Harvard crackdown: Can Singapore become its own intellectual leader?

Business Times

a day ago

THE US has long been a global science leader, with this best exemplified by its scientists creating a Covid-19 vaccine – amid a pandemic no less – within a year.
Given that vaccine developments typically take a decade or more, this is nothing short of a feat, and something that has been decades in the making – a result of generous state funding for research and an openness to talent, among other factors. This is why US President Donald Trump's crusade against Harvard University and other top American institutions should give us pause, even if the fate of Ivy League colleges an ocean away may not seem, at first, to have major repercussions for Singapore.
Alongside the on-and-off-again tariffs, immigration crackdown and slashing of government budgets, some observers may regard Trump's first 140 days as part of a natural ebb and flow in American politics. After all, the country has seen its fair share of upheavals in the last 249 years, having survived a civil war in the mid-19th century and, over 100 years later, lived through a particularly turbulent 1968 punctuated by two assassinations, heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War and issues related to values and race.
Yet, even Americans appear spooked themselves. Experts and ordinary people, regardless of political leanings, are voicing concern that American democracy is being eroded and possibly sliding into autocracy, multiple surveys have shown. In particular, the administration's clampdown on its universities could have far-reaching consequences.
America's embrace of diversity had long been part of its DNA, a trait that has drawn the world's brightest minds who, in turn, have kept its universities at the forefront of research and innovation that have resulted in life-saving drugs and key inventions. Some of these foreign talents remain in the country in pursuit of the American dream; others, equipped with new knowledge and skills, return home for the betterment of their motherland.
Singapore too, has benefited from the return of US-trained scholars who have gone on to helm senior positions in government and the private sector.
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But all that is now in peril under the Trump administration, which has threatened to cut funding and foreign student quotas – actions that portend a brain drain and a possible curtailment of its research capabilities.
The question is how long this crusade would last, and whether the damage wrought would be permanent.
Meanwhile, foreign students and postgraduates have been targets of an immigration crackdown. Some have had their visas revoked, and others fear they would not be able to re-enter if they leave.
Prospective students are naturally reconsidering their choice, given the uncertainty and apparent lack of transparency. Even researchers are hesitating to visit; a French scientist was denied entry in March because he had criticised the administration in a text message.
In 2022 and 2023, Singapore sent about a quarter of its Public Service Commission scholarship recipients to the US, and many more students went at their own expense. But the latest developments raise the question whether the city-state should reconsider its reliance on the US for intellectual leadership.
The imbroglio should also prompt Singapore to look afield at Europe and China, which are now seizing the opportunity to woo students and researchers seeking alternatives. A small but growing number of Singapore students have headed for European and Chinese universities over the years.
And not least, Singapore might also take a leaf out of their playbook and do the same, since having a strong talent mix is what would augment its universities' standing.
Rather than looking mainly to the West for intellectual leadership, Singapore has now an opportunity to build up its own for the region.