1st ISSUE,November 2003 - Nanyang Technological University

its economy because science and
technology are not mutually exclusive;
they are symbiotic as both are threads
in the fabric of the Singapore economy.
If some threads unravel, the overall
tapestry of the economy will be less rich
and vibrant.
Singapore will certainly benefit from an
increased local postgraduate student
population which will not only provide a
good cohesive environment and also in
future, upon graduation, these local
postgraduate will supply Singapore’s
need for a highly skilled workforce
capable of creating new knowledge.
These new knowledge can only be
created if we have a strong fundamental
science research culture.
As Richard Feynman has once criticized
that the education of science is just
revisiting the history of science and is
not actually science. Science as we all
know, is a not a subject but the study of
our universe. Stating what you have
read in a book is not science, it is
learning about someone else’s work. In
most scientific research, scientists
propose their theoretical and
experimental work by proxy of
mathematics and physical explanations.
Therefore, we can say that Science is a
way of questioning and understanding
the world around us through
experiments and theories using tools
like mathematics and systematic
observation. Education about the history
of science is essential for any
researcher, because knowing and
understanding what others have done
before will provide a foundation upon
which further investigation is launched.
But being a great student with
exceptional examination results does
not automatically qualify one to be a
good researcher.
At the tertiary level of education,
undergraduates and postgraduates
are not well informed as to what
research is about and how it fits into the
big picture. The tertiary education
managements are just interested to see
is how each individual research projects
can be changed into a feasible
technology to market. Most of the
engineering research projects in
Singapore are based on applied
research, where a particular idea is
developed to a point where it is
commercially viable. Fundamental
research, on the other hand, is research
into the basic principles of the laws of
physics that exist around us.
Breakthroughs are difficult but when
there is success, the impact on the
scientific community and the
implications of the research will far
outweigh what applied research can
produce. This fundamental scientific
research has been neglected as it does
not produce commercial products at the
end of the day and it is also high risk,
meaning that it is possible not to find
anything of significance upon conclusion
of the research. As a result, many
tertiary and research institutions do not
focus on gaining future technology
through fundamental research but focus
on applied research instead.
The main reason for the lack of
undertaking in fundamental research is
the risk adverse culture in Singapore,
referred to as the bureaucratic culture,
which still resides strongly in the tertiary
institutions and GLCs. As a result, many
project leaders will only want to see high
gains that are both short term with low
risk.
As researchers, we feel that there is an
increasing need to reduce bureaucratic
culture in tertiary institutions and GLCs
so that the emphasis on research can
be more balanced. One way to stimulate
the research culture is to attract more
local researchers who are more willing
to contribute back to the local economy.
The local researchers are the
O-SING Issue 1 Page 8 of 9 December 4, 2003
Disclaimer: O-SING is published by the Student Chapter OSA(NTU), School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University. Block S1, Nanyang
Avenue, Singapore 639798. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the University.
Copyright c 2003 Student Chapter OSA(NTU), All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced without written permission.