FORUMS

Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU)

Participants of the 4th APRU Undergraduate Summer Program

National University of Singapore (NUS) hosted the 4th Undergraduate Summer Program on "Rising to the Challenge - Global Leadership in the 21st Century" from July 13 - 24, 2009 in Singapore.  The program attracted 49 student leaders from 23 member universities.  The participants were selected from undergraduate applicants holding leadership position at their home universities and who were interested in seeing how leadership could impact global issues and effect global change. 

The participants had an enriching time through our interactions with business leaders, social entrepreneurs and other leaders in Singapore.  The program also provided participants with the opportunity of networking and exchanging information on projects they were currently involved with, thereby increasing their chances of finding potential partners for their projects. 

I was especially impressed by  the Genom Institute of Singapore (GIS). Singapore has set up biotechnology to be its key industry in the coming decades.  GIS is playing a significant role in enhancing national productivity and attracting high-quality human resources to Singapore.  I admire GIS scientists for their innovation and for spearheading the develpment of biotechnology for resource-poor Singapore. 

Linking East Asian Future (LEAF)

Linking East Asian Future (LEAF) was established in 2007 by Chinese, Korea and Japanese students to solve problems in East Asia and contribute to sustainable development in East Asia.  For the bright future, we believe that we East Asian students need to establish the wide, deep, strong and long-lasting bonds among us. 

The theme of the round table discussion I was involved in was "What is the reason of the outflow of East Asian human resources to America or Europe?"

As a Korean and a delegate from Japan, I felt that I was well qualified to present my views on the situation in East Asia.  I posited that the problem stemmed from the fact that the East Asian countries were unable to unite as an economic, geographical and cultural bloc.  Examples of these would be the European Union or the Association of South East Asian nations.  These countries have successfully come together to fight for better rights, privileges and economic benefits for its members.  As a result, their competitiveness and overall productivity have improved. 

Korea, Japan and China may seem similar but actually have longstanding enmities and historical reasons for not getting along.  As such, they have not been able to form a united stance on various issues, including the outflow of precious human capital from the region.  Also, countries like Japan and Korea have a cultural tendency to exclude outsiders, which prevents them from harnessing the true potential of the world as a source of talented labor. 

In my opinion, the three countries need to resolve their historical and cultural differences, or at least agree to put them aside, before they can move ahead in forming a cohesive strategy for the sake of the region.  Of course, this is easier said than done.