President's Profile

In the last of the ST-SMU Reimagining Universities four-part series, SMU President Professor Lily Kong discussed the changes that the coronavirus pandemic will bring to universities. She predicts that post-pandemic, universities, including SMU, will mount more hybrid courses, with some parts taught online. But she maintains that most courses will be conducted face to face. Prof Kong also shared about SMU’s virtual open house and how going online has worked well for SMU’s admissions, the importance of overseas stints for students and how SMU will find ways of giving them global exposure in some form when they cannot travel. She also explained the role of university rankings and shared her views on such rankings.

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Keynote Address delivered at the Plenary Session of QS-Apple 2019, 27 November 2019, Fukuoka International Congress Center, Japan

“If ‘change is inevitable’, then the universities of today, as an integral component of society, are not exempt from this inevitability … Unlike the advent of the Internet or Artificial Intelligence, both of which are technological disruptions, the Ageing Society is a demographic phenomenon. But, like the 4th industrial revolution, it is also a form of disruption and one that has significant social and economic implications for the world. We are living in an ageing world … How would this demographic shift present changes and challenges to the universities, you might ask.”

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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.”

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Speech at the 11th ASEAN University Network Rectors' Conference, 11 July 2019, Siem Reap

Professor Kong discussed four key thoughts on data and digital technology and its implications for universities, using the SMU experience: 1) SMU’s experience in mitigating risks and overcoming challenges in this digital age; 2) how SMU leveraged technology in our decision-making; 3) how SMU is contributing to knowledge creation that enhances the ways in which the world may better benefit from data and digital technologies; and 4) how SMU prepares students for the world of digital technologies.

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Urban Solutions magazine, January 2019

Professor Kong suggested that Singapore’s local cuisine is the outcome of different food traditions intermingling through trade and cultural exchange. She argued that as what the world eats becomes increasingly globalised, the best way to keep Singaporean food culture alive is to share it with others abroad. The article was published in Urban Solutions, the bi-annual magazine of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), in an issue which took the theme Food Secure Cities. CLC is a division of the Ministry of National Development, Singapore.

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Singapore Management University was originally set up as a business school in collaboration with Wharton, the business school of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and had the mission to be an agent of change by being fashioned after the US system,  Times may have changed and perhaps we need fewer of such partnerships today. But they were needed at a particular point in Singapore’s development.

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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.

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The Business Times, 23 September 2015

In a special feature, SMU Provost Professor Lily Kong highlighted the importance of integrating humanities (and social sciences) into business management education, noting that SMU, from inception, has demonstrated a commitment to broad-based learning and multi-disciplinary learning, critical thinking, and emphasis on communicative abilities whilst delivering in-depth education in a specialised field. Professor Kong also discussed the value of cross-cultural communications and cultural awareness, citing several modules which SMU offers to enable students to communicate and negotiate effectively with key international stakeholders. She added that graduates with a broad-based education are more likely to display versatility and be articulate and knowledgeable in diverse subjects, hence making them more sought after in the market. Professor Kong expressed her wish to add to the SMU curriculum more humanities modules in the years ahead as she believes that a management university with a curriculum that combines specialisation with the holistic and broad-based approach of the liberal arts may best-serve the future needs of Singapore, stressing that SMU takes the lead in this.

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