Singapore is ahead in contest for talent for now, says LKY

The Straits Times, March 31, 2007



MELBOURNE - SINGAPORE is attracting more talent than it is losing, for now, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said at a forum here yesterday.

But whether it will be able to do so in 30 years' time will depend on its people and their future leaders having the wherewithal to stay ahead of the competition, he added.

He gave this reply when asked what Singapore would look like in two to three decades from now.

He described the world as entering a very different age, in which the success of countries would hinge on their ability to attract talent.

As part of this global contest for brainpower, Singapore's brightest students were being 'green harvested'.

The term refers to companies going to universities to recruit top students even before they graduate.

But because Singapore was investing in research and development and was still able to provide better facilities than many countries, it was attracting many bright Indians and Chinese.

'We are gaining more than we are losing, but that's for now,' Mr Lee told public-sector leaders attending the forum at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

As for the future, it would depend on Singaporeans keeping their verve so they could continue to do better than their neighbours in the region.

As for the future generation of leaders, Mr Lee said he hoped they would be able to make the right decisions to keep Singapore ahead.

'Thirty years from now I won't be here, but I hope whoever is in charge has the wit and verve to say let's do that or we lose,' he said.

On developing its own talent, he said Singapore was trying to tweak its system of sending top students to overseas universities as this meant there was no home-grown elite in the local universities.

'Except for the medical school and maybe engineering, all the best are abroad...so the elite in our universities come from the region,' he said.

Some top students would be encouraged to study locally but with the opportunity to spend one year at an overseas university.

LYDIA LIM