Such skills are indispensable for workers and leaders in all fields of industry and government and will propel Singapore to the forefront of world tourist, arts and economic destinations.

Education should turn out well-rounded, accommodating and personable adults and we can go one step further by teaching soft skills from pre-school. One cannot start teaching soft skills at university to crude, rude, aggressive and self-centred persons. And all tertiary institutions, not just the fourth varsity, should adopt this idea.

Pre-school pupils need to be taught the importance of courtesy, cleanliness, putting others first, punctuality and so on. This will lay the foundation for more advanced behaviour patterns subsequently.

Soft skills should be part of school life. Many children do not knock when they enter a classroom or keep the school clean and litter-free. Ill-disciplined children who have no respect for teachers turn into aggressive anti-social adults if nothing is done to correct their unacceptable behaviour.

Teaching needs to be reinforced, monitored and infringements corrected. Otherwise, the lessons will be forgotten soon after.

Recently I was at a children's party where a boy was harassing his sister to distraction and being offensive. An Australian lady remarked that the school which her daughter attended in Melbourne disapproved of such behaviour which is corrected immediately. Teachers are on duty throughout recess to see that such bullying does not occur. While we are set in the pursuit of excellence, we could also wholeheartedly embrace good manners. By the time students arrive at university, they should have a strong foundation on which positive attitudes can be built.

When I went to New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Japan, and the American state of California, I came away with the warm feeling that my hosts in the retail and other areas were welcoming. This attitude is their culture. Will a visitor to Singapore go back with the feeling that he had a welcoming experience which he will carry back to other prospective visitors? That should be the aim of the course.

The teaching of soft skills should start at home even before a child goes to pre-school. But since many parents have abdicated this responsibility, educational institutions have to take it on.

Such a development will produce a cohesive, polite, honest and happy society able to withstand the onslaught of globalisation and other divisive pulls.

Murali Sharma