Profile: Philip Liat-Kok Yeo ’87, Singapore
December 2005
Setting his sights high comes naturally to one-man whirlwind Philip Yeo, chairman of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Biopolis Park creator. A visionary who hopes to lead his tiny nation-state to the forefront of biomedical innovation, Philip laid the groundwork for this strategic model in part during his Eisenhower Fellowship. Through visits to universities and corporate research labs in 52 cities in 8 harried weeks, the vision of a collaborative venture harnessing creative scientific powers was planted.
A self-described “organizer by instinct,” Yeo began deliberately shaping his world even as a high school student, when he raised money for the construction of a private chemistry lab (since the school lab had limited hours) by showing rented movies in the neighborhood. In a year, he had a fully-equipped facility, set up in his aunt’s attic, stocked with what recalls was “the best that money could buy.”
He attended the University of Toronto on a Canadian Government scholarship, receiving a degree in industrial engineering in 1970, and then returned to Singapore where he earned a master’s degree in systems engineering in 1974 while serving at the Ministry of Defense. Yeo later obtained a Master’s in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School in 1976 while on a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship. He worked his way up to be Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defense in 1979 responsible for Logistics, Research and Defense Industry.
In 1986, he moved on to the Economic Development Board (EDB) of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Yeo played the role of change agent at EDB, where he substantively redirected their focus from traditional fields to newly developing high-tech industries. Additionally, he pioneered Singapore’s participation in international infrastructure development projects in Batam and Bintan Islands in nearby Indonesia, Bangalore in India , Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam and Wuxi and Suzhou cities in China, and masterminded undertakings such as the $4 billion Jurong Island complex, in which seven small offshore islands were linked with an imported landfill to form a huge new industrial area off land-strapped Singapore for the growing petroleum chemical industries.
While serving as the first Chairman of the National Computer Board from 1981 to 1987, Yeo played a leading role in formulating and championing Singapore's first national computerization plan, steering his nation into the information age while also establishing and leading the Singapore Technologies Group of companies (1987 to 1994), many of which are now publicly listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. He then led Sembawang Group (Marine & Engineering industries from 1994-999) and CapitaLand (hotels and leading properties in Asia from 1999-2005).
While Singapore’s manufacture of electronics and computers was a successful economic strategy for two decades, now other nations are producing these products at a lower cost. Thus, states Yeo, “We are developing biotech into the next pillar of our prosperity.”
While Singapore boasts little tradition of academic research in biomedicine, and few private investors comfortable with the risks of biotech, these factors only seem to fuel Yeo’s relentless enthusiasm. As he says, Singapore itself defies economic logic: “We have no markets, no raw materials. All the industry we’ve created is illogical. But what choice do we have?” In fostering the country’s knowledge-based economy and charting its future course, Yeo emphasizes that “the key for Singapore is developing human capital, because the country is so small and resource-scarce.”
At the core of this initiative to make Singapore a global center of excellence in several fields, including cancer and regenerative medicine, is Biopolis Park. This state-of-the-art network of seven buildings with 2 million square feet of research laboratories connected by sky bridges includes facilities for large pharmaceutical companies and researchers in genomics, nanotechnology, bioinformatics and other cutting-edge disciplines. Biopolis has already attracted almost 2,000 scientists (Western and Western-trained Asians) who will be working collectively with an emerging corps of Singaporean researchers.
Yeo’s model is to identify the best people in biomedicine and then give them the freedom – and the monies – to pursue their research and development goals unfettered by funding constraints and government restrictions. “The most important thing is the people. If you treat them well, they’re happy, and they become an important advertisement for other people. My job is basically spotting them, then having the patience and time to bring them here.”
The missing – and essential – part of this equation? A trained local workforce. Through innovative scholarship funds, splashy advertising campaigns, and a totally revamped national curriculum focused on life sciences, Yeo hopes that by 2010, Singapore will have ‘grown’ 1,000 PhD-qualified researchers.
Yeo’s fellowship program focused on how the government, businesses, and university communities in the U.S. encourage, develop, and stimulate the pursuit of new technologies and innovations. He visited several major research laboratories around the country, and met with venture capitalists and cutting-edge technology developers. These experiences, coupled with a particularly significant appointment with Dr. Sydney Brenner, a Nobel Laureate in molecular biology at the SALK Institute in La Jolla, California, helped inform his commitment to fostering human capital as the vital ingredient to keeping his city-state’s economy afloat.
Through his fellowship, Yeo began the process of travel and engagement in which he observed best practices, engaged with leading practitioners and forward-thinking entrepreneurs, and developed a global network that persists today. Now, he is again spending much of his time on the road, visiting biomedical centers around the world as he spreads the word of the Singapore revolution
As an EF trustee, Yeo continues to foster this wider network. In 2002, he was one of the hosts for 15 newly-minted Eisenhower Fellows from the region for a 2-day executive seminar, and generously hosted guests during Asia in the World, an international EF conference attended by over 150 Fellows and spouses in June 2005 that was co-hosted by the Singapore Eisenhower Fellowships Society. Yeo maintains an on-going dialogue with Fellows from his cohort, and has welcomed visiting Fellows from the U.S. as they embark on their fellowship programs abroad.
Yeo’s advice to new Fellows? Focus on human capital. “Invest in your young people. Nurture and develop them to be future leaders. They will bring your country to the next level of progress”.
Parts of this profile were adapted from an article in the October 2001 Harvard School Bulletin.
Read more about Yeo & Biopolis in the press:
A*Star chief manages by 'benign neglect'
Nurturing science, Singapore-style
A*STAR sets up new synthesis lab to improve chemistry, drug research