19
June
2018
|
23:13
Asia/Singapore

Seen and heard this week

 

Seen and heard this week is a weekly column highlighting thought leadership from the NUS community

 

Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at NUS Professor C Raja Mohan penned his thoughts on the recent Singapore summit between US President Mr Donald Trump and North Korean leader Mr Kim Jong-un in The Indian Express on 12 June, opining that in the course of one morning, the leaders have begun to loosen a deeply entrenched and hostile relationship. Prof Mohan highlighted three political principles that made this possible — building a new relationship between America and North Korea, building a stable peace regime in the Korean Peninsula, and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. He also highlighted a political gesture that would help to realise the goals of the agreement, that of Mr Kim promising to recover the remains of American soldiers captured or missing in action during the Korean War.

On 14 June, Assistant Professor Amy Ou from NUS Business made the case for why humble narcissists make the most effective leaders. In the Channel NewsAsia commentary, Asst Prof Ou said that humble narcissists have high opinions of themselves and enjoy the limelight, but also know their weaknesses and appreciate the capabilities of others. This is highly valuable in a business world dominated by disruption and uncertainty, where leaders must deploy many skills and qualities at the same time. Asst Prof Ou added that these sort of leaders win more supporters, make wiser decisions and deliver sustainable performance for a collective good.

Touching on the place of genomics in a Smart Nation in The Straits Times on 14 June, Assistant Professor Swaine Chen from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Genome Institute of Singapore and his colleague at the Institute Dr Andreas Wilm said that Singapore is ideally positioned for the phase of convergence between genomics and cloud computing with its Smart Nation initiative driving transformation in all areas of technology, including healthcare. The authors added that this could mean faster detection of outbreaks and a future where our reality may exceed our imagination.

Read more about the NUS community in the news.