Opening Address by MOS Desmond Lee at the Urban Sustainability R&D Congress 2015

Jul 9, 2015

Good morning. I am delighted to be able to join all of you here at this year’s Urban Sustainability R&D Congress.

I. Looking back: the role of R&D in Singapore’s development 

We are exactly one month away from our Golden Jubilee. 50 years ago, Singapore faced challenges that seemed insurmountable, and threats existential. 

But through the tremendous foresight and sheer tenacity of our pioneers and successive generations of Singaporeans, we tackled many of those challenges: reclaiming land, providing public housing, building infrastructure, creating jobs and opportunities, and taking that unique step to pervasively green up our city, among many things. Along the way, Research & Development (R&D) played an important role, often behind-the-scenes, providing creative and pragmatic solutions to help us overcome some of our critical vulnerabilities. This morning we have Prof Lui Pao Chuen here, who is one of our pioneer technologists, “innovatists”, for the public sector, and we are very proud of Singaporeans like him. 

Our Water Story is one of those stories turning critical vulnerabilities, overcoming them and turning them into strengths. Through intensive research and experimentation, starting as far back as 1974, PUB successfully recycled waste water to a high level of purity, ultimately creating NEWater, our 3rd of 4 National Taps. This overall long term push for water self-sustainability also created a flourishing water industry in Singapore, with leading-edge membrane and desalination technologies. Vulnerability was turned into opportunity. 

R&D was also pivotal in the development of our public housing estates. In 1960, HDB was set up to resolve the housing crisis, to house the population mainly living in slums. But beyond brick and mortar, HDB then already recognised the importance of building neighbourhoods and communities. It therefore embarked on research in the 1960s to improve town planning and building design. 

Since then, HDB has continued to invest in R&D, for example in efficient building methods such as prefabrication and precast technologies. 

II. Continuing the R&D Journey 

Like many other cities around the world, Singapore constantly grapples with fresh challenges such as climate change, growing density and space constraints, the need to provide for an ageing population, the need to develop mobility solutions, energy efficiency, waste management, and so on. Not too long ago, I was at the World Cities Summit [Mayors Forum in New York City], attended by mayors from the various continents around the world. Even as we spoke different languages and come from different time zones, the challenges facing many urban centres remain quite similar, quite pressing. 

And therefore the search continues for innovative yet practical solutions to overcome our urban sustainability challenges. And R&D can and should play a key role in that endeavour. 

Let me give a quick example. One important question, as we continue to urbanise and intensify here in Singapore, is how we can continue to keep our city lush and green. Through R&D, NParks developed structural cells that can help our mature trees thrive in space-constrained urban areas. These structural cells work by giving our trees rooting space and breathing space. They are currently being outfitted for a new row of trees along Queen Elizabeth Walk. 

The theme of this year’s Congress is “Creating a Future-Ready City: Smart, Sustainable, People-Centric”.

The various breakout tracks will explore in depth the various challenges we face, and discuss how R&D can help us overcome them. 

In support of our Smart Nation drive, one of the tracks will explore how we can leverage smart technology to make our public housing towns even more sustainable and liveable. 

Another challenge area is how to create people-centric environments that are more comfortable, connected and vibrant. 

Other key areas include moving towards a car-lite Singapore; creating new space; and improving our resource efficiency in terms of building energy and waste management. 

I am happy that this year’s Congress has expanded to cover new areas of discussions including sharing on the Future of Cities, as well as how to help our elderly stay active and age-in-place safely and confidently. 

I am also very heartened to know that joining us for the first time at this Congress are 50 students, here to rub shoulders with all of you – industry experts, scientists, academics, regulators, government developers, top people in the field; and I hope you take the opportunity to reach out to our students, who are our future generation. In them holds the future drive for R&D that will bring a small space-constrained city like Singapore to the next level. So please reach out, share, inspire and energise these students.

III. R&D Programmes and Announcements 

Let me now touch on some of the key programmes that we have in Singapore to facilitate research collaboration. 

First is the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC). As its name implies, this funds R&D to create and optimise space in our land-scarce city, and make it even more liveable. 

Since 2013, the programme has funded 13 research projects, in areas such as underground spaces, floating structures, noise mitigation in residential towns, urban modelling and planning. Some of these projects were awarded during the First Call for Proposals in September of last year, and they have great potential to improve the quality of life. You will hear more about some of these projects over the course of today and tomorrow. 

I am pleased to announce that the L2 NIC is launching its 2nd Call for Proposals today. The 2nd Call challenges our research community to reduce the cost of underground construction (that’s the first) and also to reduce ambient noise and temperature, to improve human living and comfort – which I have earlier mentioned are issues that directly impact our quality of life. More details on the 2nd Call for Proposal will be shared at the R&D Directions Session later this afternoon. 

Second, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will be awarding $6 million under its 2nd grant call for the Energy Innovation Research Programme for Building Energy Efficiency (EIRP-BEE). And these are for projects on Air-Conditioning & Mechanical Ventilation (ACMV) systems, which account for a major part of a building’s energy consumption. In fact, next door [at the exhibition], NUS had a new patent which they developed to separate dehumidification from cooling, and that really reduces the energy use and is also environmentally-friendly. These things show that our researchers are really up there, able to compete, able to develop and design solutions for Singapore. BCA will also be launching the inaugural Green Building Innovation Cluster Grant Call, which will complement the Singapore Smart Nation Initiative with an emphasis on making our green buildings smarter and healthier. 

Besides funding, it is also important to recognise and celebrate research that has contributed to Singapore’s urban sustainability efforts. I would like to congratulate the winners of the 2015 Minister for National Development’s R&D Award. I was told that there were close to 20 nominations this year, and the panel of 6 expert evaluators, led by Prof Lui Pao Chuen, conducted several intense rounds of evaluation to select the winners. My heartiest congratulations to the winning teams from NUS, HDB and NParks. Your projects showcase the commitment of the research community to push the frontiers in building energy efficiency, solar PV, modelling for residential towns, and marine conservation. Well done! 

IV. Conclusion 

We have come a long way since independence, to develop a city that is liveable and sustainable. R&D has helped us overcome many challenges of the past, but more can and needs to be done, as we will continue to face new challenges as we develop and grow. For a small city-state like ours, this is especially key as no other country will face the pressures of urbanisation and scarcity of resources as keenly as we do. 

Many of these challenges are also complex issues requiring integrated efforts between relevant stakeholders to develop holistic R&D solutions. 

It is for this reason that this Congress is held to bring together the researchers, the industry, public agencies and young students under one roof, to build common awareness of our research priorities, capabilities, and opportunities to jointly create solutions. 

On this note, I wish all of you here a fruitful and enjoyable Congress. Thank you.