The National University of Singapore takes a proactive approach to international recruitment and student start-up culture
When Singapore declared its independence in 1965, the small nation had to work quickly to strengthen its economy through human resources.
Universities were at the forefront of Singapore’s development and have led the country in its successful transition to becoming an innovative, knowledge-based economy.
For the latest instalment of Beyond Boundaries, an interview series produced by City University of Hong Kong (CityU), the institution’s president Way Kuo met with Tan Eng Chye, president of the National University of Singapore (NUS), to hear more about this journey.
CityU is an international university that emphasises the integration of teaching and research. As president of CityU, Kuo is particularly interested in the shared challenges and opportunities facing education leaders around the world, and the Beyond Boundaries series sets out to explore these themes.
In his discussion with Tan, Kuo commented on the rapid success of NUS, which, “even when compared with older universities, ranks extremely well”.
Tan attributed some of this success to the “strong support” the university received from Singapore’s government, which has sought to elevate its higher education sector to world-class status through funding and recruitment of international talent.
“Singapore is a small country. We have a population of 5.5 million. We have no resources except human capital and that’s why education is seen to be very important and the government invests heavily in training and skilling our people,” Tan explained.
Until the late 1980s, NUS was solely a teaching university, but a government push to boost innovation led the institution to “start putting a lot of emphasis on research”, Tan said. To this end, NUS adopted a tenure system similar to that used by US institutions.
Recruiting top international talent is an important part of NUS’ continued success, and the university takes a proactive approach to hiring. “But bringing a person here is just half of the story,” said Tan. “How do you actually provide the environment for academics to succeed?”
Providing quality resources and a “system of mentorship”, particularly for junior faculty, are important aspects of NUS culture, Tan added.
“The fact that you are willing to take a risk, you set up the goal and go for it, and you are very proactive – that's also part of the American way,” Kuo said. “You have been very humble in [saying you have] benefited from the government, but I am sure the government benefits a lot from you.”
Each year, NUS produces 12,000 graduates across all course levels. By this measure alone, Tan agreed that the university “has a very deep imprint on the Singapore brand”.
More than 3,800 NUS students have gone through the university’s international start-up incubation programme, generating 850 companies with $1.2 billion in funding.
Despite this success, “most of the time, start-ups fail”, Tan said, which was an important lesson. “The key is to tell our students that it’s OK to fail, but [to] fail fast, pick yourself up and move forward.”
Kuo said that Singapore “has done so much [for] this university” but that the university has “fed back” this success to the country. “A win-win,” he concluded.
Find out more about CityU’s Beyond Boundaries series.
