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SINGAPORE : Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said universities need to ensure that the students they produce can meet the demands of globalisation.
He said globalisation and the challenges that come with it are "moving targets".
Mr Lee made this point in a question-and-answer session with heads of the American and Pacific Rim universities meeting in Singapore.
It is also a topic close to his heart, and something which Mr Lee discussed with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates over dinner.
Mr Lee said: "He sketched out to me what the world would like. He said, "you do not need a wallet, you have an electronic wallet for every purchase from the smallest to the biggest purchase." I asked him in how many years? He said five, maximum 10 years. How do you prepare your people for that kind of rapidly changing future?"
The dialogue with Mr Lee was about the role of universities as the world globalises.
But presidents and chancellors from universities worldwide took the opportunity to also get Mr Lee's views on a whole range of international issues - from terrorism and how the world should response with a growing China and India?
They also asked Mr Lee what he would do to focus on if he had to go through the education system once again?
Mr Lee said: "I think to learn enough linguistic skills to be able to do business in Southeast Asia. I ought to know the Malay language, I also ought to know the Chinese language because they are going to be one of the biggest single dynamo.
"Where would I want myself to be educated? First, here. I got the network, then where else? Today, I think I will tell my grandson I think you better go to America. It will be the largest single factor in the Pacific for a very long time."
Mr Lee stressed that the younger generation needed to be well educated and connected to different cultures, to survive this brave new world. - CNA/de
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