The world has made tremendous progress by being connected, and the challenge facing the younger generation is to decide whether to build further bridges or erect walls that will stall development, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said yesterday.
In a speech to open the annual Hwa Chong Asia Pacific Young Leaders Summit, Mr Chan outlined how the connectivity of ideas, technology and trade have brought about an unprecedented level of progress and prosperity.
Addressing a group of 93 students and teachers from around the world, Mr Chan said their presence in Singapore was testimony to links forged in the past few decades.
The student leaders will visit key institutions here and meet government officials as part of the summit.
Recounting his days as a student at Britain's Cambridge University almost 30 years ago, Mr Chan said he communicated with his family only once a month by aerogramme - a piece of paper combining a letter and envelope that took two weeks to reach Singapore via airmail.
Today, people communicate instantaneously through Skype and WhatsApp, while even developing countries are using mobile technology instead of landlines.
The rise of mobile banking is serving people in remote areas, he said, while medical research, manufacturing and even film production have all become increasingly cross-border in nature.
But with greater connectivity comes disruption, and it is important for countries to help their businesses and workers adjust to the new reality, he said.
"Do we embrace integration? Or do we close our borders?" asked Mr Chan, noting that governments in the past faced the same pressures as they do today.
"In the 1920s, we didn't make a wise choice and ended up with the Great Depression, when countries and economies were fragmented."
The minister's speech comes at a time when globalisation is under siege and populist movements have gathered support across places such as Europe and the United States.
Mr Chan encouraged his young audience to have courage and leadership to build bridges and realise the benefits of a globally integrated system. Many countries, he noted, are unable to muster the resources and political will to evolve new business models and help their people acquire new skills. Those who get left behind resist the connectivities of ideas, technology and trade.
"This is why today we see a pushback against globalisation," he said.
Successive generations will never be able to experience the kind of prosperity and progress that people have enjoyed so far if the world continues to fragment, he warned.
His message resonated with the students present.
Hwa Chong Institution student Hoo Hoi Tzer said he is now cognisant of the worrying state Singapore could be in if countries close their borders. "The rise in prices of consumer goods and decrease in international cooperation, such as the trade war between China and the United States, are tangible events that have already negatively affected citizens across the world," the 16-year-old added.
The 27 participating schools from the Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Britain and the US are here until Friday. They had tea at the Istana with President Halimah Yacob yesterday and will attend the third Hwa Chong Centennial Insights series tomorrow.
Former foreign minister George Yeo and Harvard University's Professor Michael Puett will speak at this year's Insights on the theme "Wisdom of the East and West: A Global Future".
