Seen and heard this week
Seen and heard this week is a weekly column highlighting thought leadership from the NUS community
In an opinion piece published in The Business Times on 31 July, Senior Lecturer at NUS Business Ms Julie Huan advised non-executive directors (NEDs) to exercise discretion before accepting their appointment. Citing case studies on negligence by NEDs in business decision-making, Ms Huan highlighted the need for NEDs to carefully review the specific role he or she will have to undertake with respect to business decision-making and then act as a reasonable person would in that same role.
Dr Yang Yi, Postdoctoral Fellow from the Asia Research Institute at NUS, conducted a study on the impact of social exclusion on cognitive impairment among the elderly in China, together with Professor Jean Yueng and Associate Professor Feng Qiushi, both from NUS Sociology. Sharing the findings in The Straits Times on 2 August, Dr Yi said that older people who were classified as socially excluded were 1.8 times more likely to have cognitive impairment than those who were not. As ageing populations in Singapore and China share similar characteristics, Dr Yi encouraged Singapore to reduce social exclusion of the elderly by improving their financial conditions, building elderly-friendly communities and improving access to medical services, which will significantly reduce the economic and manpower pressures of providing long-term care for elderly with cognitive impairment.
In the lead-up to National Day, Deputy Director (Research) at the Institute of Policy Studies at the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Dr Gillian Koh discussed the outcome of the National Values Assessment survey in Channel NewsAsia commentary on 5 August. The survey showed that while Singaporeans value social inclusion and support, there is a gap between these ideals and their perceived reality, which was described as competitive and self-centred. Dr Koh provided an analysis on the initiatives that could move Singapore towards becoming an ideal society for Singaporeans, and emphasised the need to shift mindsets away from personal interests in order for the community to benefit as a whole.
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