Encouraging Asians to ask questions

Q: How do you encourage Asian students to ask more questions?

A: In Asia, often students will not ask questions because they feel the professors know everything, and they are intimidated.

So professors have to start treating students as equals, then there will be more dialogue, and they will feel free to ask more questions.

In Asian societies, we often treat children as half-formed human beings who are to be seen and not heard, and we dismiss their questions by telling them they are too young to know. We should encourage them to ask good questions and answer them seriously, tell them what we know and what we do not know.

Q: But can teachers say "I don't know" in an Asian environment?

A: Yes, they can, although it is not easy in an Asian culture. In my own experience in Taiwan, teachers seem to know everything in high school. But in university, some have told me "I don't know".

I have learned that professors who seem to know all the answers may not be very good; they are usually not doing original research but imitating other people's work. The professors who say a lot of "I don't knows" could be pushing at the edge of new frontiers.

Q: What should students do in an environment that does not encourage them to ask questions?

A: If no one wants to hear your questions, you should scribble them down and save them, so you can ask them again later, when you move to the next institution, which encourages such questions.

Acceptance by graduate schools in the US does not depend on getting first-class honours and straight As.

Letters of recommendation that say you are unique, ask lots of good questions, will carry a lot of weight.

Q: What makes a world-class university? Can one be built quickly?

A: A world-class university has to influence the world.

To my knowledge, John Hopkins University and the University of Chicago have both achieved such a status relatively quickly. Usually, it takes a long time.

To build a world-class university in Singapore, you can of course recruit the top scholars of the world and provide them with the best equipment. But you also need top students who ask lots of good questions.

Perhaps you can also provide scholarships and attract the top students from overseas.

But then you are "buying" a university. And the university is no longer an integral part of society, which may not support it.

Q: What will be the next wave of technological breakthroughs?

A: The first wave was the industrial revolution, which tapped fossil energy, and freed men from the bounds of human and beast muscle power. About a decade ago we saw the second wave -- the IT revolution, which freed men from the limits of their own brains.

I think the next wave will be about tinkering with life itself. Yes, the third wave will be biotechnology.

Q: Should the cane be used to discipline children?

A: My mother used to wave a bamboo stick at me although I always ran away. I would not use the cane.

Certainly, it does not help creativity and I think the effect of caning is temporary. But I do believe in telling children what they did wrong. They should be punished -- perhaps you could make them wash dishes for a few weeks.

Q: How did Taiwan lure back its overseas-trained talent?

A: Taiwan was able to do it because of two factors.

The first is Taiwan's economic success, which means the availability of resources and opportunities.

The second is Taiwan's democratisation and political transformation, which means equal opportunities for everyone.