Arunachalam Mahizhnan

Acting Director (2004 – 2008), Special Research Advisor (2015 – present)

On IPS’ vision, Mr Mahizhnan recalled Professor Tommy Koh’s vision for IPS to be a place for “loving critics”, which he personally aligned with.

In his first four years at IPS, Mr Mahizhnan worked with then Deputy Director Dr Lee Tsao Yuan on economic business policy issues, drawing from his experience in the business sector. He then moved on to research on media policies in line with the growth of the internet in Singapore in the 1990s, something IPS had never done before and that many civil servants had little knowledge about at the time. He spoke about censorship of the internet then, and also shared his thoughts on the value of arts in Singapore. He discussed his experience starting the Singapore Economic Roundtable, as well as being appointed as the Fellow in-charge of the Singapore Chronicles after having proposed the idea to IPS Director Mr Janadas Devan. He also described the considerations behind the conception of the Corporate Associates Scheme, to raise funds for IPS’ research work. Upon being appointed Acting Director of the Institute in 2004, he also came up with the idea of reorganising IPS by its expert research clusters, which lasted until 2018.

Overall, speaking on the importance of IPS’ work, Mr Mahizhnan shared that he believes that IPS should always seek to provide an alternative view and look at things differently. He shared that the purpose of IPS is not just to share intelligent views, but expert views as well.