Singapore Perspectives 2007 "A New Singapore"

This year’s conference was themed “A New Singapore”, one particularly apt at a time when the nation is on the cusp of major changes. The primary focus discussed were the new strategies that Singapore needs to adopt to grapple with the immediate and longer-term challenges posed by internal and external forces.

Among the key questions examined was that of confronting the possibility of our globalised economy fissuring into two components: a fast-growing external wing and a laggardly domestic one. Another is whether immigration and the Singapore diaspora will lead to new conceptions of the meaning of being Singaporean. The way in which society can cope with the paradigm-shifting power of communications technologies such as the Internet and mobile telephony is also a major question. And looking outward, the conference will also discuss the difficult issue of the renewal of ASEAN and the role that Singapore will play in it.

By the end of this year, IPS will be publishing a book on the conference proceedings, which feature the following essays:

Chua Hak Bin: Singapore Economy: The New and The Dual
Manu Bhaskaran: Singapore Economy: Medium-Term Outlook
Brenda S A Yeoh: Migration and Social Diversity in Singapore
Kwok Kian Woon: Just What is New about the new Politics of Identity?
Beatrice Chia- Richmond: The Singaporean Artist
Lim Sun Sun: New Media and the Singaporean: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Media Literacy
Cherian George: Singapore’s Emerging Informal Public Sphere
Amitav Acharya: ASEAN at 40: Ascendant or Decadent?
Azmi Mat Akhir: A New ASEAN
Rodolfo Severino: The ASEAN Charter: Milestone or Illusion?

To view Conference Programme, click here.

Download Speeches/Papers/Presentations

• Welcome Remarks by Prof Tommy Koh
• Presentation by Mr Rodolfo Severino
• Presentation by Prof Amitav Acharya

Media Coverage

• Newsweek International. 2007. Singapore Swing. 29 January Issue
• Channel NewsAsia. 2007. Balance needed between traditional and new media for diversity. 13 January
• The Straits Times. 2007. Asean needs strong charter to be effective, say observers. 12 January
• The Straits Times. 2007. Economists discuss downside of fast growth. 12 January
• The Straits Times. 2007. Helping foreigners fit in: ‘Don’t just focus on talents’. 12 January
• The Straits Times. 2007. New media: Why young can’t tell good from bad. 12 January
• The Straits Times. 2007. ‘The more mistakes, the merrier’. 12 January
  
• TODAY. 2007. As S’pore grows at 2 speeds, economists want help for slow lane. 12 January
  
• TODAY. 2007. Finding their feet, then fitting in here. 12 January
• TODAY. 2007. The dangers of dual media regulation. 12 January
• Channel NewsAsia. 2007. Economists point at emergence of dual economy in Singapore. 11 January
• Channel NewsAsia. 2007. Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability. 11 January