239education. Nonetheless, it should also be noted that, besides substantial financial
inputs, which are considered as investment instead of expenses, it is necessary to
have clear policy goals as well as swift and effective policy implementation strategy
to enable such a rapid growth and improvement of higher education as what is
shown in the case of Singapore during the time when many higher education institu-
tions around the world have suffered from financial stringency. (Selavaratnam 1994 ;
Tan 2006 ).
Strong emphasis on internationalization, which largely reflects on the strategy of
forging international collaborations with top universities overseas, is a means
adopted by the Singapore government to raise the international standing of the city-
state’s higher education system to develop Singapore as a global education hub in
Asia for retaining local talents and attracting foreign talents. Most foreign talents
are coming from emerging economies like the People’s Republic of China, India
and certain Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam. However, it can be foreseen that with the growth of global education mar-
ket in the years to come, there will be more competitors to join the race as Singapore’s
higher education institutions will also have to face much greater pressure to deliver
excellent and outstanding performance to among the top rankings in Asia and the
world so as to maintain its competitiveness. Meanwhile, it is doubtful to see
Singapore’s universities can be in a position like those top and prestigious universi-
ties to attract enough world-class academics and researchers as well as best students
from other First World countries outside Asia to move to Singapore.
In spite of these achievements, it is important to note some unresolved issues to
be tackled in Singapore’s higher education system. There is always a question
whether the state’s highly interventionist approach to govern higher education insti-
tutions would be able to deliver a genuinely entrepreneurial and innovative environ-
ment for academics, researchers and students to be cultivated with the entrepreneurial
and innovative spirit. Closely related to the state’s interventionist approach in higher
education governance, it should not be surprising to foresee questions and debates
on such matters as academic freedom and institutional autonomy, both of which are
more likely to be considered by top universities overseas to determine if Singapore
will be a suitable point for them to expand their presence in Asia. In addition, Tan
( 2006 ) draws our attention to the problem of ethnic disparities in educational attain-
ments with reference to the enrolment figures of higher education institutions, espe-
cially universities, where Malays and Indians are found to be disadvantaged. This
will pose a challenge to the Singapore government for higher education opportuni-
ties are unevenly distributed as it may probably result in the widened differences
between ethnicities in terms of their socio-economic status. These are the unre-
solved issues that the Singapore government must note and tackle more cautiously,
and both of them should deserve further research and detailed analysis in the future.
13 Researching Higher Education in “Asia’s Global Education Hub”: Major Themes...