Conclusion: strategic certainties facing Singapore in 2065

Abstract

This article attempts to look at Singapore in 2065, after 100 years of independence. Crystal ball gazing is a testing task. Our projections of trends even five or 10 years into the future involve weighing the influence of different alternative courses of action and an assessment of the most likely developments. The further down the road we go, the more we move away from describing the world as we know it today. What is striking is how much our imaginations are prisoners of the present. Even though we want to look beyond today and aim to conceive of a world which will unfold in the years ahead, we are shaped by our memories and experiences. Linear projections are common. We struggle to grapple with the possibility of discontinuities, of changes which break existing moulds. At the same time, our natural optimism leads us to plot a future which highlights Singapore's role at the forefront of nation-states, a beacon of economic growth, social development and political stability. When we discuss the possibility of changes, the tendency is to think in terms of incremental shifts. Few consider the possibility of paradigm shifts, which should not be ignored.