29 June 2007

Centre to pioneer social development programmes
in Asia

NUS Department of Social Work has launched a new Centre for Social Development (Asia) at an international forum on global assets. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, opened the Centre after his keynote address at the Global Symposium on Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusions (27-28 June) at NUS.

LAUNCHING THE NEW CENTRE: From left: NUS Prof S Vasoo, Chair, Centre’s Advisory Committee; NUS Arts Dean Tan Tai Yong; NUS Prof Ngiam Tee Liang, the Centre’s Co-Director; Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam; NUS Senior Deputy President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, and Prof Michael Sherraden, Director, Center for Social Development, Washington University, St Louis.

The Centre, said NUS Arts Dean, Assoc Prof Tan Tai Yong, will conduct applied research, pioneer social development programmes and build knowledge to inform policies and programmes in social development with a focus on Asia, tackling issues such ethnic and religious harmony, productive ageing and asset development. Its secondary mission is to make Singapore's highly innovative social policies and programmes better known throughout Asia and the world.

The initiative, a partnership with the Center for Social Development at Washington University (St Louis) will be located at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It will also organise training for graduate students, seminars and conferences. Said Assoc Prof Tan: "The Centre for Social Development (Asia) will emphasise key themes that build on the strengths of Singapore's policy development. The work of this Centre, we believe, will be relevant to Singapore's long term interest in building assets for its citizens as a social development goal," he said.

Delivering his keynote address, Asset Building and Development at the Global Symposium, Mr Tharman said there is no "silver bullet" or magic solution for key challenges such as meeting low income needs under intense globalisation. But, we can draw lessons from experiences all over the world, from countries such as Sweden and Chile which have established social security systems. The Singapore model, he said, has the advantage of having a culture of saving and self reliance, where people want to be responsible for themselves and their families.

The Global Symposium was organised by the Center for Social Development, Washington University, St Louis, USA; the New America Foundation; the NUS Department of Social Work; and the Initiative for Financial Access at New York University. It saw some 90 participants comprising policy makers, practitioners, scholars, corporate leaders and funders from 17 countries.