Commentary On Singapore, Volume 2: Economy, Environment And Population

Book excerpt: Thought-leaders contributing to this volume include Piyush Gupta, Laurence Liew, Lee Tzu Yang, Geh Min, and more!This volume comprises essays by Singapore thought-leaders republished from various issues of the annual journal of the National University of Singapore Society called Commentary.The chapters have been curated to provide historical review of Singapore's journey in economic, ecological and social development. Centred around the theme of sustainability, together, they provide a rich account of how the issues of environmental management and human resource development were pursued in tandem with strategic industrial policy from the early days of independence.They also convey how the current plans to take the country into the age of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 of digitisation and artificial intelligence, to continue to be the hub of hubs in the new economy, cannot and must not be at the expense of ecological health and a strong sense of stakeholdership among Singaporeans. The issues about immigration in the face of demographic decline, the choices in the sources of energy to power the economy in a carbon-constrained world, and the competition that a small state must continue to respond to as new growth sectors reshape the global economy are tackled by the eminent thought-leaders who contributed the chapters.While this is not new material, the reader will be surprised by how the debates about the policy choices and the expressions regarding what is important for Singapore and Singaporeans to achieve true and enduring national wealth remain fresh in this highly accessible edited book.