Outstanding Service Award

Professor TAN Kong Yam

Department of Business Policy

Prof Tan is a shining example of a faculty member who has extended his intellectual training and talent to the service of his country. NUS honours him for bringing credit to the University through his invaluable contributions to Singapore in the area of public policy.

For Prof Tan, good teamwork is the basis for success in any organisation and at any level. In his capacities as Head of Department, Chief Economist of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and former Director of the International Business Institute, he has always taken pains to assemble a critical mass of high-calibre talent into an effective driving force.

No one is better qualified than he to endorse the enhancement of joint input, especially when the right people are at the right places. An academic of international repute, he made an even greater impact when he crossed over to the public sector. His work at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and MTI helped to shape several of the nation's key economic policies. These ranged from the development of a framework that guides the management of the Singapore dollar exchange rate, to the policy of liberalising Central Provident Fund savings for investments. The composite leading indicators and the unit business cost index he helped design in the mid-1980's, to monitor the Singapore economy and its international competitiveness, are still being used today.

As Chief Economist of MTI since 1999, he participates actively in the formulation of off-budget measures to stimulate the economy and provides strong intellectual leadership for nearly all public sector economists in Singapore.

In receiving the award for distinguished service in his joint role as an academic and public sector economist, Prof Tan is pleased he has acted out NUS' vision of an open knowledge community where talents and ideas flow freely.