Description:

Kirpal Singh, Director of the Wee Kim Wee Centre, Singapore Management University 

Of late there has been much discussion and debate about the virtue and relevance of the Democractic model for nations around the world. Singapore, one of the smallest of nations, has proven to be phenomenally successful becoming one of the richest in the world. However, Singapore is also held to be mainly *non-democratic*. In this Talk I explore the multi-facetted nature of Singapore politics and demonstrate how this tiny island Republic grew to become a global economic powerhouse.

Kirpal Singh is a poet, fictionist and critic from Singapore with a powerful international presence highlighted by constant invitations from the top universities such as Cambridge, Yale, MIT, Oxford, NYU, UPenn. Dr Singh has featured in some of the world’s best-known arts/literary festivals such as the Edinburgh, Toronto, York, Cambridge, Melbourne, Adelaide. As a socio-political commentator/observer he has appeared in TIME, CNN, CNBC, CAN, WALL STREET JOURNAL, and other major media around the globe. His poetry and fiction is studied in many universities, colleges and schools and his book on Creativity – THINKING HATS & COLOURED TURBANS: Creativity Across Cultures (2004) broke new ground and provoked global discussion and debate. Ranked among the eminent writers in English today, Singh continues to inspire debate through his insightful observations of society and mega trends. Indeed, in recent years, Singh has come to be recognized as an important Futurist, providing lead-ins to a future that is puzzling and complex.