KnowledgeEnterprise - NewsHub - National University of Singapore

Knowledge Enterprise
Nov/Dec 2012
6
60 years of social
work education
8
NUS President receives
Dr John Yu Medal
12
Big leap up the
rankings table
“Whether a
campus tsunami
comes or not,
we will place ourselves strategically for the future.”

Strategic moves
anticipating the times
More than 250 guests, including
NUS Pro-Chancellors, Board of
Trustees, senior administrators,
staff and students, were present
at SOUA 2012
Experiential learning
Prof Tan also underscored the importance
of other educational approaches, particularly
experiential learning through face-to-face
interaction and teamwork.
Noting the scale and complexity of the
problems faced by Asia and the world today,
he recognised that advances in science and
technology, though crucial, will not suffice
in addressing them. “Effective approaches
and solutions to these will also require a
much better understanding of the human
behaviour and changing societal and global
contexts that shape and drive them,” he said.
Advocating a balanced and holistic approach,
Prof Tan affirmed the University’s efforts in
broadening its research expertise and building
new peaks in the strategic areas of social
sciences and humanities research.
Insights from watching the whales
Human behaviour and social norms are vital
aspects to consider when dealing with the
multifaceted modern day issues, he said.
Prof Tan related some personal anecdotes
about human behaviour and experiential
learning that he derived from his whalewatching
experience in August together with
his wife Evelyn, after 10 days on a boat in Tonga.
Prof Tan relating his experience
of the advanced technology he
found in a remote horse-trader’s
house in Bhutan
From past observation, he had formed the
impression that whales were majestic but
fairly predictable creatures, but this trip made
him realise that whales had a wide variety of
behaviour which are often unexpected.
Ms Denise Wong, Dr Lim Hwee Leng, Mrs Gn Soon Lay
and Mr Ravi Chandran enjoying Prof Tan’s stories
and insights
“NUS is a very large organisation speeding along a rapid
trajectory. We are not a whale – but we can and must,
like the example of the super big whale, be nimble and
agile. We must be able to make strategic adjustments
despite the speed and intensity of our path of travel.”
– Prof Tan
“Of whales and the campus tsunami” was
the intriguing title of NUS President Professor
Tan Chorh Chuan’s State of the University
Address (SOUA) on 12 October this year.
Using vivid imagery, he provided fresh insights
on the IT revolution and the need to scale
up technology-enhanced learning at NUS.
Digital tsunami
Prof Tan pointed out that while most
universities employ IT in innovative ways
to enhance learning in the classroom, they
largely give it a supportive or supplementary
role. “This year, however, there was quite a
buzz with many educators and the media
alike talking about a new campus tsunami –
a digital tsunami,” he said.
With examples of recent initiatives such
as the Harvard and MIT US$60-million
(S$73.3 million) joint effort to develop
free online courses, Prof Tan elaborated on
this new situation. He also cited an article
from The New York Times which said that
online activity is now at the core of how
the elite, pace-setting schools envision
their futures; and what has happened
to the newspaper and magazine business
is about to affect higher education:
a re-scrambling around the Web.
When thinking about IT and the University’s
educational approaches and desired learning
outcomes, Prof Tan felt that NUS must take
into account three big shifts:
• Increasing commoditisation of information
• Changing students, who have grown
up immersed and supported by IT and
other technologies
• An increasingly complex world
These shifts, he thought, imply that NUS must
place even greater emphasis on the training
of critical minds which can make sense of
massive data, think and communicate clearly,
and remain curious and imaginative.
Technology-enhanced learning
NUS has invested heavily in learning
technologies and expertise over the past
decade, and its schools have also developed
innovative new pedagogies involving IT. Besides
continuing and expanding on those efforts,
Prof Tan said that the University will redesign
key classes to promote more active learning by
integrating online programmes with changes
to face-to-face learning in the classroom.
To drive this effort, Prof Tan announced that
he will create a new S$5 million “Learning
Innovation Fund - Technology” (LIF-T) which
will support three broad thrusts:
• An annual call for proposals from all
NUS schools
• Targeted redesign of courses with large
class sizes
• NUS start-ups with novel educational products
He considered the move to integrate
technology-enhanced learning into a
significant proportion of the University’s
courses as a big step forward to help students
develop critical minds that will contribute to
Singapore’s advancement as a knowledgebased
economy and society.
Expecting the typical surface-blow-dive
behaviour, he was surprised to witness
the whales slapping their fins, the Captions mother xxxxxx
whales pushing their babies through xxxxxxxxxxxxxx the
water with their noses, and a young whale
doing the backstroke!
Comparing humpback whales with humans,
he noted that humans have a much wider and
more diverse range of behaviour; and unlike
humpback whales, human behaviour had a
far greater impact on the state of the world
we live in.
He was also awed by the incredible energy
and dynamism of the Tonga whales. Drawing
inspiration from his close-at-hand experience
of them, Prof Tan said that similarly, “NUS is
a very large organisation speeding along a
rapid trajectory. We are not a whale – but
we can and must, like the example of the
super big whale, be nimble and agile. We
must be able to make strategic adjustments
despite the speed and intensity of our path
of travel.”
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Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 3

Translating public health
research into practice
(From left) Prof Chia, Dr Khor and Dr Eugene Shum, Chairman of the Chapter of
Public Health and Occupational Physicians, taking part in the Bukit Panjang Primary
School Festive Drum Group’s performance during the opening ceremony
The way academic institutions approach
research critically influences the speed of
translation of research into practice. Dean
of NUS’ Saw Swee Hock School of Public
Health (SSHSPH) Professor Chia Kee Seng
said this in his welcome address at the
1st Singapore International Public Health
Conference from 1 to 2 October.
Prof Chia noted: “We need to find ways to
compress the interval between discovery and
its translation into programmes and policies.”
He identified integration – in this case,
between medical and non-medical disciplines
and within disciplines – as a keystone to
“Implementation Science”, which examines
the process and improvement of translation.
SSHSPH has sought to foster such integration
in various ways. One way, Prof Chia highlighted,
is through structuring the school as a matrix
with broad disciplinary domains like Epidemiology,
Biostatics, Health Education and Promotion,
and Health Systems and Policy, rather than
having traditional departments.
Another way is through ongoing
development of the Population Health
Metrics and Analytics (PHMA), an integrative
modelling and simulation capability that can
take into account multiple factors and their
interactions, to generate various scenarios
and forecasts of population health.
Singapore Minister-of-State for Health and
Manpower, Dr Amy Khor, the Guest-of-Honour
at the conference, raised the Singapore
Population Health Studies under the PHMA
project as an example of the kind of approach
needed – an academic endeavour that explicitly
envisions and works towards real-world
application of research done. She found it
to be one example of a population or cohort
study initiative that seeks to understand the
health risks and health-seeking behaviour
of the Singapore population.
Dr Khor also commended the SSHSPH
for its translational public health research in
collaboration with renowned international
and local medical professionals, clinicians and
academic researchers. She said the Ministry
of Health (MOH) “will work collaboratively
with the School to build and develop
research capability to support Singapore’s
public health policymaking; strengthen our
infectious diseases capability for outbreak
prevention and management; mitigate
the impact of chronic non-communicable
diseases on our society and economy;
and develop the School as a key hub for
training public health leaders in Asia.”
At the conference, Dr Khor also announced
the establishment of a new Communicable
Diseases-Public Health Research Grant by MOH,
which amounts to S$15 million over five years.
The 1st Singapore International Public
Health Conference was jointly organised by
SSHSPH and the Chapter of Public Health and
Occupational Physicians, Academy of Medicine,
Singapore. More than 500 international and
local delegates from government agencies,
educational and research institutions, as well
as industry were in attendance.
Other conference highlights
• Over 60 healthcare experts from Asia,
Australia, Europe, the UK and US offered
a total of 24 sessions addressing diverse
issues such as obesity prevention, occupational
medicine, new healthcare models,
measurement of the quality of health care,
and population-based approaches to
tackling non-communicable disease.
• SSHSPH announced the launch of the
Demographic Epidemiological Model of
Singapore (DEMOS), a critical component
of its PHMA platform. DEMOS is a
simulation model that forecasts the
impact of public health interventions
on the future burden of diseases.
As a pilot, the School forecasted the
burden of diabetes in Singapore, taking
into account obesity trends and genetic
risk profiles. One startling result from this
study was the prediction that by 2050,
one in two adults will suffer from Type 2
diabetes by 70 years of age. Projections
like this would serve as a good starting
point to evaluate the potential impact of
public health interventions such as obesity
reduction programmes on the prevalence
of diabetes in Singapore.
• SSHSPH signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with Singapore’s Health
Sciences Authority, with the aim of
encouraging knowledge exchange, enhancing
academic and professional competencies,
and developing scientific leadership in
public health. Areas of cooperation
include joint research projects as well
as attachment and study programmes.
Improving building health and safety
Revisiting university museums’ roles and approaches
The International Council for Research
and Innovation in Building and Construction
(CIB) W099 International Conference was
held in Asia for the first time from 10 to
11 September this year. Hosted by the NUS
Department of Building, this conference on
“Modelling and building health and safety”
saw some 150 attendees from 15 countries.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for
Education and Manpower Mr Hawazi
Daipi graced the opening as Guest-of-
Honour. In his welcome address, he
highlighted three areas that the local
government, industry players and other
stakeholders need to focus their energies
on, in order to achieve sustainable
improvements in construction safety.
They are, namely, educating the people,
improving the work process and
encouraging ownership.
Mr Hawazi said that safety education
must be imbued into the tertiary institution,
where students go through a key formative
period before they join the workforce.
He also mentioned that researchers should
examine ways to integrate safety into new
technology such that greater productivity
can be achieved while ensuring workplace
safety. Exemplifying this point, he cited
a recent NUS invention developed by
Associate Professor Evelyn Teo Ai Lin.
Assoc Prof Teo’s electronic quick Bills of
Quantities (eqBQ) software programme
which employs Quantity Surveying
Building Information Modelling (QSBIM)
brings efficiency and productivity to
quantity takeoff process, ensuring
accuracy of estimates, facilitating
information sharing and enhancing
project cost control management.
Her invention was demonstrated
at the Department of Building’s
exhibition booth, where other NUS
collaborative research projects on
building safety were also displayed.
Besides exhibitions, the conference
highlights included a Singapore
Construction Safety Summit and
an international BIM and
Safety Competition.
More than 100 delegates from 20 countries
in the Asia Pacific, Europe and South America
participated in the 12th Annual University
Museums and Collections Conference from
10 to 12 October. This conference, which
convened for the first time in Southeast Asia,
was hosted by NUS Museum in partnership
with the University Museums and Collections
International Council (UMAC).
Delivering the opening speech as Guest-of-
Honour, NUS President Professor Tan Chorh
Chuan said: “Through their acts of preservation,
research and curation, museums offer
opportunities not only for transmitting
the wisdom of the past, but also for
transmuting that richness of knowledge
into new and exciting applications. Indeed,
as the world around us becomes more
complex and interconnected, individuals
and societies who recognise and value
diversity and complexity will enjoy an
intrinsic advantage in capitalising on
opportunities and developments that result.”
Keynote speaker Professor Apinan
Poshyananda, Deputy Permanent Secretary
from Thailand’s Ministry of Culture, also
shared his insights as academic, contemporary
art curator and cultural diplomat. He spoke on
the university museum landscape in Thailand
and the workings of the museum world.
A total of 35 paper and six poster
presentations, which covered themes such
as museum practices, strategies and identity
issues, were made at the conference. In
addition to opportunities for dialogue
and sharing of insights, the conference
programme also included heritage walking
tours in Telok Ayer, Little India, NUS Baba
House and Fort Canning, where the
participating delegates were introduced
to their history and culture by local guides.
Delegates visiting NUS Museum’s Baba House, which
was once the ancestral home of a Straits Chinese family
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Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 5

Through the years …
meeting needs in Singapore and beyond
“We have to get people
inspired to deal with
emerging problems of
our society and be partners
in our endeavour to work
together with our community
at large in addressing them.
The more helping hands
we have, the better.”
– Mr Nathan
60 years
of social work education
Singapore was a very different place in 1952
when NUS set up a Department of Social
Work. A Third World country in the aftermath
of World War II then, it faced many social
problems due to poverty and civil unrest.
The launch of a two-year Diploma in Social
Studies with the establishment of the new
Department was thus a significant step
forward in addressing the pressing need for
trained social work professionals within the
local community.
Sixty years on, the Department’s commitment
to its founding vision of service to Singapore
and society stays true, said NUS President
Professor Tan Chorh Chuan at the University’s
Social Work 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner
held in September. He noted that this focus
holds, in spite of the Department’s steady
broadening of its programmes over the years,
moving beyond remedial perspectives to
offer a more proactive and developmental
dimension to its training and research.
The unchanging mandate of social work in
promoting human well-being and progress
and its necessary evolvement in view of
changing times and needs were also touched
on by former Singapore President and
Guest-of-Honour at the Dinner, Mr S R Nathan.
Mr Nathan cited new social problems posed
by emerging demographic and economic
circumstances and the challenges they present
for social work education and research. The
challenges include raising public consciousness
of the problems; engaging volunteers and
partners from other disciplines, professions
and community groups; and helping students
grow in emotional maturity as they deal with
complex human problems.
Being among the pioneer batch of NUS
social work graduates, Mr Nathan himself
was once a social worker looking after the
welfare of seamen. Recognising his passion
in social work education and outstanding
contributions to society, NUS officially
launched an S R Nathan Professorship
in Social Work at the anniversary dinner.
The Professorship will enable NUS to bring
in renowned academic leaders for the
furtherance of social work education
and research in Singapore and Asia.
As part of its anniversary celebrations, the
Department also organised a symposium and
released a commemorative book tracing the
evolution of social work education at NUS
and in Singapore over the last 60 years.
10 years
of tropical marine science research
When NUS’ Tropical Marine Science Institute
(TMSI) was established in 1996, its staff
operated out of a bungalow, a former
residence of the University’s Vice-Chancellor,
at the farthest end of the Hog’s Back (now
Kent Ridge Road). They made the living room
their administrative office and used the garage
as well for office and later, laboratory space.
For a marine science research facility, such
a land-locked location was, of course, not
ideal despite the sea view it afforded and
the camaraderie encouraged by the homely
setting. Eventually, NUS approached the
then Singapore Tourist Promotion Board
(STPB) with their request to locate the
TMSI research facility at the Southern Islands.
Mrs Pamelia Lee, Head of STPB’s Southern
Islands Development at that time, proposed
St John’s Island for the relocation and
provided invaluable assistance to TMSI
in the approval process. The project’s
progress was, however, hampered
by many difficulties in the late 1990s.
Beating the odds, TMSI’s marine laboratory
on St John’s Island finally opened in 2002.
A decade later, the laboratory celebrated
its 10th anniversary with an Open Day on
30 September, attended by over 450 guests.
8 years
of public policy studies
Eight years may be a short time for the
history of a school, but there is much
to commemorate.
(From left) Prof Lim,
Prof Lui and TMSI
Director Prof Peter Ng
admiring the giant
clams at the St John’s
Island marine laboratory
Among the distinguished guests who graced
the event were TMSI’s founding Chairman
Professor Lui Pao Chuen; current Board
Chairman Professor Lim Pin; other Board
Members; research collaborators; and leading
international marine biologists, Professor
Michael G Hadfield from the University
of Hawaii at Manoa and Professor Peter
Steinberg from the Sydney Institute of Marine
Science, who delivered keynote lectures.
Authors of the research articles in a
commemorative book published by TMSI
for the event also gave presentations during
Open Day; and staff and students put up
interactive displays of their research. The
visitors were most thrilled to see live marine
Mr Chan (left) and Prof Mahbubani
at the LKY School 8th Anniversary
Public Lecture dialogue session
creatures such as giant clams, jellyfishes,
anemones and sea stars at TMSI’s state-ofthe-art
seawater aquaria and laboratories.
With some 50 regular staff working now
on the island, the marine laboratory has
significantly expanded its repertoire of research
and outreach activities over the years. It has
hosted renowned marine biologists, served
as a venue for various training workshops,
and seen many local and international
students conducting their research there.
Besides its St John’s Island marine
laboratory, part of TMSI’s wide spectrum
of research work is also carried out in
laboratories on NUS’ Kent Ridge Campus.
At the anniversary dinner cake-cutting ceremony were (from left)
Prof Tan, NUS Chairman Mr Wong Ngit Liong, Mr Nathan, Associate
Professorial Fellow at the Social Work Department Mrs Ann Wee,
Department Head Dr Rosaleen Ow, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts
and Social Sciences Prof Brenda Yeoh
At the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public
Policy (LKY School) 8th anniversary celebratory
event in September, Dean Professor Kishore
Mahbubani highlighted that since its inception
in 2004, the School has seen tremendous
growth. It started with two Masters programmes
and 40 students from a handful of countries,
but now offers a PhD and four Masters
programmes to over 320 students from
50 countries, making it one of the most
diverse schools of public policy in the world.
Prof Mahbubani noted that the School has
made significant progress in building a solid
intellectual infrastructure characterised by
elements such as strong and dedicated
faculty, relevant and innovative curriculum,
and a globally diverse and vibrant student
body. In addition, the School’s international
partnerships and network are also steadily
expanding; and it has emerged as the third
best-endowed public policy school in the world,
after Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson
School of Public and International Affairs and
Harvard University’s Harvard Kennedy School.
The LKY School celebrated its anniversary
this year with a public lecture on negotiating
tensions and dilemmas in social policymaking,
delivered by Guest Speaker Mr Chan Chun
Sing, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Social
and Family Development and Minister of
State for Communications and Information.
On that occasion, the School also launched
a commemorative book written by Prof
Mahbubani and four other faculty members,
which carries their reflections on its journey
towards becoming a leading global institution.
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Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 7

GLObal highlights
Photo: The George Institute for Global Health
Tan Chorh Chuan shares insights on …
Shaping Asia’s
health & wealth in
the 21st century
NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan was
awarded the first Dr John Yu Medal by The
George Institute for Global Health in Sydney,
Australia. He received the Medal from Governor
of New South Wales (NSW) Her Excellency
Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO and Dr John Yu
AC at a ceremony held in the NSW State Library
on 30 October. On this occasion, he also
delivered the inaugural John Yu Oration before
over 100 guests from the academic, business
and government sectors across Asia Pacific.
Prof Tan deemed it a special privilege
to make this presentation in honour
(From left) H E Prof Bashir with
Prof Tan (holding the medal) and
Dr Yu at the NSW State Library
of Dr Yu, a respected paediatrician
who has made numerous remarkable
contributions to health care, not only in
Australia but in many parts of the world,
including Singapore.
A former Chairman of The George Institute,
Dr Yu had also served as Chief Executive
of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead,
Australia; a staff physician at the Royal
Alexandra Hospital for Children; Chancellor
of the University of New South Wales; and
Deputy Chancellor of the University of
Western Sydney.
Extracts from Prof Tan’s John Yu Oration
Healthcare challenges
Asia is remarkably heterogeneous.
The countries of Asia encompass
many political systems; they are at very
different stages of development; their
health status and priorities are different.”
“There is not going to be a ‘one-size-fitsall’
set of approaches or solutions for the
challenges of Asia. We have to tailor them
to meet specific needs and priorities.”
“Asia is also in the midst of a truly
massive and accelerated change. This
change is extremely complex because
health, social and economic development
interact in very complex ways.”
“The interaction of all these different
factors [such as urbanisation, rapid social
changes, widening income gap, pollution
and occupational diseases] result in a
number of very significant transitions –
transitions which are demographic,
nutritional and epidemiological,
and also healthcare and health
system transitions.”
Leapfrogging opportunities
“As rapidly emerging Asian countries
grow economically, how should they
best invest the additional resources
into health”
“The first suggestion I have is for
Asia to give very high priority to health
promotion and disease prevention. One
of the most important areas that we
have to focus on when we want to
have promotion of health and disease
prevention is human behaviour, because
human behavior underlies the majority
of these diseases.”
“We should pilot new delivery models
and particularly ones that focus on human
capital innovation and technology – how
to look after more patients effectively
but using a smaller number of highly
specialised staff.”
“I want to particularly stress the
importance of research which is relevant
to Asia. There are interesting data to
suggest that in several important diseases,
the cause of the disease, the response
to treatment differ in Asian populations
as compared with Caucasian populations.
So you cannot just take studies
done with Caucasians and
extrapolate them to Asians.
The future of education
This year’s World Economic Forum
Annual Meeting of the New Champions,
widely known as the Summer Davos,
took place in Tianjin, China, from 11 to
13 September. Professor Tan Chorh Chuan
and a few NUS faculty members were
among some 2,000 delegates from 86
countries in attendance at this foremost
global business and political gathering of
Asia, graced by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Prof Tan was one of the panellists at
the session on “The future of education”,
together with Mr Gordon Brown,
former Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom and United Nations Special Envoy
for Global Education; Professor Mark Kamlet,
Provost and Executive Vice President
at the Carnegie Mellon University,
US; Mr Shantanu Prakash, Chairman
and Managing Director of Educomp
Solutions, India; and Dr Tang Qian,
Assistant Director-General for Education
at the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Paris.
Prof Tan also introduced a session on
“Scaling health innovations with the
National University of Singapore”, where
four NUS experts in various fields shared
the University’s latest research into health
models for Asian populations (focusing
particularly on cancer, schizophrenia and
ageing) and new models of healthcare
delivery. The four presenters were Associate
Professors Yeoh Khay Guan, Angelique Chan
and Chong Siow Ann, and Provost’s Chair
Professor Lian Yong.
Panellists in discussion: (from left)
Dr Tang, Prof Kamlet and Prof Tan
Extracts from Prof Tan’s sharing during the Annual Meeting
Interdisciplinary learning will
increasingly become the norm for
education in the future, and there
are two main reasons for this. The first is that
all of us are facing more and more complex
issues all the time, and almost all of these issues
will naturally cross many disciplines. ... At the
same time, people are going to do more and
more jobs during the lifetime of their careers,
and these jobs may be in very different sectors.”
“Of course, one way [to promote
interdisciplinary learning] is to have many
more courses where many professors from
different disciplines teach in the same course.
But there are other more powerful methods.”
“Problem-based learning can be a very
powerful way to stimulate interest in
(From left) H E Shuvalov, ASTC
Director Assoc Prof Davide
Lomanto and Prof Tan during
the laboratory tour
Russia’s First Deputy
Prime Minister visits
subjects and also to naturally lead people
to think across disciplines.”
“[Another approach is] to try to maximise
the mix of disciplines among students
in a classroom and specifically design
courses that make use of this diversity
in order for students to learn from each
other across disciplines.”
“Online or technology-based learning can
be a very powerful adjunct supplement
to these types of approaches … I think
it is going to be the combination of online
education, technology-enhanced education
together with new modes of learning
in the classroom that will allow
us to train up this critical thinking
and cross-disciplinary knowledge.
His Excellency Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister
of the Russian Federation, and his delegation were given a
warm welcome by NUS and the National University Health
System (NUHS) on 24 September. NUS President and NUHS
Chairman Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, together with
Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, NUHS Chief Executive
and NUS Senior Vice President (Health Affairs), gave the
guests an overview of the University and NUHS; and
accompanied them on a guided tour of the Advanced
Surgery Training Centre (ASTC), the Coronary Care Unit
and the National University Heart Centre, Singapore.
Photo: World Economic Forum
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Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 9

Research
First comprehensive
online collection
of A R Wallace’s writings and illustrations
Two illustrations in Wallace Online
showing new species Wallace discovered:
the Bornean Bay Cat and Standard-wing
(bird of paradise)
Dr van Wyhe
“Wallace is an amazing example of somebody who had no
privilege, no wealth, no connections – and who went out on
his own to make his own way in the world; and he discovered
so many amazing things, not just evolution. That’s why for so
many people, he remains such an inspiring figure.”
– Dr van Wyhe
The great naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace,
though not as famous as his contemporary
Charles Darwin, was no less outstanding.
Wallace discovered evolution by natural
selection around the same time as Darwin,
but independently of the latter, more than
150 years ago. In spite of the importance of
Wallace’s works to science and natural
history, his complete publications have never
been compiled until now. The launch of the
Wallace Online website (wallace-online.org)
this September, almost 100 years after
Wallace’s death in 1913, was therefore a
momentous development.
Funded by an anonymous grant from an
American donor, this world’s first comprehensive
collection of Wallace’s works offers 29,000
pages of searchable historical documents and
26,000 images. Dr John van Wyhe, Senior
Lecturer at the NUS Departments of Biological
Sciences and History, directed the project and
took three years to compile this wealth of
information. He also founded the awardwinning
Darwin Online website at the
University of Cambridge, UK.
On the Wallace project, Dr van Wyhe said:
“It’s appropriate that we’ve done Wallace
Online from NUS because Wallace was a
pioneering figure in the study of this part of
the world.” For the first time, Wallace’s writings
about Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
and hundreds of illustrations of his extensive
specimen collection could be accessed freely
by anyone interested in his works.
Wallace spent eight years (1854-1862)
in the Malay Archipelago, using Singapore
as a base. Over this period, he amassed
an impressive collection of 125,000
specimens of insects, birds and mammals;
and also made several major discoveries,
including the well-known Wallace’s Line
between the Asian and Australian animal
types in the region.
Effective method
to curb and cure chikungunya
A team of researchers from the NUS
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine discovered
an effective way to treat chikungungya, a
mosquito-borne disease with no known cure
or vaccine. Their findings were published in
the scientific journal PLOS ONE in October.
The team had sought to inhibit replication
of the chikungungya virus (CHIKV) using a
gene-silencing approach, known as “small
hairpin RNA” (shRNA), against two specific
CHIKV genes. Their tests on human cells and
animals demonstrated the method’s efficacy
and potential as an antiviral treatment as well
as a preventive measure. It destroyed the
virus within three days and protected the
cells for up to 15 days, as lead researcher
Ms Shirley Lam reported. For her work in
this study, Ms Lam won the Singapore
Efficient system
for speedier voice recovery
Patients who have lost their voice box due
to diseases such as throat cancer normally
have to endure a two-week recovery period
after a procedure to create a small opening
at the throat. But with a new one-step
system developed through an Engineeringin-Medicine
project, they need just 10
minutes before they could speak again!
Explaining how they achieved this, Assistant
Professor Chui Chee Kong from NUS’
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
who co-led the project with Ear, Nose &
Throat Specialist Dr David Lau from Raffles
Hospital, said: “We have merged all the
steps into a single procedure.”
Currently, there are many tricky steps involved
in fitting a voice prosthesis into an opening
Young Scientist Award at the Singapore
Health and Biomedical Congress 2012.
Principal Investigator Assistant Professor
Justin Chu said that the shRNA, which
stops the gene from expressing itself by
switching it off, is becoming an increasingly
important field of medical technology.
Though it has attracted much interest
in cancer therapy, this technique has
hardly been used in antiviral procedures
in Singapore.
Moving forward, the team plans to further
improve the efficacy of this method as
an antiviral strategy and its safety profile
for delivery into human cells. It hopes
to begin clinical trials once adequate
funding has been obtained for the study.
The CHIKV is a re-emerging alphavirus which has caused major outbreaks in Kenya,
India and islands in the Indian Ocean from 2004 to 2007. It has also spread extensively
over the last 50 years from Africa to countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore, raising concern on its adaptability to new mosquito vectors and the
risk of a CHIKV world pandemic.
or fistula between the trachea (windpipe)
and oesophagus (food pipe). The doctor
has to make a small puncture in the wall
between the trachea and oesophagus, insert
a guide-wire into the fistula during the
puncture, put in two “dilators” to widen the
fistula, place a temporary rubber tube into it,
and finally wait two weeks for the fistula to
“mature” before inserting the voice prosthesis.
But the new system, Dr Chui said, ensures an
immediate snug fit of the prosthesis in the
passageway created between the trachea
and the oesophagus, although doctors still
need the nasal endoscope to guide and
monitor progress during the procedure.
Until now, good sizing of the prosthesis is
usually achieved only after some trial and
Dr Chu (middle, holding an X-ray film of the chikungunya virus
protein expression profile) with Ms Lam (right) and laboratory
executive Mr Chen Huixin
error. The lengths of the prosthesis and the
puncture have to be exact, as a prosthesis that
does not fit well may be rendered ineffective,
or leak and cause discomfort. Furthermore,
should the prosthesis need to be removed and
fitted again, the discomfort will be exacerbated.
Tackling this problem, the team added
markings onto the cannula used for inserting
the prosthesis. From the endoscopy, they
could find out the distance between the
anterior oesophageal wall (front wall of the
food pipe) and the posterior tracheal wall
(back wall of the windpipe), which allows
them to size the prosthesis appropriately.
Dr Lau said that their system has several
advantages over existing methods as it
not only reduces the number of steps and
complexity, but also increases accuracy
of placement and safety, and allows for
immediate voicing. Time, discomfort
and cost could all be reduced with the
improved and simplified procedure.
The system has been successfully tested on
animals, and is now ready for clinical trial.
Photo: Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
10
Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 11

Accolades
Big leap
up the rankings table
Bukit Timah
Campus
wins built heritage award
NUS has advanced more than 10 places up the
Times Higher Education (THE) World University
Rankings – from 40th spot last year to 29th in
the latest 2012-2013 rankings released in October.
The University scored much higher this year in the
areas of teaching, research and industry income.
It also made the Top 50 list for all six subject areas
ranked – 39th position for Physical Sciences; 43rd
for Arts and Humanities; 33rd for Life Sciences,
39th for Social Sciences; 12th for Engineering
and Technology; and 37th for Clinical, Pre-clinical
and Health.
Acknowledging the University’s marked
improvements, NUS President Professor Tan
Chorh Chuan noted: “In the past few years,
we have focused on educational innovation and
strategic initiatives to further raise the quality of
our faculty, and enhance the impact of our research
and service. Through these, NUS has made strong
progress towards becoming a global university
centred in Asia and grown in international
reputation and standing.”
NUS also fared well in the 2012/2013 Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS) World University Rankings released
in September, being listed within the top 25 best
universities globally. The QS and THE university
rankings are among the most watched and widely
recognised university rankings in the world.
First built in 1928, the Bukit Timah Campus (BTC) was home
to NUS’ predecessor institutions, Raffles College (1928-1949),
University of Malaya (1949-1962) and University of Singapore
(1962-1981). Subsequently, the site was used by the National
Institute of Education and Singapore Management University,
and officially returned to NUS in 2005, sparking off renovation
and conservation efforts which included preserving the nostalgic
feel of the old campus.
Today, BTC is a beautifully restored campus which “continues to
inspire its present-day students and enhance the memories of many
past cohorts of students who have walked its grounds and graduated
from it”, said Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower and
Senior Minister of State for National Development. He was speaking
at the Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Awards
2012 presentation ceremony held at BTC in October.
BTC was one of the five winners of the Heritage Awards this year.
The campus’ revival was remarkable in terms of adherence to quality
restoration principles such as maximum retention, sensitive restoration
and careful repair. Its six buildings gazetted as national monuments
– the Oei Tiong Ham, Manasseh Meyer, Federal and Eu Tong Sen
Blocks, Block A and the Library Block – were artfully conserved to
retain much of their core elements, details and aesthetics, while
being refurbished as modern education facilities.
Currently situated at BTC are NUS’ Faculty of Law and Lee Kuan Yew
School of Public Policy as well as several research institutes – the Asia
Research Institute, East Asian Institute, Middle East Institute and
Institute of South Asian Studies.
(From top) The Oei Tiong Ham, Manasseh Meyer and Eu Tong Sen buildings which were
beautifully restored
NUS’ Executive MBAs well-placed in Financial Times’ ranking
NUS Business School’s two Executive
Master of Business Administration (EMBA)
programmes were named among the top
30 in the latest Financial Times’ (FT) EMBA
Ranking 2012. The University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) - NUS Executive MBA
clinched the 5th position, while the Asia Pacific
Executive (APEX) MBA took the 26th spot.
Compared to last year, the UCLA-NUS
EMBA programme outdid itself across
most indicators, including post-graduation
salary increase (from 70 to 77 per cent) and
international faculty strength (from 70 to 75
per cent). The programme was also ranked
5th for international course experience,
attesting to its rich global learning and
networking opportunities. As for the APEX
MBA, which offers programmes taught
separately in English and Chinese with
modules conducted in some 10 countries,
the FT EMBA survey showed that its
graduates are also fetching higher salaries.
NUS is the only Singapore university which
made the FT EMBA list, as well as another
esteemed ranking chart – The Princeton
Review’s list of Best Business Schools
(International) for MBA programmes.
In the latest Princeton Review annual
guidebook The Best 296 Business Schools:
2013 Edition, the NUS MBA programme
emerged among the top 20 in the non-US
business schools list.
Dean and Stephen Riady Distinguished
Professor Bernard Yeung noted the
School’s consistent performance across
various international benchmarks. He
added: “We will continue our efforts to
enhance our teaching with innovative
programmes while developing our research
output and industry relationships, so as to
help our students succeed in the business
world of today and tomorrow.”
NUS takes top two spots in inaugural case competition
(From left) Nguyen Ngoc Minh,
Le The Huy, Ky Anh Phuong and
Vu Duy Anh from the winning team
Students from the NUS Business School beat teams from the Nanyang
Technological University and Singapore Management University to clinch
the top two places at the inaugural NUS-DBS (Development Bank of
Singapore) Case Competition for local undergraduates held in September.
Some 200 students in teams of four participated in the event. Each team
had to formulate and present a strategic business plan for a specific
start-up firm facing limited resources and uncertain market potential.
Winning team member Ky Anh Phuong said: “The NUS-DBS Business
Case Competition was a great channel for us to apply our business
knowledge to solve real-world problems.” He said his team learnt a
great deal in the process, especially from the judges’ valuable feedback.
The teams were evaluated based on criteria such as understanding of the
problem, quality of recommendations, competence in implementation, clarity
of presentation, and ability to put up a strong defence for their positions.
12
Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 13

Accolades
Prof Ho (left) receiving the President’s
Technology Award from Dr Tan
Two NUS scientists clinch
prestigious
national awards
Impact of Giving
Wee Chong Jin
scholarship
to support needy law students
Photo: A*STAR
Head of NUS’ Department of Medicine
Professor Lawrence Ho Khek Yu was
among the four winners of the 2012
President’s Science and Technology
Awards (PSTA), conferred by Singapore
President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam on
30 October.
Prof Ho, who also heads the University
Medicine Cluster and the Department
of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at
the National University Hospital, won the
President’s Technology Award together
with Associate Professor Louis Phee Soo Jay,
Acting Head of the Nanyang Technological
University’s Division of Mechatronics
and Design.
The only winners of the Technology Award
this year, Prof Ho and Assoc Prof Phee
were honoured for their invention of the
world’s first flexible endoscopic robotic
system that enables intricate surgical
procedures to be performed without
the need for external incisions.
At the 2012 PSTA event, three other
researchers were also presented with
Young Scientist Awards, one of whom
was Assistant Professor Chen Wei from
the Departments of Chemistry and
Physics at NUS. He was recognised for
his outstanding research in interface
engineering for molecular, organic and
graphene electronics.
Through an endowed fund set up by the family
of the late Mr Wee Chong Jin, Singapore’s
first Chief Justice, NUS established the Wee
Chong Jin Scholarship in Law. It will award
up to two such Scholarships a year, valued at
S$10,000 each, to the University’s law students
who embody similar qualities as the late
Mr Wee. In addition to having strong academic
abilities, this candidate should be active
in community or charity work, and display
a spirit of sportsmanship and collegiality.
Said Law Dean Professor Simon Chesterman:
“As NUS Law strives to be one of the very
best law schools in the world, it is important
that we do so without leaving deserving
students behind. Through the generosity
of the Wee family, these scholarships help
us achieve that aim – while also celebrating
the memory of an outstanding jurist and
a role model for the next generation of
lawyers and judges.”
“Chong Jin was loved and well-respected by
many. My children and I felt that bequeathing
scholarships for needy undergraduates in
his name was a meaningful way to remember
him by,” said Mrs Cecilia Wee, wife of the
late Mr Wee. She also hoped that present
and future students of the Law School will be
Mrs Wee (right) presenting and introducing the
biography The First Chief: Wee Chong Jin –
A Judicial Portrait to Han Ting
inspired by the qualities of integrity, passion
and hard work which marked Mr Wee’s
lifetime achievements and legal career.
Mrs Wee presented the inaugural Wee Chong
Scholarship in Law to fourth-year law student
Seng Han Ting at an appreciation event held at
the Supreme Court on 26 September.
Two surgeons lauded for
exceptional clinical
contributions
(From left) CEO of Keppel Corporation Mr Choo Chiau Beng,
Dr Lee, Mr Nathan, Ambassador of Vietnam to Singapore
H E Tran Hai Hau, Prof Tan, NUS Vice Provost (Academic Medicine)
Prof John Wong, NUS Engineering Dean Prof Chan Eng Soon
during the cheque presentation
• Keppel Chair Professorship Programme
to promote ocean, marine and
offshore technology
• Toh Chin Chye Programmes at
NUS, comprising Toh Chin Chye
Visiting Professorships and
Fellowships at University Town
and Toh Chin Chye Study Awards
at Yale-NUS College
• S R Nathan Professorship in Social
Work, set up in honour of former
Singapore President and NUS alumnus,
Mr S R Nathan
Ten clinicians won the National Medical
Excellence Awards (NMEA) 2012 presented
by Singapore’s Ministry of Health. Among
them were Professor K Prabhakaran and
Professor Wong Hee Kit from the NUS
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, who
received the National Outstanding
Clinician Award.
Prof Wong, who heads the NUS Department
of Orthopaedic Surgery and the University
Spine Centre at the National University
Hospital (NUH), is a trailblazer in the field
of orthopaedic surgery. The advancements
he introduced in the surgical treatment
of musculoskeletal disorders, particularly
spinal surgery, has placed Singapore
on the world map. Among the many
new treatment methods he invented are
the minimally invasive surgical technique
for thoracoscopic anterior spinal fusion
for scoliosis, the posterior lumbar
interbody fusion, and the artificial
cervical disc replacement.
The other award recipient, Prof Prabhakaran,
Director of the Paediatric Organ Transplant
Programme and Head of the Department
of Paediatric Surgery at NUH, is a
pioneering leader in paediatric surgery
in Singapore. He not only founded the
Paediatric Renal Transplant Programme
in Singapore, but also performed the first
living-related renal transplant and first
successful paediatric liver transplant in
the country. Two years ago, he also led
the team that successfully performed the
first combined liver and kidney transplant
in a paediatric patient in Singapore and
Southeast Asia.
Prof Wong (right) receiving the National
Outstanding Clinician Award from
Singapore Minister for Health,
Mr Gan Kim Yong
Keppel makes gifts to NUS through
new philanthropic foundation
Keppel Corporation made four gifts to NUS
recently, in support of medicine, engineering,
social work, NUS University Town and Yale-NUS
College. This was announced at a fundraising
concert held to launch Keppel Care Foundation,
in celebration of Keppel Offshore & Marine’s
10th anniversary. The new Foundation seeks
to provide assistance to the underprivileged,
promoting education and health, and
encouraging eco-friendly initiatives.
Kicking off its activities, Keppel Corporation
Chairman Dr Lee Boon Yang presented
a few initial gifts at the event, including
S$4.2 million made to NUS in support
of the following:
• Keppel-NUS Vietnam Programme in
Medicine, involving NUS’ Yong Loo Lin
School of Medicine, Hanoi Medical
University and Vietnam Military
Medical University
Accepting the gifts on behalf of the
University, NUS President Professor
Tan Chorh Chuan said: “Keppel’s
generosity, across a wide number
of disciplines, including medicine,
engineering and social work, helps
NUS offer a distinctive and rich
experience to our students; attract
world-leading faculty; roll out innovative
initiatives such as University Town and
Yale-NUS College; and contribute
to the communities around us. It is
the sustained and strong support of
benefactors such as Keppel that allows
NUS to continue to contribute with
impact to Singapore and beyond.”
For information on making a gift to NUS,
contact us at 1800-DEVELOP (1800-338-3567)
or email askdvo@nus.edu.sg.
14
Knowledge Enterprise
Knowledge Enterprise 15

NUS
2012
For a quick recap of the year, we have put together a series of pictures depicting
NUS’ key highlights and achievements in 2012. To view these snapshots,
please visit nus.edu.sg/year-in-review.
KNOWLEDGE ENTERPRISE
Editor
Fua Lee Na
Distribution Coordinator
Siti Nurfatiah
Office of Corporate Relations, National University of Singapore
University Hall, Lee Kong Chian Wing, #05-03, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119077
Tel: (65) 6601 1341 Fax: (65) 6775 6386 Email: knowledgeenterprise@nus.edu.sg Website: newshub.nus.edu.sg/ke
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