IPS Update Issue June 2019

We have come to the end of the sixth series of IPS-Nathan lectures by Professor Tan Tai Yong. In his concluding lecture, he argues that Singaporeans need more than historical literacy — we need to have historical consciousness and historical imagination too. He cited Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye as one of the creative approaches towards understanding our past.

On historical consciousness, he says, “it is not just an intuitive feeling or a memory. Historical consciousness requires a degree of intellectual rigour, and open-mindedness — seeking to understand why decisions were made, and searching for nuance. It goes beyond simply asking “what happened”, to questioning “why it happened”.”

Watch, read or listen to all lectures in the series here.

Report — The Thirty-First Singapore Economic Roundtable
• 4-min read

The Thirty-First Singapore Economic Roundtable saw private sector economists, business leaders and policymakers discussing GDP growth and inflation developments in the Singapore economy, with a special focus on the nation’s strategy amid global climate-related challenges.

Commentary — “On homosexuality and cohabitation – differences on moral issues need not lead to polarised society”
(CNA)
By Mathews Mathew and Leonard Lim
• 3-min read

IPS researchers observe that there is increasing divergence of views on moral issues, based on age, religious affiliations and backgrounds, and urge the different groups to work towards preserving a common space and civil behaviour in public discourse.