Singapore's ability to integrate people is key in country's growth
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 27 November 2009 2130 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said Singapore's ability to integrate people from diverse cultures has been a key driving force behind the country's growth over the past four decades.

And this will continue to be an asset, as the economy moves into new growth strategies.

Mr Tharman was speaking at the World Design Congress earlier this week.

The Marina Barrage is a dam built across the mouth of the Marina Channel. It is an example, said Mr Tharman, of how Singapore has blended its own ideas with innovations borrowed from other societies.

"What are we good at? We're good at pulling people together, and some industries thrive on that, pulling people together," he said.

"I don't think we ever realised that 40 years after we started, it would turn out to be a great asset, tremendous asset in a knowledge-based world."

Mr Tharman, who was formerly the Education Minister, said that it is people who will continue to drive the future of Singapore.

That is why much emphasis has been placed on creating a meritocratic education system.

Mr Tharman said: "In this next phase of growth and development, you need more effervescence that comes up naturally, through the schools, through the polytechnics, the universities, through our technical colleges.

"The whole thrust of educational policy in the last decade and going forward has been to nurture that, give it maximum chance of going up."

But that, he said, is a "difficult enterprise".

"That meritocracy, which is our big plus, brings with it naturally a certain standardisation," Mr Tharman said.

"How do we break out of that? By creating new pathways, and we're doing it in every public school, offering niches of excellence for kids who've got something different."

Speaking at a convention of design professionals, Mr Tharman outlined some key areas Singapore would like to go into as it navigates itself in a post-crisis world.

One is to create urban solutions, a massive opportunity as Asia undergoes rapid urbanisation.

Mr Tharman said: "It's a huge challenge, making cities liveable, managing water resources, managing sanitation, keeping the air clean, keeping the place green. It's a huge challenge, and it's something Singapore has built up some experience in."

Singapore too is aiming to take a bite out of the biomedical pie, and here again, Mr Tharman said that it is all about bringing together researchers from different environments.

Singapore is also seeing growing interest from small enterprises from Europe and other parts of the world, which are keen to take advantage of opportunities in the region.

- CNA/ir