significantly from scientific advances in various areas. For example, advances in membrane technology has enabled Singapore to make major strides towards water self-sufficiency by tapping on reclaimed water and desalinated water, which are expected to meet 50% and 30% of our future water needs respectively over the long term, reducing our need for imported water. Besides policies that improved public health, advances in medical science have also contributed to the improvement in our life expectancy from 67 years in 1970 to almost 82 years in 2011. Infant mortality rates have fallen from over 20 per 1,000 live births to 2 per 1,000 live births over the same period.

Singapore’s Investments in Science & Technology

        Singapore has no choice but to invest in our people – our only resource – and build our society and economy based on knowledge, innovation, and enterprise. Economically, Singapore has progressed from a labour-intensive economy in the 1960s to a capital- and skill-intensive economy in the 1980s to 2000s, and to a knowledge-intensive economy from the turn of the millennium. In the 1990s, we saw that technology and knowledge creation would be the key drivers of development.

        We started investing substantially in Research and Development (R&D), with plans developed in 5-year tranches. Since the launch of the first National Technology Plan in 1991, total R&D expenditure has increased. As a share of GDP, it grew during this period from less than 1.0% to the current 2.3%.  We are currently in the midst of our fifth Five-Year plan, with an investment of S$16.1 billion (approximately £8 billion) for 2011-2015 under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) plan. These investments create new knowledge, ideas and a pipeline of talent, allowing us to build a significant base of R&D capabilities.

        Today, through these careful investments, a vibrant R&D ecosystem has emerged. Singapore has a spectrum of industry-oriented research institutes across physical sciences and engineering, and biomedical sciences, covering areas such as advanced materials, electronics, marine technologies, and bio-medical sciences. Singapore is progressively being transformed into a knowledge-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economy.

        Our universities have established research excellence in areas such as water, energy and biological sciences. With more than two decades of sustained investments in R&D, Singapore is now home to several world-class research universities, leading edge research centres, institutes and corporate labs. 

Bilateral Collaboration in Science & Technology

        Singapore has also established significant partnerships with the UK, for greater education and research impact.

        A significant example is the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which was established through a partnership between Imperial College London and NTU, and involves Fellows of the Royal Society, like Professor Philip Ingham, Vice Dean of Research at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, who is in the audience today. I am pleased to note that the first cohort of medical students have started their five-year undergraduate degree programme in 2013. Students are taught by world-class experts, in a high-tech environment, gaining theoretical knowledge while marrying practical experience that would enable them to excel in various future roles whether as a surgeon, a doctor or a clinical scientist.

        Industry partners are also building key laboratories in our universities. The most recent example from the UK is the Rolls Royce@ NTU Corporate Lab launched last year, which will develop advanced technologies for the next generation of environmentally-friendly engines, through some 30 projects over five years. 

        Yet another example is the Lloyd’s Register Global Technology Centre (GTC) joint laboratory with Singapore’s Institute of High Performance Computing. The GTC will deliver innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by the marine, energy and offshore sectors. The Singapore GTC is also part of the Lloyd’s Register global R&D network, which comprises the GTC at the University of Southampton and others.

        These unique tie-ups between industry and academia combine the strengths of research organisations with leading edge industrial capabilities to develop products and solutions benefiting not only Singapore and the UK but also the rest of the world.

Scientific Collaboration Needed to Address Global Problems

        Ladies and Gentlemen, the Royal Society is a pioneer in the promotion of scientific excellence and has supported the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity for more than 300 years. The Fellowship of the Royal Society, which includes luminaries such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Albert Einstein, has been at the heart of so many fundamental scientific discoveries which has improved lives and changed the way we lived.

Royal Society scientists continue to make outstanding contributions to science. Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse, who advanced the understanding of biomedical science through the discovery of the “key regulators of the cell cycle”, is one eminent example.

        The Royal Society also engages in work to enhance the impact of science through engagement with policy makers and promotion of science education around the world. In fact, Sir Paul visited Singapore in 2002 under A*STAR’s Distinguished Visitor Programme to engage with the local bio-medical community and more importantly mentor our young research talents on the trends and developments in biomedical research. We hope he will inspire a young Singaporean scientist to become a Nobel Laureate one day! Since then, his connection to Singapore continues to this day as an Emeritus Member of the A*STAR Bio-Medical Sciences International Advisory Council.

        I recall my most recent meeting with Sir Paul Nurse when he visited Singapore last year.  

We discussed the need to promote greater dialogue between scientists and policy makers. Indeed, there is much scope for the application of science for policy purposes.

        Singapore sees itself playing a role in the scientific search for solutions to problems affecting us on a global scale. To this end, Singapore has established extensive research collaborations with many world-renowned universities, and provided various platforms for scientists to participate in research that address complex global challenges.

        CREATE, or the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise is an example. CREATE houses in one location interdisciplinary research centres from the world’s best research universities around the world, including the University of Cambridge in UK. It gives us great pleasure that the University of Cambridge chose to base its first research centre (the Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology) outside of Cambridge in Singapore under the CREATE scheme. At CREATE, over 1,000 scientists from diverse disciplines and cultures carry out leading edge research, addressing pressing challenges with high societal impact.

        UK and Singapore share similar challenges such as urbanisation, healthcare and ageing, environment and sustainability. Such challenges cannot be solved by any one nation and the future of research lies in international and multi-disciplinary collaborations. Singapore and the UK signed the Partners in Science Initiative ten years ago. The agreement has been instrumental in allowing a rich exchange of people and ideas between the UK and Singapore and further nurtured the strong relationship we now enjoy between our two nations.

        I am therefore glad to announce that the UK-Singapore Partners in Science Agreement will be renewed at the sidelines of my State Visit. The UK-Singapore Innovation and Research Partnership agreement, signed by Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and David Cameron, will chart the path for greater scientific cooperation between our two countries. I also wish my colleagues and their counterparts a successful Research and Innovation Forum, titled UK and Singapore: Innovating Together for the 21^st Century, which will take place after this Ceremony at the Royal Society. 

        The Royal Society is the world’s oldest science society with a long history of breaking new scientific ground and serves as a source of inspiration for us all.  Like the Royal Society, Singapore will continue to be inspired and driven by the pursuit of knowledge and innovation, to stay open to new ideas, broaden our horizons and create new opportunities that would benefit society.

Conclusion

        Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that there is scope for both our countries to further our bilateral collaborations especially in scientific research. I look forward to the deepening and prospering of our relationship.

        Once again, let me express my heartfelt thanks to the Royal Society for according me the honour of addressing you today and awarding me the King Charles II Medal.

        Thank you.