Evolution of Enlightened Societies 9789812306494

Citation preview

EVOLUTION OF ENLIGHTENED SOCIETIES

00 Prelims

1

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

i

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publications, an established academic press, has issued more than 1,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publications works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world.

00 Prelims

2

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

Singapore Lecture 1 February 2006

EVOLUTION OF ENLIGHTENED SOCIETIES

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

00 Prelims

3

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

Published in Singapore in 2006 by ISEAS Publications Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] Website: © 2006 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Abdul Kalam, A. P. J. (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen), 1931– Evolution of enlightened societies. (Singapore lecture, 0129-1912 ; 27th) 1. India—Economic policy—1991– 2. India—Social policy. 3. Manpower policy—India. 4. Knowledge management—Economic aspects—India. 5. Information technology—Economic aspects—India. 6. Competition, International. 7. International cooperation. I. Title II. Series: Singapore lecture series ; 27th. DS501 I597 no. 27 2006 ISBN 981-230-376-6 ISSN 0129-1912 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Typeset in Singapore by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by

00 Prelims

4

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

CONTENTS

00 Prelims

I

Opening Address

Wong Kan Seng

1

II

Evolution of Enlightened Societies

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

4

III

Closing Remarks

K. Kesavapany

5

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

37

00 Prelims

6

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

I Opening Address Wong Kan Seng

Your Excellency, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of the Republic of India, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my pleasure today to welcome you to this Singapore Lecture. We are privileged in that it is the third time that a distinguished Indian leader has addressed us. In April 2002, we were honoured that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to deliver the 21st Singapore Lecture. I am sure the audience shares my anticipation to hear President Kalam speak on the topic “Evolution of Enlightened Societies”. India is undergoing a major transformation. The reforms that President Kalam initiated in 1991 in his capacity then as Finance Minister have opened up India to the world economy. As a result, the world is now witnessing the rise of a new India propelled ahead by its large educated workforce and its dynamic, entrepreneurial private sector that has produced world-class companies such as Wipro Technologies, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services. In Singapore, the US, Europe, Japan and the ASEAN region, interest in India among investors and businesses is fast growing. Singapore and India have long historical ties dating back to the era of Indianized states in Southeast Asia in the 14th century, of which ancient Temasek on Singapore was one stop along the ancient trade routes between India and Southeast Asia. This was followed by

01 Opening Address

1

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

1

2

the colonial era, in which Singapore was governed by the East India Company from Calcutta until 1867. Singapore flourished as an entrepôt and free-port between India and China. Our bilateral relations with India today are excellent and multifaceted. The visit of President Kalam is the latest in a series of highprofile visits between our two countries. We welcome the opportunity this visit presents to further strengthen our bilateral ties. India is our fastest growing trade partner. Bilateral trade has more than doubled in just the last three years. The signing of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (or CECA) in June last year has significantly enhanced economic ties and encouraged India to take a greater economic stake in Singapore and in the region. President Kalam has carved his own destiny from very humble origins to reach the pinnacle of achievement. His meteoric rise is truly an inspiration for all in India and the world. What sets President Kalam apart from other great Indian scientists is that he has never received formal education abroad. The only exposure Kalam received overseas was when the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, invited him to spend four months with American research centres in 1963. For this, President Kalam has come to be known — rather affectionately — as the “200 per cent Indian” by many of his colleagues and close acquaintances. President Kalam’s background as a scientist is well known. Among his major career successes was the launching of the Rohini-I satellite on a low-earth orbit and his leadership of India’s integrated Missile Development Programme, which culminated in the successful launch of the Agni and Prithvi missiles. This achievement earned him the reputation of being the father of India’s missile programme. Throughout his illustrious career, President

01 Opening Address

2

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

3

Kalam has been awarded many honours. In 1997, he was given the highest civilian award in India, the Bharat Ratna. A great humanist, President Kalam made great efforts to extend the benefits of technology to the common man. He applied his knowledge of space technology to help disabled children, replacing their 3-kg metal supporters with lightweight braces made of carbon which weighed a mere 300 grammes. President Kalam has remarked that this was one of the “blisses” that marked his illustrious career in science. Kalam is also well known for the three visions he has for India. These are captured in his inspirational book entitled India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium. • First, he envisioned an India where freedom was protected, nurtured and built upon. • Second, he envisioned an India transforming itself into a technology superpower by 2010 and a developed country by 2020. • Third, he envisioned an India that was able to stand up for itself on the world stage, one that would not merely be seen as a military power but also as an economic one. Over the years, President Kalam has tirelessly applied himself to transform his visions into reality. President Kalam’s humility, his unbound dedication to his country and to the sciences, as well as his unwavering faith in humanity make him an ideal role model for the present generation of Indians. It gives me great pleasure to invite President Kalam to deliver the 27th Singapore Lecture.

01 Opening Address

3

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

II Evolution of Enlightened Societies A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

I am indeed delighted to participate in the Singapore Lecture organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. My greetings to the members of the Institute and distinguished personalities of Singapore from industry, educational and research institutions, political visionaries and eminent members from various fora. I also convey the greetings and wishes of one billion people from the largest democracy in the world. Our great countries have had longstanding traditional ties for centuries in trade, commerce and mutual knowledge sharing and transfer. Knowledge and skills empower individuals, institutions, and companies thereby empowering the society and the nation at large. Both the countries are now marching towards a strong economy in our region. In this forum, I would like to share my thoughts on the topic “Evolution of Enlightened Societies”.

Law of Development I was studying the development patterns and the dynamics of connectivity between nations, especially in trade and business. As you all know, the world has a few developed countries and many developing countries. What is the dynamics between them and what connects them? Developed countries have to market their products competitively to other countries to remain as a developed country. The developing countries, too, have to market their products to other countries in a competitive way to transform into a developed country.

02 Lecture

4

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

5

Competitiveness is the common driving factor between the two types of nations. Competitiveness has three dimensions: • • •

quality of the product, cost effectiveness and availability of the product just-in-time in the market.

Indeed, the dynamics of competitiveness in marketing of products by developing and developed countries is the ‘Law of Development’ (see Fig. 1). There is a relationship between the core competence and the competitiveness of the country.

Profile of a Globally Competitive Nation Global competitiveness for any nation is indeed a big challenge. For achieving such a competitive edge for a nation, it is essential to have a vision. I would like to share with you my visualization of such a nation. 1. A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced from a separating line to a permeable membrane. 2. A nation where there is equitable distribution and access to energy and quality water besides livelihood and social security. 3. A nation where agriculture, industry and service sectors work together in harmony in the common technology domain resulting in sustained wealth generation and leading to greater high value employment opportunities.

02 Lecture

5

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

FIGURE 1

6

02 Lecture

6

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

7

4. A nation where education is not denied to any meritorious candidate because of societal or economic discrimination or because of constraints of rules. 5. A nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors from all over the world. 6. A nation where the best of healthcare is available to the entire population and where communicable diseases like AIDS, TB, water and vector-borne diseases and also the lifestyle diseases such as cardiac diseases, cancer and diabetes are not allowed to become epidemics. 7. A nation where the governance uses the ICT to be responsive, transparent, fully connected in a high bandwidth e-governance grid, easily accessible and also simple in rules, thereby corruption free. 8. A nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women are absent and none in the society feels alienated or left out. 9. A nation that is secure, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path. 10. A nation that is one of the best places to live in on the earth and brings smiles to the faces of its people. “When the mind is without fear and the head is held high,” as said by Rabindranath Tagore. How can nations realize the specified goals? I will give an example for our nation. Since India has a population of over a billion people, it represents 1/6th of the population of our planet. The ideas

02 Lecture

7

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

8

I am going to present may also be relevant and applicable to many developing and even developed countries, which are aiming to shape their growth and nurturing their development in an environment of peace and harmony with other nations. Many countries are joining as partners in the process of development. India’s National Mission — The Challenges: India’s current population is over one billion people. We are going through a major challenge of uplifting 260 million people who live below the poverty line and also of giving a better life for many millions who are on the border line of poverty or just above the poverty line (see Fig. 2). They need a decent habitat, they need work with a reasonable income, they need food, they need speedy access to health care, they need education and finally they need a good life and hope for a better future. Our GDP is growing at more than 7 per cent per annum on average, whereas the economists suggest that to uplift the people below the poverty line, our economy has to grow at the rate of 10 per cent per annum consistently, for over a decade. Integrated Action: To meet the need of one billion people, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Agriculture and Food Processing Education and Healthcare Infrastructure Development Information and Communication Technology Self-reliance in Critical Technologies.

These five areas are closely inter-related and if properly implemented, will lead to food, economic and national security of our country. In each of these areas, there is a wealth of opportunities

02 Lecture

8

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

FIGURE 2

9

02 Lecture

9

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

FIGURE 3

10

02 Lecture

10

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

11

awaiting nations who would like to work together for mutual benefit in a win-win situation. Each of these missions comprises many projects, investments, innovations, and marketing and therefore many partnerships are possible. Engines for Growth: Emphasis would be on full utilization of natural and human resources of the nation to meet the demands of the modern society. We should also remember that about 50 per cent of our population are young people with aspirations for better living. Value addition in the Agriculture, Manufacturing and Service sectors, and building the national core competence and technologies will lead to additional high-income employment potential. The engines for growth will be accelerated by launching of the five national missions, which are common to all of us wherever we are on planet earth (see Fig. 4). The synergy of these five missions will enable India to achieve 10 per cent GDP growth rate per annum. It is possible to do so with ecological and economic sustainability. It is not the mission of governments alone. It is the collective effort of big and small businesses, science and technology and academic institutions, foreign investors, and many others who have confidence about India. With these aspects in view, we have already laid down the roadmap. This roadmap has been converted into various missions allowing a greater role for private enterprise and local initiatives. Now I would like to discuss the economic growth and societal transformation. Ambience in India: In Indian history, very rarely has our nation come across a situation where at the same time there has been an ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserve, reduced rate of inflation, global recognition of the technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet, and the interest shown by many developed countries to

02 Lecture

11

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

FIGURE 4

12

02 Lecture

12

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

13

invest in our engineers and scientists including the setting up of new R&D centres. The distinction between the public and the private sectors and the illusory primacy of one over the other is fading out. India, as the largest democracy in the world, has a reputation for its democracy and for providing participative leadership for the one billion people with multi-cultural, multi-language and multi-religious backgrounds. Our technological competence and value systems with civilizational heritage are highly respected. Also, FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) find investing in India attractive. Indians are also investing in foreign countries and open new business ventures. As per the report titled “From the Ganges to the Thames”, the Indian Foreign Direct Investment in British capital is second only to that of the US, and Indian FDI projects in Europe have increased from just US$5 billion to US$119 billion during the period 1997 to 2004. The Indian Government is committed to economic reforms and development by ensuring a growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent annually, enhancing the welfare of the farmers and workers and unleashing the creativity of the entrepreneurs, business persons, scientists, engineers and other productive forces of the society. We have moved from a largely agriculture society to a focused knowledge society. An enabling environment has been created by the government through various programmes like the Bharat Nirman programme with investments to the tune of $35 billion for a period of four years, with rural development as the focus.

Evolution of Enriched Societies A national society captures the main occupation of its people. The history of mankind records multiple societies in every nation starting

02 Lecture

13

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

14

from the agricultural society, industrial society, and information society leading to the knowledge society. During the 20th century, societies underwent a change from the agricultural society, where manual labour was the critical factor to the industrial society, where the management of technology, capital, and labour provided the competitive advantage. The information era was born in the last decade. Networking within the country and with the other nations and the software products drove the economies. Some of the nations including India utilized this opportunity. In this decade we are just entering into the knowledge society era (see Fig. 5). The uniqueness of the knowledge society is enriching the information society with innovation and value addition of products. The knowledge also enables value addition to the other three societies. In a knowledge society, knowledge is the primary production resource instead of capital or labour. In India, I chaired a task team constituted by the Government of India sometime back for evolving a road map for transforming the Indian society into a knowledge society. I would like to discuss with you how we could work together to make our societies enriched by knowledge and transforming them into a knowledge society. Knowledge can create comprehensive wealth for the nation and also improve the quality of life, in the form of better health, education, infrastructure, and other societal needs. The ability to create and maintain a knowledge society infrastructure, develop knowledge workers, and enhance their productivity through the creation, growth, and utilization of new knowledge, will be the key factor in deciding the prosperity of this knowledge society. Whether or not a nation has developed into a knowledge society is judged by the way it creates and deploys knowledge and skills in sectors like ICT, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and many other services.

02 Lecture

14

2/27/06, 5:16 PM

FIGURE 5

15

02 Lecture

15

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

16

Changing Patterns of Society: When the world was moving from the industrial to the information and knowledge era, we witnessed a changing pattern in the sectoral share of GDP and the number of people employed in each sector. The sectoral share of the gross domestic product (GDP) percentage has undergone a considerable change. The contribution of agriculture to India’s GDP has reduced from 39 to 22 per cent during the period 1979 to 2004 (see Fig. 6). During the same period the contribution of the manufacturing sector moved from 24 to 27 per cent whereas the contribution from the services sector increased from 37 to 51 per cent. There has been considerable change in the employment pattern also. The percentage of people employed in agriculture has come down from 64 to 54 per cent. Simultaneously, the percentage of people employed in manufacturing has gone up from 15 to 19 per cent and in the service sector from 20 to 27 per cent. This trend has to continue and by 2020 our employment pattern should aim at 44 per cent in agriculture, 21 per cent in manufacturing and 35 per cent in the services sectors. The displacement of 10 per cent of the people from the agriculture sector has to be facilitated through skills enabling for undertaking value-added tasks in the rural enterprises so that migration to urban area is reduced. Instead of the person from the rural areas going to urban towns in search of jobs in manufacturing and services sectors, PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) facilitates creation of employment in the rural area itself. PURA achieves this by providing physical, electronic and knowledge connectivities to a cluster of villages thereby leading to their economic connectivity and prosperity. Knowledge creation and knowledge utilization is the key to the success of a PURA programme. The PURA programme can generate many business opportunities. This model is applicable to many countries.

02 Lecture

16

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 6

17

02 Lecture

17

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

18

Developmental Model: Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) The number of PURA units required in India is estimated to be 7,000. This envisages integrated connectivities to bring prosperity to rural India. These are: physical connectivity of the village clusters through quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through telecommunication with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching the rural areas from urban cities and through Internet kiosks; and knowledge connectivity through education, vocational training for farmers, artisans and craftsmen and entrepreneurship programmes. These three connectivities will lead to economic connectivity through starting of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credits and marketing of the products. The PURA is required to be run by enlightened citizens and people capable of giving moral as well as business leadership. Sustainability with humaneness are built in the business plan itself. This is where the concept of spiritual connectivity is seen as the foundation, which builds all the other four connectivities (see Fig. 7). Each PURA cluster will connect about 20 villages depending upon the region and population and will cost about approximately US$20 million. After initial short-term employment during construction etc., we have to plan for initiating actions to provide regular employment and self-employment opportunities in nationally competitive small enterprises in agro processing, manufacturing and the services sectors for about 3,000 people. If the industrial/business parks are marketed well, they can generate employment opportunities in support sectors for about 10,000 people in that cluster. This will provide a sustainable economy for the rural sector. In this national mission, bankers can promote entrepreneurship in the rural areas.

02 Lecture

18

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 7

19

02 Lecture

19

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

20

This will lead to the removal of the urban-rural divide. This experience can become a universal model. PURA as an Enterprise: A large number of banks have entrepreneurial development programmes. Banks have also been funding small-scale industries of different types in various regions. The small-scale entrepreneur is a promising candidate for becoming the chief executive for managing the PURA complexes in an integrated way. PURA enterprises can also undertake management of schools, healthcare units, vocational training centres, chilling plants, silos and building a market, banking system and regional business or industrial units. A new mission mode management style has to emerge for PURA enterprises. It should not be looking for protective legislations to support them. Rather they should be efficient to compete with others. This new PURA enterprise needs partnership from the bank, from the government and also from the private entrepreneurs. Banks can train the entrepreneur to manage the PURA in their training centres and also provide them loans for creating and running PURAs as a business proposition.

International Technology Partnership Here I would like to share two experiences of international technology partnership: a. b.

02 Lecture

BRAHMOS: A super sonic cruise missile — a Joint Venture between India and Russia (see Fig. 8). Pan African e-Network: Connectivity solution between India and 53 Pan African countries for providing teleeducation, tele-medicine and e-governance services (see Fig. 9).

20

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 8

21

02 Lecture

21

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 9

22

02 Lecture

22

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

23

An International Joint Venture — BRAHMOS: In order to achieve global competitiveness, the product must be world class with high quality, and cost effective, and must be available in time within the shelf life of the product. I would like to share a unique experience of design, development, production and marketing of a missile system — BRAHMOS, an Indo-Russian joint venture. What we have achieved through this venture is the development and realization of a world-class product using the synergy of technological competence and consortium of industries of partner countries. In addition, the product being internationally competitive is able to service a large market in time and with state-of-the-art performance at reduced cost per unit. This will place India as a global defence exporter. Moreover, with minimum incremental investment the product has been developed and led to production and induction, in a relatively short time-frame, well ahead of the prescribed schedule. This has enabled early entry of the product into the world market well before any competitor could emerge. I would like India and Singapore to jointly emulate this example and design and develop products for civilian application both in the national and international markets. At this stage, this is very important because the middle-class population in India is on the growth path and it will reach nearly 400 million within the next three years. This will lead to a win-win situation for both countries and enable availability of products at a low cost for the customer countries leading to the nations’ wealth generation. Let me now talk to you about the Pan African e-Network. Pan African e-Network: I would like to recall my address to the Pan African Parliament on 16 September 2004, in Johannesburg, South Africa which was attended by Heads of 53 member countries of the African Union. There, I announced the willingness of the Government of India to provide a seamless and integrated satellite,

02 Lecture

23

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

24

fiber optics and wireless network connecting all 53 African countries. This will provide three connectivities: (i) Heads of the State network for e-governance (ii) Tele-education network for higher education, skill enhancement and capacity building and (iii) Tele-medicine for providing healthcare and super specialty medicare. The Government of India has already commenced the project in partnership with the African Union and it will be completed by early 2007.

Global Human Resources Cadre At present India has five hundred and forty million youth under the age of 25. The number of youth will be continuously growing till the year 2050. In the 21st century, India has embarked on a mission to empower the talented youth with higher education for the task of knowledge acquisition, knowledge imparting, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Keeping this in mind, our universities and educational systems will be creating two cadres of personnel: (1) a global cadre of skilled youth with specific knowledge of special skills and (2) another global cadre of youth with higher education (see Fig. 10). These two cadres will be utilized not only for powering the manufacturing and services sectors of India but also will be made available for fulfilling the human resource requirements of various countries. Our universities are working towards increasing the output of the higher education system from the existing 6 to 20 per cent by the year 2015, 30 per cent by the year 2020 and 50 per cent by the year 2040 (see Fig. 10). The others who are not covered by the higher education system will all have skill sets in areas such as construction, carpentry, electrical systems, repair of mechanical systems, fashion design, para-legal, para-medical, accountancy, sales

02 Lecture

24

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 10

25

02 Lecture

25

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

26

and marketing, software and hardware maintenance and service, software quality assurance personnel, etc. Each Indian youth will have either a quality higher education or demanding skills-sets relevant to the present technological environment. This is the mission for all our educational institutions. India and Singapore can definitely be partners in this mission. Friends, so far I have discussed the international technological partnership and the development of global human resource cadre. With this core competence, I would like to share with you a thought process on the evolution of a “World Knowledge Platform”.

World Knowledge Platform I am visiting Singapore, the Philippines and Korea. All the three nations along with India can have a common vision to use knowledge as a vehicle to propel them to become leading economies of the world. In the knowledge economy, networking between partners boosts the power of all participating partners. Robert Metcalf’s law states that the “value” or “power” of a network increases in proportion to the square of the number of nodes on the network. In other words, if the four nations — India, Singapore, the Philippines and Korea — join to work as networked knowledge partners, our combined strength will not be just that of four nations but it would be four squared (42), or 16. This is because knowledge multiplies when added. Hence, as part of the vision of our four nations becoming leading economies of the new world order, I propose the first mission to create a “World Knowledge Platform” comprising of the four nations — India, Singapore, Philippines and Korea. The purpose of this platform is to facilitate knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination; knowledge sharing and knowledge reuse leading to coordinated design and delivery of complex systems in the knowledge domain. These systems

02 Lecture

26

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

27

would be directed towards those that improve the quality of life of our people and at the same time would reach the world market and improve our nations’ wealth. In short, the Knowledge Platform would be a launch pad for many innovations that are waiting to be unearthed only by the combined power of all the four nations. In essence, the World Knowledge Platform is indeed an integrated capability of multiple core competence of partner countries (see Fig. 11). Initially, the mission is to connect and network the R&D institutions, universities and industries using fiber broadband from the four nations on selected R&D missions. The underground fiber cable infrastructure already exists between all the four partners. It is only waiting to be lighted up with state-of-the-art optical networks and to ignite the minds of the knowledge workers (see Fig. 12). This knowledge GRID will support a multitude of seamless connections supporting both synchronous and asynchronous communication, carrying either text, or audio or video (see Fig. 13). We can then use this network in the academic environments to teach courses online and share expensive equipment remotely. In the industrial environment, it can be used to design complex systems — even ones that are as complex as an aircraft, in a collaborative way using virtual prototyping concepts in cyberspace. Today, in any multinational company, it is common to see that many of the team members come from very different countries and cultures. For any one to be productive and competitive in such an environment and work with no clash of feelings, it is important that we all should understand each other’s culture thoroughly and learn to respect them. I am also of the firm opinion that when culture is embedded into our Knowledge Platform, all our productivity would enhance considerably. I propose that we should allocate adequate bandwidth in the Knowledge Network for us to share and cherish

02 Lecture

27

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

FIGURE 11

28

02 Lecture

28

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

02 Lecture

FIGURE 12

29

coordinat ed design and delivery of complex systems in the knowledge domain

Launch pad for maoy innovations that are waiting to be une arthe d only by the combined power or an the 4 nations 2/27/06, 5:17 PM

29

FIGURE 13

30

02 Lecture

30

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

31

each other’s culture — be it used as heritage learning, history or entertainment. One possible use of this Knowledge Platform is to create a Digital Library of our heritage collections of manuscripts, folk lore, songs, movies and even pictures. The future of scientific inquisitiveness would be based on the border areas between science and engineering — as we saw the birth of bio-informatics due to the convergence of biology and IT. Now the world is witnessing great excitement at the impending convergence of nano science and technology, biotechnology and information and communication technology. Concerted research and development in these areas would require high bandwidth connectivity such as the one proposed in the Knowledge GRID. This will then facilitate the design, development and production of knowledge products for international markets. The convergence of bio, nano and ICT is expected to touch every area of concern to humanity. The “World Knowledge Platform” will take up the mission, in some of the areas given below, which are of utmost urgency to all of us to make our world a safe, sustainable, peaceful and prosperous place: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

02 Lecture

Energy storage, production and conversion Enhancing agricultural productivity Water treatment Disease diagnosis and screening Drug delivery system Food preservation and storage Air pollution control and ventilation Construction Health monitoring Vector/pest destruction and control

31

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

32

11. Hardware, software and networking products — design, development and production 12. Automobile hardware, embedded software integration 13. Gene characterization, stem cell research and molecule research to drugs for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases like cancer and diabetics In addition to the above, areas such as electronics, ICT and the automobile sector may also be the focus especially in the areas of design, development leading to production to meet market demand of the respective countries and also for the world market. The core competence of India is software and the core competencies of the other partner nations are hardware and software: these can lead to design, development and marketing of world-class systems that is dominated equally by software intelligence and hardware innovation. For example, initially the following specific missions may be identified: 1.

Tablet PC

Joint design, development and manufacture of a handheld tablet PC with multilingual capability in a cost-effective manner with an open source operating system and software configured for school students and the common citizen who wish to benefit from our e-governance initiatives to meet the requirements of Asia Pacific and African countries. This PC will have wireless connectivity so that it can take care of the communication needs and possibly even the telephone and will have sufficient video capability to act as an entertainment platform, for tele-education, telemedicine and even a handwriting recognizer that will also permit authentication for secure e-business transactions. The challenging task will be to configure, develop, produce and market the tablet PC at a cost of $100 to $150, so that students, teachers and researchers will be in a position to utilize it.

02 Lecture

32

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

33

2.

Embedded Electronics Systems

Design and development of embedded systems integrated with hardware, software, networks in the automobile sector, consumer electronics, aerospace systems, defence systems and precision manufacturing 3.

Knowledge Products for Societal Transformation

Design, development and customization of knowledge products in the fields of tele-education, tele-medicine and e-governance for global business opportunities among the nations. We may initially form an Asian consortium for the vertical missions of the World Knowledge Platform in the above-mentioned areas with both public and private partnership. These missions with the India and Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement will have to be carried out using the Knowledge Technology Platform. Economic Cooperation with Singapore: The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement signed between India and Singapore in 2005 has facilitated trade and investments for increased business opportunities in both of our countries. The bilateral trade, which is US$7 billion at present, is expected to reach US$15 billion for Singapore and US$30 billion with the whole of ASEAN. This economic cooperation will facilitate industries from both countries to come closer, forming joint ventures and strategic alliances for capturing a sizeable global market share. I understand that there are many Indian industries that already have windows of interaction as well as a physical presence in Singapore. Singapore on its part also has a very strong presence in India. There is the eagerness from both the governments to cooperate

02 Lecture

33

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

34

and collaborate. We should ensure that the complimentary strengths of both the nations and their industrial base should be used to serve not only the local needs but also the needs of the entire world, at least in a few chosen areas. The brand India and the brand Singapore must cohesively join to create an enviable brand, Indo-Singapore. I think the entrepreneurs from Asian countries must work towards creating jointly owned and operated enterprises that have a global brand coming out of the “World Knowledge Platform” (see Fig. 14). It is such an innovative and adventurous partnership, which we need to create through this World Knowledge Platform. Here all are equal partners. We will be open to others who share the same objectives and values. India will be pleased to begin the process if all of you are interested.

Conclusion Let us think together, what are the types of enriched partnerships possible between Asian nations based on my presentation. Three distinct areas can be identified which can increase the prosperity of the people of Singapore and India. They are: (i)

Transforming the nation towards a knowledge society with innovation as the thrust, influencing the information society, industrial society and agricultural society. (ii) As I have indicated in my presentation, 540 million youth below 25 years is an important asset of India. This resource will have two components. One at the university level and another with secondary education supplemented by high quality vocational skills. Knowledge workers will come out of this Global Human Resource Cadre. Definitely, Singapore can participate in the evolution of this cadre.

02 Lecture

34

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

02 Lecture

FIGURE 14

The comprehensive Economic Cooperation between India and Singapore 35

$7 Billion in 2005

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

Innovative:and adventurous partner~hip," ' whicn we need to:create through this.World Knowlecig~ Platform. ...,_..

•

Jl

,._

••

"

Here all are equal partners

35

36

(iii) Evolution of a “World Knowledge Platform” which will empower the partner nations with the collective core competence as a base. For success in all the missions, which we have discussed so far, we need creative leaders. Creative leadership means exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. I am sure creative leadership spearheads all the institutions and the future aspiring institutions. For a prosperous and developed nation, the important thrust will be on the growth in the number of creative leaders and innovative organizations that can create wealth through a dedicated management system. Such leaders in our countries will facilitate global competitiveness to both our nations and help in the creation of knowledge societies on our planet. In particular the mission of creative leaders will be the evolution of enlightened societies through the “World Knowledge Platform”.

02 Lecture

36

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

III Closing Remarks K. Kesavapany

The Honourable Mr Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the 27th Singapore Lecture; His Excellency, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of the Republic of India; Members of the Presidential Delegation; Honourable Mr Yong Pung How, Chief Justice of Singapore; His Excellency Mr Alok Prasad, High Commissioner for the Republic of India and Mrs Prasad; Mr Wong Ah Long, Deputy Chairman, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies; Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen. It is a privilege for the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies to have the 27th Singapore Lecture delivered by His Excellency Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of the Republic of India. I thank His Excellency for his masterly exposition on the subject of the Evolution of Enlightened Societies. Mr. President, you have given concrete examples of how more cooperation among nations can take place. Your ideas will stand Asian nations in good stead as we move towards building an Asian Century. India’s participation in this historic endeavour will enable many of your ideas to be implemented.

03 Closing Remarks

37

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

38

We in Singapore fully share with you the need for global competition to help create knowledge societies. To conclude, the celebrated Indian writer Khushwant Singh described you as “a dreamer of great dreams”. In this regard, let me recite a prayer from your book, Ignited Minds: “O Almighty, create thoughts and actions in the minds of the people of my nation so that they live united. Help all religious leaders of my country give strength to the people to combat the forces of division. Embed the thought ‘Nation is bigger than the Individual’ in the minds of the leaders and people. O God bless my people to work and transform the country into a prosperous nation soon.” Although your prayer, Mr. President, is meant for India and its people, it conveys a message of peace and harmony to all nations and people. On that note, it now gives me great pleasure to call upon the Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Mr Wong Ah Long, to present our Distinguished Guest a painting by Mr Ong Kim Seng, one of Singapore’s most celebrated painters. The painting depicts the Singapore River, the source of life to our people and their prosperity. We hope this would serve as a small reminder of your visit to Singapore.

03 Closing Remarks

38

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam became the eleventh President of the Republic of India on 25 July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020. Born on 15 October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr Kalam specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology. He made significant contributions as Project Director to develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV III), which successfully injected the Rohini satellite into near earth orbit in July 1980. He was responsible for the evolution of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) launch vehicle programme, particularly the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) configuration. After working for two decades in ISRO, Dr Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He was Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development from July 1992 to December 1999. As Chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vision 2020, which gave a road map for transforming India from the present developing status to a developed nation. Dr Kalam served as the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, in the rank of a Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001. Dr Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted the India Millennium Mission 2020.

04 About Kalam

39

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

40

Dr Kalam took up academic pursuits as Professor, Technology and Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks. In his literary pursuits, five of Dr Kalam’s books, Wings of Fire, India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, My Journey, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power within India and Envisioning an Empowered Nation-Technology for Societal Transformation, have become household names in India and among Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated into many Indian languages. In addition, Wings of Fire has been translated into Chinese, Russian and Korean. My Journey is a collection of his poems, while Luminous Sparks is another book of his poems with biographical notes. Dr Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from thirty universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards, Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990), and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions.

04 About Kalam

40

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

THE SINGAPORE LECTURE SERIES

Inaugural Singapore Lecture 14 October 1980 The Invisible Hand in Economics and Politics by MILTON FRIEDMAN 2nd Singapore Lecture 30 October 1981 American Foreign Policy: A Global View by HENRY KISSINGER 3rd Singapore Lecture 2 December 1982 Peace and East-West Relations by GISCARD D’ESTAING 4th Singapore Lecture 10 November 1983 The Soviet Union: Challenges and Responses as Seen from the European Point of View by HELMUT SCHMIDT 5th Singapore Lecture 8 November 1984 The Western Alliance: Its Future and Its Implications for Asia by JOSEPH M.A.H. LUNS 6th Singapore Lecture 5 December 1985 Deficits, Debts, and Demographics: Three Fundamentals Affecting Our Long-Term Economic Future by PETER G. PETERSON

05 Lecture Series

41

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

42 7th Singapore Lecture 25 November 1986 Trends in the International Financial System by RAYMOND BARRE 8th Singapore Lecture 27 November 1987 The Challenge of Change in the Asia-Pacific Region by BOB HAWKE 9th Singapore Lecture 14 December 1988 Regionalism, Globalism and Spheres of Influence: ASEAN and the Challenge of Change into the 21st Century by MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 10th Singapore Lecture 15 October 1989 Trade Outlook: Globalization or Regionalization by BRIAN MULRONEY 11th Singapore Lecture 3 April 1991 International Economic Developments by R.F.M. LUBBERS 12th Singapore Lecture 4 January 1992 U.S. Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region: Meeting the Challenges of the Post Cold-War Era by GEORGE BUSH 13th Singapore Lecture 8 September 1994 India and the Asia-Pacific: Forging a New Relationship by P.V. NARASIMHA RAO

05 Lecture Series

42

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

43 14th Singapore Lecture 17 January 1996 Australia, Asia and the New Regionalism by PAUL KEATING 15th Singapore Lecture 14 January 1997 Reforms for the New Era of Japan and ASEAN: For a Broader and Deeper Partnership by RYUTARO HASHIMOTO 16th Singapore Lecture 6 March 1997 South and Southern Africa into the Next Century by NELSON R. MANDELA 17th Singapore Lecture 30 November 1999 China and Asia in the New Century by ZHU RONGJI 18th Singapore Lecture 14 February 2000 Global Values: The United Nations and the Rule of Law in the 21st Century by KOFI A. ANNAN 19th Singapore Lecture 27 November 2000 Peace on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia by KIM DAE-JUNG 20th Singapore Lecture 14 January 2002 Japan and ASEAN in East Asia: A Sincere and Open Partnership by JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI

05 Lecture Series

43

2/27/06, 5:17 PM

44 21st Singapore Lecture 9 April 2002 India’s Perspectives on ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region by ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE 22nd Singapore Lecture 6 July 2002 EU-Asia: Sharing Diversity in an Inter-regional Partnership by ROMANO PRODI 23rd Singapore Lecture 13 May 2003 Investments into the Future: State and Economy at the Beginning of the 21st Century by GERHARD SCHRÖDER 24th Singapore Lecture 30 April 2004 Global Challenges in the 21st Century: A View from Chile by RICARDO LAGOS 25th Singapore Lecture 16 February 2005 Indonesia: The Challenge of Change by SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO 26th Singapore Lecture 21 April 2005 Africa’s Season of Hope: The Dawn of a New Africa-Asia Partnership by THABO MVUYELWA MBEKI 27th Singapore Lecture 1 February 2006 Evolution of Enlightened Societies by A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

05 Lecture Series

44

2/27/06, 5:17 PM