Singapore Government Press Release

Media Relations Division, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts

MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369

Tel: 6837-9666

SPEECH BY DR TONY TAN KENG YAM, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER & CO-ORDINATING MINISTER FOR DEFENCE & SECURITY AT SMU’S COMMENCEMENT HELD ON 10 JULY 2004, 10:00AM AT THE RAFFLES BALLROOM, RAFFLES CITY CONVENTION CENTRE

Dr Richard Hu, Chancellor, SMU

Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman, SMU Board of Trustees

Professor Ronald Frank, President, SMU

Professor Janice Bellace, Founding President, SMU

Faculty, Staff and Students of SMU

Parents and Guests

I want to first congratulate all the graduands and your families present this morning. Commencement is a very special moment in your lives.

Four years ago when you matriculated, you were told that SMU marked many “firsts” in university education in Singapore. SMU is the first university in the city, the first publicly-funded private university, and the first to be devoted to business and management. You yourselves were described as pioneers. As the inaugural batch of SMU undergraduates, you are in a unique position to start traditions and blaze a trail for succeeding generations to follow.

Now that you have reached the formal end of your education at university, you have arrived at the start of another exciting phase of your lives, and the history of SMU. As the first graduating class, you are now called upon to prove your mettle, to show the rest of Singapore and the world that we were right in investing considerable resources in SMU. I hope too that you yourselves will go on investing in SMU.

From its conception, SMU was designed to provide a different model of university education here in Singapore. We wanted to start with a clean slate instead of just adding another public university in the mould of the existing ones. From this starting point emerged a confluence of factors that make SMU special.

SMU was set up as a corporation rather than a statutory board, creating a unique entity – a publicly-funded private university. As a result, it is given free rein to adopt the best practices of world-class universities in areas such as university governance, staff recruitment and compensation, university admission and tuition fee setting. Not having to adhere to civil service regulations, SMU has a free hand to compete for faculty based on open-market principles and offer internationally competitive salaries to attract top faculty. The autonomy that the Ministry of Education has granted to SMU has also been devolved downwards to its Schools, creating a decentralised style of management which is conducive to the development of collegiality within SMU.

SMU was also given the flexibility to experiment with innovative approaches in teaching, to implement a broad-based curriculum on the Wharton model. The seminar-style approach with small classes is certainly a departure from the mass-lecture cum tutorial system of other universities. As students, you were also expected to participate actively in class and assessed on your contributions. This has no doubt shaped you. I am encouraged by the feedback I have received about SMU students who are described as being articulate, confident and dynamic.

Furthermore, the establishment of SMU had the positive effect of injecting a dose of competition to business education in Singapore, sparking innovation in the business schools in NUS and NTU as they competed for students.

In its admissions policy, SMU has enjoyed the flexibility to choose students using broader selection criteria, like the applicants’ talents, communication and inter-personal skills, and other key character attributes. The whole person is evaluated, rather than just the examination results. Indeed, it can be said that the reason why SMU students are “different” is that the very process of attracting and selecting them is “different”.

The establishment of SMU was an experiment in higher education that involved some risk and considerable financial investment. Four years later, what can we say about the returns on our investment? You, the Graduands, are one tangible product carrying the SMU brand through which the world can judge the success of this venture. All of you therefore bear the heavy responsibility of demonstrating that the marketing rhetoric is borne out in reality – that you are substantively different.

Some of you may be aware that MOE has embarked on a review of university autonomy, governance and funding. The SMU experiment has given the Government more confidence to move NUS and NTU towards greater autonomy.

The university landscape is rapidly evolving – with the transformation of NUS into a multi-campus university, the expansion of NTU into a comprehensive university, the entry of private universities like UNSW, and growing competition from abroad. Our universities need to be more nimble-footed to respond to changes in the economy and student demand. They also need to build up peaks of excellence that will raise their international standing, so as to better compete for the best students and faculty from all over the world. We hope that greater autonomy will engender a more entrepreneurial spirit in the universities, so that they will lead the charge rather than waiting to take the cue from the Government.

I hasten to point out that the Government is not washing its hands of the universities.Our universities are public institutions whose mission, first and foremost, is to serve the people of Singapore, so we will certainly continue to provide the necessary resources and guidance where appropriate. Rather, we believe that our universities have reached the stage of development where they can and should be given more room to flex their own muscles and exercise their own socially responsible choices.

But we also recognise that the devolution of autonomy to our universities is a complex task which has to be managed carefully. We need to make sure that the necessary systems, processes and people are in place before we let go of the controls. These systems and processes MOE can help put in place. What is a greater challenge for our universities is developing the people factor – how to cultivate a culture of ownership in the university.

Over the past month, the Minister for Education and I have visited NUS, NTU and SMU to seek the views of the university Councils and senior management regarding the proposal to allow more autonomy for NUS and NTU. The key challenge that I highlighted to them was their readiness to take ownership. While they welcomed greater flexibility to chart their own paths, they were also mindful of the challenges involved in making the transition. A mindset change takes time to effect. It will take a while for people to change their perception that the university belongs to the Government, and is the Government’s responsibility.

Even then, it is not enough for the university Councils or the senior management to take responsibility for the university. Everyone, from the faculty to the students to the alumni, has to feel that the university belongs to them and that they play a vital role in shaping its destiny.

A cynic would say that universities cultivate their alumni because of the money the alumni can contribute. This is no doubt true at one level. But more importantly, great universities usually have alumni who feel personally responsible for the continuing success of their alma mater, and are willing to commit their time, energy and resources to secure it.

During my recent visit to US universities, I was astonished at the amount of time that the trustees, most of whom are alumni, devoted to their universities – attending meetings, interacting with faculty and raising money. Dedicated trustees can spend up to a third of their time on university affairs, often at some cost to their own businesses.

The alumni of these universities feel that they have benefited from their education and want to give something back.

A self-serving reason for investing in your university would be to enhance the value of your degree. The enhancement of SMU’s reputation will certainly be a tremendous asset to you. However, I hope that for you, it will go beyond that. As pioneers of this new university, you have already played an integral part in its early success, and as such, you have a significant stake in it.

I trust that you all had a great time in SMU and leave with many happy memories of the friends you’ve made and lessons you’ve learnt, both inside and outside the classroom. I hope that you are proud to be associated with SMU and feel a sense of attachment to the university.

A new chapter now begins in SMU’s institutional development, fostering ties with all of you graduating students – who will soon officially become alumni of SMU. I sincerely hope that the university will enjoy your continuing support and involvement, even as it endeavours to build strong ties that go beyond your years here.

In closing, I want to thank all those who were involved in the setting-up of SMU and who have contributed much to making SMU a resounding success. Five persons deserve special mention :

1) Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman of SMU;

2) Prof Janice Bellace, Founding President of SMU;

3) Prof Ronald Frank, who succeeded Janice Bellace, as President of SMU;

4) Prof Tan Teck Meng, Founding Deputy President of SMU; and

5) Prof Tan Chin Tiong, Provost of SMU.

Singapore owes a debt to all of you and to many others who have helped in one way or another to transform SMU from a concept to an institution.

To the graduating class of 2004, I wish you every success in your future endeavours and an enduring relationship with SMU.

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