Summit confronts global issues
Year 3 History and USP student Jennifer Yip (left) moderates a dialogue between Mr Shanmugam and Summit participants
Complex issues faced by Asia today formed the crux of discussion for about 100 undergraduates from nine universities in Southeast Asia at the inaugural Asian Undergraduate Summit held at NUS from 6 to 12 July. Organised by the NUS Students' University Scholars Club comprising students from the University Scholars Programme (USP), the first student-run international programme of its kind carried the theme, "Leadership in a Complex World: The Food, Water and Energy Nexus.
The Summit aims to foster greater appreciation and understanding of the complexity of the problems Asia faces as a region, and to encourage the participants to explore these problems through interdisciplinary perspectives.
Keynote speaker Dr Philip Andrews-Speed, Principal Fellow at NUS' Energy Studies Institute, shared about the Global Resource Nexus, which the Food, Water and Energy (FWE) nexus is part of. He stressed the importance of looking at these resources from a nexus-based approach, so that decisions and solutions would not over-prioritise one resource at the expense of the others.
The seven-day Summit also featured a panel discussion and three separate focus group discussions by academics from the University and Nanyang Technological University, in addition to lectures by experts from various fields. Representing the public sector were Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Law K Shanmugam; Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore's Ms Tan Poh Hong; national water agency PUB's Mr Chua Soon Guan; and the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Mr Lee Chor Pharn. Singapore's clean tech solutions were also discussed by Mr Edwin Khew, Managing Director of sustainable solution provider Anaergia and Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore.
About 100 students from NUS and nine partner universities attended the Summit
Besides visiting the NEWater Visitor Centre to learn about water reclamation, the students also participated in workshops conducted by Ms Cheryl Chung, Deputy Director (Strategic Planning) of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, where they learnt more on synthetic gaming and scenario planning.
At the end of the Summit, each group constructed scenarios of possible futures of the FWE nexus in the region, and presented them to a panel of judges consisting of Ms Chung and Ms Goh Swee Chen, Chairperson, Shell Companies in Singapore.
Ahead of the Singapore leg, 50 NUS participants had visited the Summit's five partner universities ' Universitas Airlangga, Mahidol University, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Ateneo de Manila University and Vietnam National University ' and learned about how the FWE nexus is managed in the partner-university countries. The participants then gathered in NUS to consolidate their knowledge and learn about the issues from a broader, regional perspective.
By Goh Seng Chiy, USP
