Welcome Address by Chief Executive of Singapore Science Centre at the Launch of Science.04

3 September 2004

WELCOME ADDRESS BY DR CHEW TUAN CHIONG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF SINGAPORE SCIENCE CENTRE AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF X-PERIMENT! AND LAUNCH OF SCIENCE.04, A MONTH OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & BIOMEDICINE AT THE SUNTEC CITY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, SUNTEC CITY, TEMASEK BOULEVARD ON 3 SEPTEMBER 2004 AT 12.00 NN

Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Information Communications and the Arts and Health

Associate Professor Lam Kong Peng,
Director, Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls

Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us today at the opening ceremony of X-periment! and launch of science.04.

There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere – a quote from the famous writer Isaac Asimov. Whilst the writer is known to have taken his readers on occasional flights of fancy with his famous Sci-Fi stories, this excerpt represents the very motive of all that we are doing this September with science.04 starting with X-periment!. Together with A*STAR, the Science Centre and our partner organisations will share with all of you the wonders of science, technology and biomedicine.

To spark off the many excitements of Science Month, join us today in witnessing the ingenuity of our local team of enterprising researchers from 16 successful organisations showcasing the latest in the field of local R&D. With this year’s theme on Live Science!, the focus is to encourage everyone to enjoy Science as a fun and imaginative activity. Whether you are someone who is already hooked on science, or someone who just wants to get a taste of what science is all about, there will always be something for everyone! With more than 120 activities ranging from competitions, exhibitions, carnivals, to workshops, international seminars and more, science.04 will bring science closer to the people and more importantly, bring people closer to science.

science.04 is amongst the largest and fastest growing science festival in the regions. This month, we will witness the returns of many successful highlight events organised by A*STAR & Science Centre. To name a few, the National Junior Robotics Competition has once again proved that it has created a winning formula with a new record high of 853 teams of Upper Primary and Lower Secondary school students programming the ultimate robot to out-perform the rest to claim the Championship title. The Images of Science – a digital imaging competition returns for the third year with stunning images, some of which you will be able to see today amongst the light boxes at the exhibition area. Two new anchor events, the Kids Science Fest! and Gene-Fest! will be held at the Singapore Science Centre between 15 – 21st September with more than 40 brilliant displays, workshops and science shows. Participants will have the chance to explore why they find science, experimentation and invention so fascinating! Kids will get to play while they learn!

To reach out to the people on a national level, Science Sparks return this year with weekly series of stirring science quizzes shown on TV throughout science.04. Every week, a new quiz will be screened to intrigue the mind as well as to help people understand a little more about how the science around us work.

In the same spirit of bringing science to everyone, the Singapore Science Centre is joining hands with the National Grid Office, the Infocomm Development Authority and the Educational Technology Division of the Ministry of Education to search for the most enticing, educational and cause-worthy ideas for a nationwide PC Grid Computing project. Through the “SG@Home [pronounced S G at Home] Ideas Competition”, you will have the opportunity to influence what type of scientific research you want your computer to do. Are you attached to folding protein molecules or searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, or do you aspire to something Uniquely Singaporean? Propose your ideas. Now is your chance to make a difference. More information about the competition can be found on the SG@Home website.

The Science Centre and A*STAR cannot and do not work alone in making science.04 possible. We are particularly thankful to our partner organisations, more than 30 of them from the research institutes, the universities and polytechnics for their effort in putting together more than 120 amazing events that will contribute towards nurturing scientific interests in our youths and also awareness to the people.

And of course, we are extremely grateful to Dr Balaji Sadasivan for his kind presence today. Thank you Minister.

And have a pleasant day at the carnival.