Singapore is World's 2nd most talent competitive country and top in Asia: INSEAD REPORT

Singapore is the world's second most talent competitive country after Switzerland, and top in Asia, according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2017 published by INSEAD.

While Switzerland excels at offering an ideal economic environment and retaining domestically-developed talent, Singapore leads the way in attracting and enabling its global talent pool.

Singapore takes an ecosystem approach to talent development in the face of technological change. Its regular "learning journeys" organized by the Ministry of Manpower, along with relevant agencies such as the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and the IMDA, aim to enlighten small businesses to new possibilities in automation to enhance productivity and reduce dependence on foreign labour.

One of the most recent journeys introduced smart technologies in the cleaning and services sector such as robotic floor cleaners and droids that can fold napkins to speed up the work of hotel staff.

The learning journeys are only the beginning.

They are accompanied by various government grants and incentive schemes, such as the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme, a cross-agency taskforce that makes resources and funding available to local small companies looking to augment their workers with technology.

The Lean Enterprise Development Scheme supports a company to become manpower-lean, build a stronger Singaporean core, and develop a better quality workforce.

Another box Singapore ticks in the GTCI is in education. Its recent PISA scores - which put Singaporean children three years ahead of their American peers in mathematics - reflect Singapore's forward-looking education system. The school system also offers coding classes at a very early age, and adopts many digital delivery channels.

A disconnect between skills needed and skills possessed

The report observes that technology creates jobs as well as destroys them. In today's world, in many countries, there is often a disconnect between the skills needed and the skills that employees and graduates currently possess.

How do you prepare yourself for this new environment?

You need to broaden your knowledge, embrace lifelong learning and a multi-career.

Because he stood up to be counted, he made a difference to Singapore.

He was a journalist, union leader, politician and ambassador. Mr Othman Wok had the courage of his convictions. He stood up to be counted and made a difference to Singapore.

Born in 1924 to a Malay school principal, he went to Radin Mas School and Raffles Institution.

He worked for Utusan Melayu. It was while working for Utusan Melayu that he became involved in union activities. He first met Mr Lee Kuan Yew when he was Secretary of the Singapore Printing Employees. Mr Lee was then the union's legal advisor.

He was persuaded by Mr Lee to enter politics and joined the People's Action Party a few days after it was formed in 1954. He won his first election battle in 1963.

“Mr Othman was one of the signatories of the Separation Agreement and a founding father of Singapore. He was a key member of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s Cabinet, during the critical period when Singapore was in Malaysia, and then separated from Malaysia to become an independent republic. He supported Mr Lee in the fight for a multiracial and multireligious Singapore, and became one of Mr Lee’s closest comrades,” PMO said.

Visiting a Woodlands home in 1965

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had praised Mr Othman as "one of the multi-racial team of founding leaders who built Singapore".

Mr Othman's signature contributions were in rallying Malay Singaporeans round to support a society where everyone was treated equally, regardless of race or religion.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong previously noted that when Singapore was part of Malaysia and the PAP fought for a multiracial society, Mr Othman was denounced by ultras as an "infidel", "a traitor to Malays", and got death threats. But he stood firm, "and that made all the difference to Singapore".

Tour of Redhill Constituency.

Mr Othman Wok watering a sapling he had planted at a tree-planting campaign along Aljunied Road and Upper Aljunied Road.

The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew said of Mr Othman:

"I remember your staunch loyalty during those troubled days when you were in Malaysia and the tensions were most severe, immediately before and following the bloody riots in July 1964.

"At that time, the greatest pressures were mounted by UMNO Malay extremists who denounced you and Malay PAP leaders – especially you – as infidels, "kafirs" and traitors, "khianat", not to Singapore but to the Malay race.

"I heard it, the crowds said it, bunches of them. They were designed to intimidate him and the other Malay leaders in PAP.

"Because of the courage and the leadership you showed, not one PAP Malay leader wavered and that made a difference to Singapore."

In a Facebook post, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam wrote:

"We are indebted to (Mr Othman), and will always be. He made a multiracial Singapore possible, which matters more than anything else we have."

Staying ahead by being adaptable and asking the right questions.

It's not the answers. It's the questions you ask. This was what students at a dialogue session in NTU with Minister Chan Chun Sing gathered.

If you ask the wrong questions, then the answers are irrelevant.

In Israel, Mr Chan said, parents do not ask their children what answers they give in school but what questions they have asked.

Mr Chan's challenge to the students:

Get out of your comfort zone and pursue something that is not narrowly tied to your academic subject.

Adaptability an important trait

Broaden your knowledge and interests, go beyond your academic subject. He cited his own experience when he was an undergraduate majoring in Economics in Cambridge University. In his spare time, he also read Biology and Philosophy on his own. All that gave him a broad base to cross-pollinate ideas.

Adaptability and versatility are key to staying ahead in the economy shaped by technological advancements and changing business models.

If you can adapt, you will not lose out. This is Mr Chan's message.

"The one who evolves fastest is the one that survives."

Will complacency hold us back?

Unlike the pioneer generations, Singaporeans today have more choices and options available to them, thanks to better education and a greater amount of resources.

"Will choices make us complacent? If it does, then we will not do even as well as our forefathers."

A duty to take care of the less well-off in society.

Mr Chan told the students that they, and those who are successful, have a duty to take care of the less well-off in society.

It is not enough to be successful individually, he said. He reminded them that their success was because of the family support that they received.

How can we be confident that Singapore will also be successful?

Give something back, lend your shoulders for others to stand taller and see farther.

The strongest deterrent to corruption according to Lee Kuan Yew

In addition to electing a government that comprises men and women of integrity, the general public has a role to play in upholding a culture of incorruption. Singaporeans must be intolerant of corruption.

Lee Kuan Yew also included Wee Kim Wee in his count of presidents

So Adrian Tan Cheng Bock has a problem with how the 5 terms of presidents are counted. He objected to President Wee being included in the count. He wants people to think it was done with the intention of keeping him out.

That's wishful thinking of a man who refuses to accept that his dream of becoming the president of Singapore has gone out of his reach.

Lee Kuan Yew included Wee Kim Wee in his count too!

It will be a great blow to Dr Tan's ego and pride to know that Mr Lee Kuan Yew also included President Wee Kim Wee in his count of presidents when he talked about the importance of rotating the presidency among the races.

The year was 2009.

And Mr Lee was being interviewed by the Straits Times.

At that time, there was already the Elected Presidency but there was no reserved election and there was certainly no 'Tan Cheng Bock' on the scene who wanted to stand for election as president.

Mr S R Nathan was then the only candidate to obtain an eligibility certificate for a presidential candidate.

Excerpt from the interview:

ST: Right, But the fact that he was Indian, do you think there was a feeling that it's time for a minority to be president?

SM Lee: Yes, I think so because we've had two terms of Wee Kim Wee, one term of Ong Teng Cheong. I think it's time to remind Singaporeans that we are a multiracial community. And it's also good.  It's a symbolic expression of our national identity.  

A reminder of our multiracial society.. 

SM Lee: So when you have a good man from the minority race, I think it helps to remind Singaporeans that we are a multiracial society. .... It'd be a very sad day if a populist Chinese candidate were to turn up and Nathan were defeated.

Surely it is time for Dr Tan Cheng Bock to wind down and put nation before self.

Rule of Law. We say what we mean, and we mean what we say.

Critical for our words to count

"We say what we mean, and we mean what we say. Sometimes we are faulted for being rigid and inflexible, but it is absolutely critical for our words to count and for us to hold others to what they have undertaken to us," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

"So having a reputation for insisting on these key points is perhaps no bad thing."

He was speaking at an event celebrating the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) 150th anniversary.

Upholding the law continues to be of 'vital national interest' to small states like Singapore, Mr Lee said.

Rule of law reason for Singapore's rapid progress from Third World to First

It was the rule of law that made Singapore stand out from the other developing countries in the early days of independence and this paved the way for Singapore's rapid progress from Third World to First in 50 years. 

Rule of law and the individual

Individuals know that all are equal before the law. The law upholds individual rights and freedoms while balancing them against society's need to maintain law and order. A central plank, he said, was to foster harmony and social cohesion among the diverse races and religions. People trust the courts to hear their cases impartially, with justice accessible to all.

Rule of law and businesses

Businesses know that they operate in a stable, transparent, rational environment where commerce is governed by transparent rules, contracts are enforced and investments protected.

"Because we emphasized all these aspects of the rule of law, Singapore distinguished itself from other developing countries and made it from Third World to First," he added.

Nations dealing with Singapore have also come to expect that the Republic would honour the agreements it enters and expect the same of others, Mr Lee added.

The AGC, along with the judiciary, are 'critical' in the upholding of the rule of law.

Law enforcement "without fear or favour"and a safe and secure Singapore

As public prosecutor, the AGC enforces all laws on any wrongdoer "without fear or favour", whether it is a case against a high profile person for criminal breach of trust, or a senior public officer accused of graft, or any offence involving race or religion.

"Because our laws are enforced, Singaporeans and foreigners know that here in Singapore, they are safe and secure," Mr Lee said.

AGC, as legal advisor to government, has to see issues through the lens of the government department, understand what it seeks to achieve and then come up with solutions, where necessary, by amending the law.

AGC as the Government's legislative drafter

A key approach to drafting legislation is not to reinvent the wheel as far as possible and to base it on existing models elsewhere. For example, when a new legislation was proposed in the Cabinet, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's first question was to ask which country it was copied from. He knew from a good precedent that Singapore would benefit from the experience and mistakes of others, Mr Lee said.

"But when we have to make laws on our own that have no precedent elsewhere, we have to be very deliberate, think creatively and feel our way forward and recognize that we will have to amend the laws later as we gain experience working on it, to deal with unexpected issues or react to changing circumstances," he said, raising the institution of the Elected President as an example.

The Constitution was amended to introduce an Elected President with custodial powers, he noted, and these arrangements were "complex and novel", with no precedent elsewhere. Therefore, the problem was mulled over for several years, with two White Papers published before it was finally legislated in 1991.

AGC as Singapore's international lawyer protects Singapore's interests abroad

Mr Lee cited the legal work that went into fighting Singapore's case on Pedra Branca against Malaysia before the International Court of Justice as the "best example" in this area.

TODAY's photo:
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Attorney-General Lucien Wong (left) and Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon (right) at the Celebration of the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) 150th Anniversary.     

Amos Yee: In US and no longer protected by Singapore law

Here in Singapore, the law prioritizes community peace and harmony. At least here in Singapore, when Amos spouts his nonsense, he is still protected by the law.

How, you ask? Anyone who reacts to his hate speech and goes up to him to deliver him a punch or a slap will be punished by the law, as had happened before. A man was jailed for 3 weeks for slapping Amos Yee.

Acts of intolerance, not freedom of epxression

Acts like insulting religion, spewing hate speech and engaging in acts to desecrate books deemed holy by religious groups, with the intention to provoke a reaction are not about freedom to express yourself.

They are acts of intolerance.

It is not that one cannot criticize a religion. Many do criticize religions in their private discussions and among friends. They do so for various reasons - to better understand a religion, to express their incredulity over certain beliefs and so on.

Grey Area

But there is a grey area when criticism crosses the line and becomes intolerance. That line is determined by 'intention'. Amos Yee crossed the line when he repeatedly insulted religions and produced videos to do so with the intention to provoke a reaction. Well, he got what he wanted - a reaction. Members of the public reacted and made police reports.

Different country, different system

Over in America where Amos is free to insult religions and indulge in hate speech and desecrate books deemed holy to religious groups without the law coming upon him for doing that, it will do him good to remember that he is now in a different, gun-totting country. It will be good advice for Amos Yee to know the limits of his own behavior for his own good because the reaction of the public will not be a police report. After all, it is not illegal to engage in the hate speech that Amos did.

At least in Singapore, the law would still be a deterrence to protect him from coming to physical harm for abusive speech.