PROFESSOR LILY KONG
PRESIDENT OF SMU
EDUCATION
|
1991 |
PhD in Geography, University College London |
|
1988 |
MA in Geography, National University of Singapore |
|
1986 |
BA(Hons) in Geography (First Class), National University of Singapore |
AREA OF SPECIALISATION
Urban transformations in Asian cities, with particular focus on social and cultural change
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
Professor Lily Kong has been President of Singapore Management University (SMU) since 2019. She is the fifth President and the first Singaporean to lead the university (established 2000). She is also the first Singaporean woman to serve as President of a university in Singapore. She was previously Provost of SMU (2015-2018), and the first Singaporean woman to serve as Provost of a university in Singapore.
Before joining SMU, she was a faculty member at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Geography for nearly 25 years. She also held various senior management roles at the National University of Singapore, including Vice President (University and Global Relations), Vice Provost (Education), Vice Provost (Academic Personnel), Dean (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), Dean (University Scholars Programme), and Director (Asia Research Institute).
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
An award-winning researcher and teacher, Professor Kong has received five international fellowship awards including the Commonwealth Fellowship Award and the Fulbright Fellowship Award. She has also won the Robert Stoddard Award from the Association of American Geographers for her contributions to the study of religion.
Professor Kong was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2006 and Public Service Star in 2020 as part of Singapore’s National Day Awards. She was recognised in Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list (2020), Forbes inaugural 50 over 50 (Asia 2022) and Tatler’s Asia’s Most Influential (2022). Professor Kong was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Professor Kong is widely known for her research on urban transformations, and social and cultural change in Asian cities. In particular, she has published a large body of work on inter-communal religions and social cohesion, national identity, cultural policy and cultural industries, creative cities and creative economy, urban heritage and conservation, smart cities, migration and education. She is on a dozen editorial boards of international journals in her field and is frequently invited as keynote speaker to conferences in her domain. In a global study by Stanford University (2020), Professor Kong was identified as among the world’s top 1% of scientists in the field of Geography.
She has co/authored 11 books, co/edited 12 books, published over 120 refereed journal articles, and contributed over 70 book chapters.
AUTHORED BOOKS
- Kong, L (2023) Singapore Hawker Centres: People, Places, Food, 2nd edition, Singapore: National Environment Agency and National Heritage Board.
- Kong, L. and Woods, O. (2016) Religion and Space: Competition, Conflict and Violence in the Contemporary World. London: Bloomsbury. 199 pp.
- Kong, L., Ching, C-H, and Chou, T-L. (2015) Arts, Culture and the Making of Global Cities: Creating New Urban Landscapes in Asia, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 260 pp.
- Kong, L. (2011) Conserving the Past, Creating the Future: Urban Heritage in Singapore, Singapore: Straits Times Press, 260 pp.
- Kong, L. (2007) Singapore's Hawker Centres, Singapore: National Environment Agency, 176 pp.
- Kong, L., and Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003) The Politics of Landscape in Singapore: Constructions of "Nation", Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 254 pp.
- Winchester, H, Kong, L., and Dunn, K. (2003) Landscapes: Ways of Imagining the World, Harlow: Pearson, 2003, 206 pp.
- Kong, L., and Chang, T. C. (2001) Joo Chiat: A Living Legacy, Singapore: Editions Didier Millet,
152 pp. - Perry, M, Kong, L., and Yeoh, B. S. A. (1997) Singapore: A Developmental City-State, World Cities Series. Chichester: John Wiley, 339 pp.
- Briffett, C., Kong, L., Yuen, B. K. P., and Sodhi, N. S. (1997) The Planning and Ecology of Park Connector Systems in Urban Areas, Singapore: National University of Singapore, 115 pp.
- Kong, L., Low, S. A., and Yip, J. (1994) Convent Chronicles: History of a Pioneer Mission School for Girls in Singapore, Singapore: Armour Publishing, 220 pp.
Selected Keynote/Plenary Addresses, Lectures/Panel/Forum Speaker/Moderator and Opinion Articles
Keynote/Plenary Addresses - Academic (from 2020 only)
- (2023) Keynote Speaker
“Religion, Secularism and National Identity: Perspectives from Singapore”, 6th SRP Distinguished Lecture And Symposium 2023, Grand Copthorne Waterfront, 15 November 2023. - (2023) Keynote Speaker
“Cultural Geographies of Past, Present and Future”, keynote speech delivered virtually at the 9th conference of Chinese Cultural Geography, Beijing, China, 17 July 2023. - (2023) Keynote Speaker
“Standing on Common Ground – Space and Community in Singapore”, lecture delivered at the SOKA Gakai Singapore Peace Lecture 2023, 29 May 2023, Punggol SOKA Centre, Singapore. - (2022) Special Speaker
“Social Cohesion in Singapore: Considering Multiplicities and their Management”, International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS), Raffles City Convention Centre, 6 September 2022, Singapore - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Singapore: The Making of a Sustainable City-State”, Recovery – Learnings from the Pandemic and a Sustainable Way Forward, Swedbank Summit (virtual), 22 November 2021, Sweden - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Reframing Public Heritage”, symposium co-hosted by Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore and Tsao Foundation (virtual), 16 October 2021, Singapore - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Sustaining Cultural Heritage: Developing Strategies for Youth Involvement”, National Heritage Board - International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia Pacific Region Symposium (webinar), 31 August 2021, Singapore - (2021) Plenary Speaker
Global Rankings and the Culture of Knowledge Production” Plenary, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society Conference (webinar), 28 July 2021, Singapore - (2020) Keynote Speaker
“ASEAN Smart Cities Network: The Promises and Challenges of Scaling Smartness”, 2020 Denton Rodyks Dialogue Global Smart Cities: Challenges and Opportunities (webinar), 25 September 2020, Singapore
Keynote/Plenary Addresses - Education/Leadership (from 2020 only)
- (2024) Panel Speaker
“Inspiring inclusion in a fragmented world”, International Women’s Day @ BlackRock, 6 March 2024, Singapore. - (2024) Plenary Speaker
“Higher Education in an Age of Disruptive Change”, Institute for the Future of Education (IFE) Conference 2024, 24 January 2024, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. - (2024) Keynote Speaker
“(De)contextualised Liberal Arts Education: Perspectives from Singapore”, Yale-NUS College Symposium: Learning from Liberal Arts Education: Innovation and Resilience, 12 January 2024 - (2023) Panel Speaker
“Law in hyper-connected world” Joining the dots for a Sustainable future, Sustainability Education Roundtable – What role for universities. SMU-Sydney-HK Law and Sustainability Conference, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law, 13 July 2023, Singapore. - (2023) Panel Speaker
“‘Alliances and Networks in 2050’, Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit, 21 June 2023, Chinese University of Hong Kong. - (2023) Plenary Speaker
“Women in Leadership: Lessons from Technology, and Finance, and Higher Education”, International Women’s Day 2023 event jointly organised by BlackRock and Singapore Management University, Administration Building, 15 March 2023, Singapore - (2023) Plenary Speaker
“Universities and international collaborations”, Canada-in-Asia Conference, High Commission of Canada, Raffles City Convention Centre, 22 February 2023, Singapore - (2022) Plenary Speaker
“Addressing the Gender Gaps in Higher Education”, Going Global Asia Pacific 2022 Conference, British Council, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, 30 November 2022, Singapore - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Skills and education in the race for humanity” - Women’s Forum Global Meeting (hybrid), 29 November 2022, Paris, France. - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Inaugural Global Lifelong Learning Summit - Continuous Education v2: How institutions can innovate and adapt”, SkillsFuture Singapore and the Institute of Adult Education, Pan Pacific Singapore, 2 November 2022. - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Empowerment of women in higher education: The hand that rocks the cradle”, Universiti Malaya’s University Presidents Forum (webinar), 5 October 2022, Malaysia - (2022) Plenary Speaker
“New directions and imperatives: What is taught in General Education”, University of the Philippines System Education Conference (virtual), 4 October 2022, Philippines - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Interdisciplinarity and the Future of ASEAN Higher Education”, ASEAN University Network Rectors’ Meeting Hosted by National University of Laos (hybrid), Landmark Mekong Riverside Hotel, Vientiane, 27 September 2022, Laos - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Youth, actors in the world's progress?”, Les Rencontres Economiques d'Aix-en-Provence (hybrid),10 July 2022, France - (2022) Panel Speaker
“How can we develop university leaders for a VUCA world?”, Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit, Fujita Health University, Aichi,(hybrid), 1 June 2022, Japan - (2022) Keynote Speaker
“Developing multiple citizenships: Shaping individuals, forging identities”, Opening Ceremony of Dunman High School's Careers, Scholarships and Higher Education (CSHE) Day 2022, 25 May 2022, Singapore - (2022) Panel Speaker
McKinsey CEO Leadership and Excellence Forum, Raffles Hotel, 4 May 2022, Singapore - (2022) Keynote Speaker
“Embracing Innovation, Inspiring Action: The Vital Role of Education”, International Baccalaureate Global Conference: Embracing Innovation, Inspiring Action, Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, 27 March 2022, Singapore - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Are universities crucial to making societal impact?”, The Straits Times Education Forum 2022, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore, 10 February 2022 (hybrid) - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Navigating Change: Re-envisioning Reading and Learning”, NLB Information Session for Educators, Singapore, 18 August 2021 (pre-recorded) - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Engaging Communities, Building Resilience”, World Cities Summit, Singapore, 21 June 2021 (hybrid) - (2021) Keynote Speaker
“Leadership in a Complex World: Managing the Dilemma of Growth”, STEP Asian Undergraduate Summit, Singapore, 7 June 2021 (virtual) - (2021) Panel Speaker
“How should universities work together to nurture creativity and innovation? Is a new model emerging post-Covid?”, Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit, London, 1 June 2021 (virtual) - (2021) Panel Speaker
“Are universities really a progressive force for all?”, Times Higher Education Innovation and Impact Summit, London, 20 April 2021 (virtual event) - (2021) Panel Speaker
“Reimagining Universities, Post-Covid”, The Straits Times Education Forum 2021, Singapore, 5 February 2021 (virtual) - (2020) Panel Speaker
“Leadership Strategies to Advance Diversity and Inclusion”, Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Summit, London, 3 November 2020 (virtual) - (2020) Moderator
“Fireside Chat with Mr Nadiem Makarim, Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, SMU Industry Leaders Dialogue: The Future of Higher Education in a Post COVID-19 Era”, 1 October 2020, Singapore (virtual) - (2020) Showcase and Panel Speaker
“Nurturing Entrepreneurial Leaders for the Knowledge-based Economy”, South China Morning Post Global Innovation & Technology Forum, Singapore, 28 September 2020 (virtual) - (2020) Panel Speaker
“Women in Academia: Impact of Covid-19”, NUHS Women in Science & Healthcare (WISH) Lunch & Learn Series, 9 September 2020, National University of Singapore (webinar series) - (2020) Panel Speaker
“Reinventing Higher Education: Mobility in higher education as a catalyst for resilience and renewal”, IE University, 29 June 2020, Madrid, Spain (online panel discussion) - (2020) Panel Speaker
“The Future of Universities”, The ANU Crawford Leadership Forum 'Big Picture Series: Australia in a COVID-19 World”, 4 June 2020, Canberra, Australia (online panel discussion).
Lectures/Panel/Forum Speaker/Moderator – Academic (from 2020 only)
- (2024) Speaker and Panellist
“Advancing Social Science & Humanities Research in Singapore”, Social Science & Humanities Ideas Festival Launch Event, 20 March 2024, National University of Singapore - (2023) Speaker
“New Religious Pluralisms in Singapore”, presentation to the Singapore Presidential Council on Religious Harmony, Ministry of Home Affairs, 28 March 2023, Singapore. - (2022) Speaker
“ASEAN Smart Cities Network: The promises and challenges of scaling smartness”, The University of Hong Kong Geography Distinguished Webinar Series (virtual), 4 March 2022, Hong Kong - (2020) Guest Lecture
“Scaling Smartness: ASEAN Smart Cities Network”, Guangzhou University, (online lecture) 6 July 2020, Guangzhou, China - (2019) Guest Speaker
“Heritage conservation: whose shared responsibility?” Lecture and Dialogue at “Voillah! Celebrating Singapore-France Cooperation in Heritage Conservation”, together with Mr Didier Repellin, 16 November 2019, School of Law, Singapore Management University. - (2023) Panel Speaker
“Pillars of Security: Social Cohesion & Resilience”, Panel 3: “Polarisation and its Effects On Resilience”, 14th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO), PARKROYAL COLLECTION, Marina Bay, Singapore, 26 April 2023. - (2022) Presentation Speaker
“New Religious Pluralisms in Singapore: Understanding Religious Diversity through Migrant Communities”, New Religious Pluralisms in Singapore Roundtable Discussion (virtual), College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University, 23 September 2022 - (2022) Panel Speaker
“What Does The Future Hold For Cities”, World Cities Summit 2022, Future of Cities Track, Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore, 2 August 2022 - (2022) Moderator
The International Women’s Forum In-Conversation with Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, ahead of release of White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development (virtual), 24 March 2022 - (2022) Panel Speaker
“Circular Pathways For Growth And Recovery”, Economist Impact: Sustainability Week Asia, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore (hybrid), 16 February 2022 - (2021) Panel Speaker
“To Build A Competitive And Inclusive Singapore”, Tembusu Forum 2021, Tembusu College, National University of Singapore, 14 September 2021 - (2021) Roundtable Speaker
“Springboarding Women And Girls: Ensuring Access To Digital Opportunities”, Qatar Economic Forum Industry Roundtable, 23 June 2021 (virtual) - (2021) Moderator
“Gender Equality In Singapore: An Action Plan for Progress”, Institute of Policy Studies Women’s Conference, Singapore, 3 June 2021 (virtual) - (2021) Panel Speaker
“The New Age Of Hybrid Work”, EPOS-South China Morning Post Virtual Conference, Singapore, 31 March 2021 - (2021) Guest Speaker
“Training The Gaze On ‘Heritage’: Hawker Culture In Singapore”, Perspectives – A Cognitio Event, National University of Singapore, 30 March 2021. - (2020) Panel Speaker
“Living With Diversity: Religious Harmony In Singapore", Centre for LiveableCities Webinar Series: Cities Adapting to a Disrupted World, Singapore, 22 October 2020 - (2020) CityStage Speaker
“Cities, Universities and the Co-creation of Sustainabilities”, WrldCity 2020 – A BestCities Festival (virtual), Singapore, 22 October 2020 - (2020) Panel Moderator
“Designing for Life’: What is the future of HDB living?”, HDB’s Webinar Series, Singapore, 15 October 2020
Email: lilykong@smu.edu.sg
Tel: +65 6828 1940
Singapore Management University
Administration Building
81 Victoria Street
Singapore 188065
Keynote address delivered at the Social Science & Humanities Ideas Festival Launch Event, 20 March 2024, National University of Singapore
Social science and humanities research (SSHR) is a strategic asset critical to Singapore’s navigation of increasingly complex and inter-related social and global challenges. Its relevance permeates every aspect of our lives, including the insights it offers on how to better harness science and technology for the greater good. Compared to about 40 years ago when only one university in Singapore offered humanities and social science programmes, the development of the SSHR ecosystem in Singapore has increased opportunities, funding support, and recognition for scholars. Nevertheless, gaps and challenges remain. Traditional metrics for assessing research impact require re-calibration, if not a complete shift, to encompass broader indicators beyond conventional academic achievement. Scholars must strategise how SSHR can create demonstrable impact, in both academic and societal terms. This necessitates adopting more diverse modes of communication to ensure research findings resonate not only with academics, but also policymakers and industry stakeholders, as well as broader audiences and communities, thereby amplifying their impact.
Special address delivered at the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS), 6 September 2022, Raffles City Convention Centre, 6 September,
Singapore
Social cohesion, a multiplicitous concept built on ideals of trust, community, shared values, and solidarity, is essential for societal harmony. Adapting Bertelsmann Stiftung's Social Cohesion Framework for Southeast Asia provides insights into understanding cohesion levels in Singapore. By virtue of Singapore’s geography, history, and demography, fault lines are unavoidable, including race and religion, migration and multiculturalism, inequality and inequity, virtual and physical divides, and intergenerational disconnects. Mitigating these challenges requires nurturing social relations, fostering connectedness, and prioritising the common good. The management of social cohesion in Singapore is multifaceted in nature, combining state-led initiatives through legal, policy, and regulatory mechanisms with grassroots efforts. However, persistent issues such as xenophobia, NIMBYism, and perceived competition for opportunities may pose ongoing challenges to cohesion efforts.
Keynote address delivered at the 2020 Denton Rodyks Dialogue Global Smart Cities: Challenges and Opportunities (webinar), 25 September 2020, Singa-pore
The ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) may be described as a form of technocratic regionalism - where technology, in fostering greater connectedness within the region, promotes growth and sustainability; enhances the quality of life and constructs a stronger regional identity. While a laudable objective, there are various challenges of scaling smartness, related to the management of space, society and institutions. These could take the form of antecedent challenge, divergent infrastructural developments, privatisation and formalisation of city spaces, power and inequality, vertical and horizontal (non-)integration, speed and efficacy. For a regional smart cities network such as ASCN to have a chance of success, there is a need to GO SLOW - to minimise the potentially negative effects that come with speed and to GO SMALL - to minimise the potentially negative effects of transformation and recognise the value of small, incremental improvements rather than major transformations that may be out of sync with the material conditions of the city in question. This is counter-intuitive but is offered to acknowledge and address the geographical and historical specificities of Southeast Asian cities.
Keynote address delivered at the Inaugural Singaporean Researchers Global Summit, 6 August 2019, National University of Singapore
“The long-term future of social sciences turns largely on our ability to connect our research agenda to human needs (Harman, 2003). Academic disciplines are esteemed, supported and patronized largely to the degree they are perceived as providing a ‘return’ on invested societal resources. Disciplinary relevance and survival are tied to research agendas pursued – the greater the perceived ‘return’, the better for the long-term health of the discipline. But beyond survival and a desired prominence for the social sciences, it is surely a “moral duty” (Martin, 2001:190) for social scientists to be socially relevant.”
The Straits Times, 23 September 2016
Professor Kong discussed the pros and cons of religious competition and the challenges of building resilience in a multi-religious society. While Prof Kong acknowledged that religious competition can degenerate into disruptive conflict and destabilising violence, she pointed out that it is important to remember that religious competition can also have positive consequences. “It opens up religious choice for individuals. It has the potential to augment social welfare, for example, through the increased provision of psychological and social support services through religious networks,” she said. Prof Kong shared her views on the relation between globalisation and religious change. She observed that globalisation has reinforced and deepened religious consciousness, rather than diminished it. She noted that that growing migration has resulted in a significantly more plural religious demography in many parts of the world, adding that new technologies greatly enhance the ability of religious groups to disseminate religious messages and religious content widely and rapidly. Lastly, Prof Kong discussed the topic of building resilience in Singapore. She stressed that the protection and resilience we require rely on the ability of a people to absorb, adapt to or mitigate the influence of negative stressors, including any conflict and violence resulting from religious competition, and relating – even in misled and misinterpreted ways – to religious beliefs. She highlighted that resilience in a multi-religious society comes from trust within and between religious groups, and between religious and secular groups. “These ties take time to build, and require us to have a common understanding of what challenges we face, a willingness to think about them together, and a healthy discourse about how to address them. They also require an openness to the commonality of beliefs and values, even practices, across religions, and between religion and secular morality,” she added.