Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah for Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) Gala Dinner
Aug 31, 2023
Chee Su Eing, President of DBCS
Senior Minister of State Sim Ann, Patron of DBCS
Winners and jury panel of the Singapore Good Design Awards 2023
Friends and members of the design and business communities
Thank you very much for the kind invitation to this Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) Gala Dinner. Tonight we celebrate the Singapore Good Design Awards 2023 winners, their talent and their wonderful designs.
The Impact of Good Design
Beauty brings delight to our lives, evoking emotions, and enriching our experiences. Consider the feel good factor we experience from walking through a well-designed space or using a thoughtfully crafted product. However, the essence of good design extends further.
a. It blends function and form, is user-centric, and innovative.
b. It is an approach and process that can create great services, experiences, and systems, and can have tremendous impact on our lives, our economy, our society, and our environment.
Social Impact of Good Design
The social impact of good design can be vast and powerful.
A good example is designing for accessibility and inclusivity – creating products and spaces for people of all ages and abilities.
We have adopted basic accessibility standards and Universal Design concepts into the places where we work, live and play.
a. Barrier-free features such as ramps and wider walkways not only aid seniors and persons with disabilities, but also enhance the overall user-friendliness of our physical spaces.
To create products, services, and spaces that are user-centric, it is important to understand their needs and preferences.
a. As such, it is helpful to engage the users in the design process.
b. This is what we have set out to do in the Accessible City Network (ACN) partnerships in the Central Business District at Raffles Place, and at Boon Lay.
c. At Raffles Place, the ACN workgroup – comprising the representatives from the persons with disabilities community, built environment sector, public sector and social service agencies – identified accessibility and interconnectivity challenges, worked together to develop solutions, and engaged developers and building owners in the precinct to incorporate these accessibility improvements.
d. Accessibility improvements at Raffles Place include better way-finding signages and barrier-free connectivity between Raffles Place MRT station and the surrounding buildings.
e. At Boon Lay, a community partnership workgroup, including the local Town Council, was established. They worked closely with the local community, including seniors and persons with disabilities, to study how to address accessibility gaps in the neighbourhood.
f. Their invaluable participation enriched the entire process.
Design is also key to our mission to provide quality homes and a good living environment for Singaporeans. To meet the evolving needs of residents and help address challenges such as an ageing population and climate change, HDB launched its Designing for Life Roadmap in 2020.
a. The Roadmap seeks to enhance residents’ physical, mental, and social well-being through the built environment, and foster vibrant, inclusive communities for all ages. This includes bringing nature and greenery closer to residents, improving safety within homes and outdoors, and rejuvenating our towns.
b. Additionally, the Roadmap aims to better residents’ lives through smart applications and technologies, while promoting environmental sustainability and connecting neighbourhoods. For example, the MyTengah app empowers residents in Tengah to monitor their household energy consumption and carbon footprint, and control their Centralised Cooling System, allowing for energy and cost savings.
c. The Roadmap is an integral guide to planning and designing new BTO developments and rejuvenating existing towns.
d. Designing the best possible homes for Singaporeans remains an ongoing, iterative process. As society evolves and new challenges emerge, we will continually refresh our concepts, plans and designs.
Good design can also have social impact in other areas.
One example is “A Good Chat for Migrant Workers.”
a. During the pandemic, two designers, Galven Lee and Suanne Chan, realised some migrant workers were feeling isolated because they were unable to access information about the pandemic easily.
b. Knowing this was causing them uncertainty and distress, Galvin and Suanne collaborated with HealthServe, a charity that supports migrant workers, to create a chatbot which helped migrant workers seek assistance and access information about Covid-19.
The team was one of many who answered DBCS’s Design for Good Open Call.
a. The open call mobilised designers and the wider community to make a difference through design.
b. Over 120 entries were submitted, and they are shining examples of the social impact of good, purposeful design.
Economic Impact of Good Design
Let me now touch on the economic impact of good design. Beyond being aesthetically pleasing, design is also a driving force of growth for companies and our economy.
a. Strong design enables companies to resonate with their customers, and stand out from the competition.
b. Innovative designs can birth entirely new products and markets.
In every industry, there is potential to use design to improve products and services, and drive growth.
a. Designers are well sought after, while the number of designers needed is expected to grow by 25% from 2021 to 2030. According to the National Design Industry & Manpower Study released by the DesignSingapore Council earlier this year, 2 in 3 of Singapore’s design workforce work in non-design sectors.
b. These include advanced manufacturing and trade, urban systems, and modern services like the financial services industry.
Transdisciplinary Skills and Multidisciplinary Collaboration
To tackle the complex challenges we face, find business and seize new opportunities, designers also need to collaborate with other disciplines.
a. Beyond technical craft such as interior design, architecture, or graphic design, firms are searching for design talents who possess transdisciplinary skills, such as analytical thinking, design communication, and business strategy.
b. Design professionals are also starting to hold roles like product managers, business strategists, creative technologists, design researchers, and even facilitators of organisation transformation.
c. Such cross-disciplinary collaborations are possible if we recognise design as a skill that is applicable across different fields. This is a key recommendation put forth by Singapore’s ground-up Design Education Advisory Committee, which gathers representatives from Institutes of Higher Learning, businesses, and the government.
d. The committee has put forward key recommendations on infusing design into our national skill sets, through imparting design-led creative thinking skills to students across disciplines.
Designing for Sustainability
Finally, let me touch briefly on designing for sustainability.
Climate change poses an existential threat to Singapore. Everyone, including designers, have a crucial role to play in our efforts to tackle climate change.
Design itself can be sustainable, and it can also encourage its users to adopt sustainable lifestyles and practices.
a. By using sustainable materials and construction methods, we can reduce the ecological footprint associated with our products and buildings.
b. One example is Gaia, at NTU, which is the largest wooden building in Asia. Its timber composition has a much smaller carbon footprint compared to buildings built with concrete and steel. It reduces energy consumption through energy-efficient systems and design, such as sun shading fins, and open areas, terraces and air wells that increase ventilation. The building also produces its own energy through solar panels on its roof. Gaia was awarded the Green Mark Platinum (Zero Energy), the highest award by BCA for buildings that only consume as much energy as they produce.
c. Design can also generate a positive impact on our ecosystems and environment. For example, we are naturalising our waterways. At Jurong Lake Gardens, we converted a concrete canal into meandering streams with vegetated wetlands. Such efforts enrich habitats for native wildlife while improving flood resilience.
Singapore Good Design (SG Mark)
To recognise and champion local design excellence, DBCS launched the Singapore Good Design, or SG Mark, in 2013. It has come to be recognised as a benchmark for exceptional design quality that impacts businesses and the communities both within Singapore and beyond. It acknowledges individuals and firms across various domains, including architecture, interior design, product design, digital design, user experience design, and sustainable design.
The significance of DBCS’s efforts in promoting good design has become even more critical and meaningful in today’s rapidly evolving and complex world. Thus, it is with great pleasure that I extend my congratulations to DBCS as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of SG Mark. Congratulations DBCS on this remarkable milestone!
Conclusion
In conclusion let me say, the power of good, purposeful design can help create a more caring and inclusive society, as well as a more innovative and sustainable economy.
Tonight, let us celebrate and be inspired by the work and achievements of outstanding designers. My congratulations to all the awardees. Have a wonderful evening.
Thank you.