SINGAPORE'S PROSPECTS AS A REGIONAL UNIVERSITY HUB / Y ESTHER NG YOONG ERN

Abstract

Equipped with a strategic geographic location, excellent infrastructure and superior services and capabilities, Singapore sets out to establish herself as the Asia-Pacific gateway: bringing the world to the region and the region to the world. Already, pace setting standards are being developed to enhance Singapore's reputation as a vibrant, thriving hub for a wide range of services such as, Regional Headquarters, Communications and Media, Medical, Financial, Logistics, Information Technology, etc. This long list is inclusive of Higher Education, which shall be the area of focus for this study. In order to propel Singapore into an innovation-driven economy, there is an increasing need for high-level manpower, which is at present inadequate in Singapore. Hence, the government has been stressing the importance of attracting foreign talents not only in the workforce, but also in the universities. A call has also been made to develop Singapore into the "Boston of the East" - a dominant hub for education and learning. The objectives of this study are to consider the prospects of Singapore in becoming a regional university hub and her ability to tap the Asian market of students, amidst stiff and uprising competition from the neighbouring region and beyond. For the purpose of assessment and evaluation, the methodology applied will be that of a cross-country comparison using the context-input-process-output approach. An attempt is made to consider this study from various perspectives, including marketing and competitive service strategies. The study shows that Singapore has done fairly well in the context-input-process-output model, especially outstanding in the area of context, which reveals Singapore as having excellent qualities and factors for the ideal location of a regional university hub. In assessing the present two universities, however, there seems to be strong competition from several other Asian universities. This implies that Singapore has got to strive even harder in the making of world-class universities so as to gain a competitive edge in higher education. In addition, Singapore has to contend with the traditional rivals of export education, namely the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. US, in particular, has, in the past and present, been successfully attracting top foreign students and is still at the forefront of excellence in higher education. Australia, with its successful overseas marketing strategies, has managed to churn out huge profits for the economy via its export education industry. Hence, Singapore would be edged out if she does not quickly learn from the success of such rivals, and innovate to leapfrog onto a more competitive plane. The marketing of Singapore's universities, collaboration with overseas universities, improving creativity, innovation and independent learning, as well as building a strong alumni and private higher education are qualitative issues and developments in the making of a regional university hub. They are discussed at the end of the study to provide a complete view of the topic.