Securing Our Future

Dr Noeleen Heyzer is the Institute of Policy Studies' 10th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of her three IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered in November and December 2021, and includes highlights of her question-and-answer segments with our audience.Dr Heyzer examines how Singapore can continue to contribute to multilateral governance amid 21st century global challenges. Highly dependent on multilateral governance, Singapore has to engage the region and contribute to the multilateral global order. Dr Heyzer highlights the need for Singapore to build a mindset of 'solidarity as self-interest', contribute to a normative future that is equitable, inclusive and sustainable, and rethink our current multilateral governance framework. What does a renewed multilateralism look like? Can Singapore become an epicentre for this new multilateralism? And critically, how can we secure our common future and shape what we become as a nation?The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore, named after Singapore's sixth and longest-serving president. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

More than ever, the economic health of a country depends upon the skills, knowledge, and capacities of its people. How does a person acquire these human assets and how can we promote their development? Securing the Future assembles an interdisciplinary team of scholars to investigate the full range of factors—pediatric, psychological, social, and economic—that bear on a child's development into a well-adjusted, economically productive member of society. A central purpose of the volume is to identify sound interventions that will boost human assets, particularly among the disadvantaged. The book provides a comprehensive evaluation of current initiatives and offers a wealth of new suggestions for effective public and private investments in child development. While children from affluent, highly educated families have good quality child care and an expensive education provided for them, children from poor families make do with informal child care and a public school system that does not always meet their needs. How might we best redress this growing imbalance? The contributors to this volume recommend policies that treat academic attainment together with psychological development and social adjustment. Mentoring programs, for example, promote better school performance by first fostering a young person's motivation to learn. Investments made early in life, such as preschool education, are shown to have the greatest impact on later learning for the least cost. In their focus upon children, however, the authors do not neglect the important links between generations. Poverty and inequality harm the development of parents and children alike. Interventions that empower parents to fight for better services and better schools are also of great benefit to their children. Securing the Future shows how investments in child development are both a means to an end and an end in themselves. They benefit the child directly and they also help that child contribute to the well-being of society. This book points us toward more effective strategies for promoting the economic success and the social cohesion of future generations. A Volume in the Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building

"It is the human purpose to propagate Life". In this popular science title, a well recognized researcher describes how we can seed new solar systems with microbial representatives of our family of organic life. The book also describes a life-centered astroethics that will motivate these missions, based on the unity of all gene/protein life: a common ancestry; a unique complexity, and the coincidence of physical laws that allow biology, giving life a special place in Nature; a shared drive for survival and procreation, and a shared future. As part of this family, it is our purpose to safeguard and expand life in the universe. To advance this purpose, Professor Mautner pioneered research on the fertilities of extra-terrestrial materials in asteroids/meteorites. The results show that many microorganisms and even plants can grow on resources found commonly in space, which are basically similar to Earth materials. The conclusions are significant: If life can flourish on Earth, life can flourish throughout the universe. Based on the results on microbes and meteorites, the author estimates the ultimate amounts of life that our missions can induce in the cosmological future. A life-centered astroethics can assure that our descendants will be there to enjoy this future.

This report on the education of minorities results from policy research projects conducted at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at Texas University (Austin) as part of the Quality Education for Minorities project to provide background research for development of a national action plan on improving the quality of education for Alaska native, American Indian, Black American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican students. The following papers are presented as chapters: (1) "Education for Minorities and the National Interest" (R. Marshall); (2) "Parent-Child Interventions for Children Age Zero to Three: The Role of the States" (S. J. Means); (3) "Neither Equitable nor Excellent: The Effects of Tracking on Minority Students" (F. Mecca); (4) "Everyone Can Learn Math" (R. M. Nielsen); (5) "Mathematics and Science Education: Reclaiming Minorities at the Elementary School Level" (D. T. Garza); (6) "Assessment and Referral of Hispanic Bilingual Special Education Students: A Growing Controversy" (C. C. Talkington); (7) "Magnet Schools: A Quality Alternative" (E. Fonken); (8) "Magnet Schools for Disadvantaged Students in Texas" (J. Cano); (9) "Performance-Based Funding for Schools: A Practical and Feasible Alternative" (D. M. Marchick); (10) "Choice in Minnesota: Open Enrollment as a Means of Educational Reform" (J. S. Wicinski); (11) "Coordinating Social Services: The Role of Schools" (J. M. Ehrlich); (12) "The Potential Impact of Restructuring on the Education of Minorities: The Miami Experience" (B. Rungeling); (13) "The Use of High-School Vocational Counseling To Help Students Choose and Implement Career Choices" (S. L. Holland); (14) "Improving the School-to-Work Transition of Minority Youths" (R. W. Glover); and (15) "Effective Strategies for the Recruitment and Development of Black Faculty at Four-Year Institutions of Higher Education" (R. Pickering). One figure and 21 tables illustrate the essays. Contains 454 references. (SLD)

The future will bring change for Australia. But whether that change is for the better or worse largely depends on the decisions we make today as individuals and as a nation. Recognising rapid changes in the global economy, environment and policy, the Australian Government engaged the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) to undertake detailed interdisciplinary research to help guide Australian thinking and policy decisions. Dozens of Australia’s finest minds assessed the opportunities available to the nation globally and domestically, charting a course for the future. The resulting findings can prepare Australia to address the challenges ahead and make the most of the opportunities. Securing Australia’s Future synthesises the major themes that emerge from ACOLA’s reports. Each chapter includes key findings designed to optimise Australia’s prosperity and place in the region. The future is a long game but its base must be built now. This book provides a vision for the nation, for its politicians, public servants and industry leaders – a sound footing for securing Australia’s future. It is a vital resource for Members of Federal and State parliaments, senior public servants, industry leaders, universities and the interested public.