By Elvin Ong In an effort to restructure the Singapore economy, the Government has employed a three-pronged approach. First, the inflow of foreign workers has been gradually tightened, so as to ensure that employers do not continue to rely on the easy availability of cheap foreign labour. Second, the Government has made available a plethora of […]

By Dawn Yip Last December, I was asked to help IPS conceptualise a scenario planning process focusing on the future of governance in Singapore. It was impossible to say no, despite knowing that I would miss the bulk of the process due to a sabbatical. National-level scenario planning is not new in Singapore. It’s been used […]

By Chiang Wai Fong Introduction The Young Singaporean Conference was held on 26 September 2012 with the theme, “Are Young Singaporeans Happy?” A total of 80 young Singaporeans from 25 to 35-years old representing diverse sectors of the Singapore society were invited to attend the conference. During the full day event, participants were asked to put down their […]

By Tommy Koh Professor Lim Chong Yah is one of Singapore’s most distinguished economists. He was the professor of economics at the National University of Singapore (NUS), before moving on to the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to become the first Albert Winsemius Professor of Economics. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Economics of both NUS and […]

The Young Singaporeans Conference (YSC) is one of the Institute of Policy Studies’ flagship programmes. Held biennially, the YSC gathers young Singaporeans, between the ages of 25 and 35, who have shown leadership or excellence in their respective fields of endeavour to discuss issues of national interest. The following is the speech delivered by the Director of […]

By Donald Low and Cherian George The Institute of Policy Studies has released three scenarios intended to get the wider public thinking about how Singapore should govern itself in the future. The exercise is timely, given the widespread feeling that the republic is at a crossroads. There is an opportunity to reshape governance, enabling it to respond more […]

By Carol Soon Last month, a teenager shared her thoughts on the National Conversation in a letter to The Straits Times Forum page (18 September). Her letter astutely points to the wave of cynicism that has surged forth since the unveiling of the committee members of the Our Singapore National Conversation initiative. What is perhaps more […]

By Asad Latif When Plato posed at the beginning of the Symposium the question, “Is not the road to Athens just made for conversation?” he made companionship the measure of the destination. Two-and-a-half millennia later, when I turned up at Rasa Sentosa Hotel for the final session of IPS Prism, the argumentative journey to Athens was […]

By Christopher Gee You are in the third row of seats from the front in a stadium. The people in the front row stand to get a better view of the action, and quickly thereafter, those in the second row also stand up in order to see. You also stand to be able to watch the […]

By Devadas Krishnadas Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that we would have a “national conversation”, an “Our Singapore Committee” to “spearhead” this effort has been formed. Two features of this committee immediately sparked comment. First, that a large chunk of the panel was formed by members of the ruling party. Second, not a single member of […]

By Donald Low The National Conversation, announced by the Prime Minister in his National Day Rally in August, has gotten off to an inauspicious start. Criticisms of it have centred on two main themes. The first is that the conversation so far has not been sufficiently representative and that it has not (yet) made a sincere […]

The following is Part 1 of a 2-part feature. You can read Part 2 here. By Christopher Gee Robert Frank in his 2007 book Falling Behind: How Inequality Harms the Middle Class points out that investment in children by parents is a positional good, with such expenditures taking on many of the characteristics of an arms race […]