22 July 2025 – [TALK] What Penang Can Learn from Albert Winsemius: The Dutch Connection to Singapore

What Penang Can Learn from Albert Winsemius: The Dutch Connection to Singapore

Date: 22nd July 2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Speaker: Professor Euston Quah
Moderator: Ms Ong Wooi Leng

Note: Registration is FREE. However, only in-person attendees are required to register. Online viewers may watch the live stream on Penang Institute’s Facebook and YouTube channel.

Abstract

What Can Penang Learn from Albert Winsemius: The Dutch Connection to Singapore

Singapore’s success owes much to Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius, whose economic strategies significantly shaped Singapore’s success for over 20 years from the early 1960s to the 1980s. This talk reflects on his pragmatic yet ambitious strategies, and how his approach to industrialization, human capital development, and urban planning shaped Singapore into a globally competitive and liveable city.

By revisiting Winsemius’ contributions from the compiled biographical account, expert reflections, and heritage insights, the presentation uncovers the distinctive characteristics of his policy-advising. Winsemius’ work was marked by a clear-eyed assessment of local conditions, a commitment to building institutional capacity, and a keen ability to match external models to internal realities.

These qualities not only defined his guidance to Singapore but offer enduring relevance to other countries and city-states such as Penang, which faces the dual challenge of sustaining economic dynamism while ensuring urban liveability and social cohesion. This talk aims to provide policymakers with insights into how the principles behind Singapore’s development can be adapted—not replicated—to position Penang as a resilient, competitive, and liveable city-region in the decades ahead.

About the Speaker

Professor Euston Quah is the Albert Winsemius Chair Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Centre at NTU, where he formerly headed the Economics department for 15 years, significantly enhancing its global standing. He is uniquely experienced, having also led the economics department at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

A prolific, well-cited author with over 100 articles and 20 books, Professor Quah is a global expert in cost-benefit analysis. He advises various ministries and international bodies, holding key roles on numerous boards and councils in Singapore. His vast contributions to economics and society earned him NTU’s Albert Winsemius Chair and Singapore’s Public Administration Medal (Silver).

About the Moderator

Ms. Ong Wooi Leng (王慧玲) holds two master’s degrees in Social Sciences (Economics) from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). She also holds a double major in Mathematics and Economics from USM.

With 11 years of experience in research, project management, and policy consultation, she currently heads the Socioeconomics and Statistics Programme at Penang Institute. Her recent studies focus on economic development, labour market analysis, and education economics.

Wooi Leng was the Chief Researcher for the Penang state biennial report entitled Penang Economic and Development Report published by Penang Institute for 2016, 2018, and 2020. She has also reviewed Sultan Nazrin Shah’s Charting the Economy: Early 20th Century Malaya and Contemporary Malaysian Contrasts in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (June 2020). One of her recent publications is The Future of Jobs and Education: The Role of STEM Uptake and Employability in Penang published by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Japan (2021).

Event Highlights

Event Summary

On July 22, Professor Euston Quah, the Albert Winsemius Chair Professor of Economics at NTU and author of Winsemius’s biography, shared invaluable insights on Singapore’s economic architect. Moderated by Ms. Ong Wooi Leng, the talk explored Dr. Albert Winsemius’s pragmatic yet ambitious strategies in industrialisation, human capital development, and urban planning, which significantly contributed to Singapore’s success from the early 1960s to the 1980s, transforming it into a globally competitive and livable city. Professor Quah drew key comparisons and distinctions between Penang and Singapore, highlighting the crucial lesson that these principles should be adapted to local conditions, not simply replicated, to cultivate further dynamism in our economy, improve liveability, and enhance social cohesion.