Irene ThamSenior Tech Correspondent

Investments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in re-search and development are grow-ing at twice the pace it was in the past decade, Finance MinisterHeng Swee Keat said yesterday.

Speaking at the opening ofthe second annual Leaders inScience Forum held at the Biopo-lis research hub in Buona Vista,he said R&D investments bySMEs grew 7 per cent yearly from 2010 to 2015.

In the previous five-year period, that rate was just 3 per cent.

Overall, R&D investments by businesses grew 8 per cent yearly from 2010 to 2015, topping $5 bil-lion in 2015.

“This is very encouraging. Today, Singapore is regarded well as a vi-

brant international research hub,” Mr Heng said.

And even as he hailed the in-crease in R&D investment, he stressed the need for companies to continue spending some of those resources looking for opportuni-ties outside their sector.

“The real world is messy and does not fit neatly into one specific discipline,” he said.

“Often, to innovate, we have to bring together knowledge and in-sights across different areas, and to keep an open mind about new possibilities.”

R&D activities may not have im-mediate payoffs, but Mr Heng said they spawn new businesses, en-trepreneurs and ecosystems, which are key to creating a competitive edge for Singapore.

Singapore-based Addvalue Tech-nologies, a 23-year-old satellite communications product maker, is

among those that have boosted R&D spending, having invested some US$3 million (S$4.1 million), or about 20 per cent of its revenue last year, in product R&D.

“We need to expand beyond the traditional shipping and oil and gas sectors for business to grow,” said Dr Lim Wei Ming, vice-president of advanced develop-ment at Addvalue.

Its R&D efforts allow the com-pany to target the smart agricul-ture space, where its satellite com-munications products can be de-ployed in plantations to allow sen-sors to monitor environmental and soil conditions. Most of these plantations in Asia do not have 3G or 4G connections.

In January last year, the Singa-pore Government renewed itsfive-year $19 billion research fund to sustain the R&D momentum here.

The sixth Research Innovation and Enterprise road map will see R&D investments in sustainable en-ergy, artificial intelligence and ad-vanced manufacturing, among

other areas, through 2020.And “open innovation” is the

way forward, as set out by the Com-mittee on the Future Economy tasked to chart Singapore’s blue-print for economic growth.

This means tapping the exper-tise of overseas entrepreneurs or the many research institutions in Singapore.

One example is the opening of Block71 Jakarta last month to allow businesses from Singapore and In-donesia to explore R&D and collab-oration opportunities.

The 1,500 sq m facility inJakarta’s Kuningan district is a tie-up between the National Univer-sity of Singapore’s entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise and Indone-sia’s Salim Group conglomerate.

It is based on Singapore’sBlock71 in Ayer Rajah Crescent, the heart of Singapore’s entrepre-neurship scene and home to a com-munity of start-ups, venture capi-talists and incubators.

“We must continue to forge closer partnerships and streng-then our innovation ecosystem (to) keep Singapore competitive and relevant to the world,” said Mr Heng.

And if innovation is about new combinations and new possibili-ties, even cross-disciplinary or in-ter-disciplinary work may not be adequate.

“We will need a sense of wonder and curiosity,” he added.

itham@sph.com.sg

SEE BUSINESS C1

Ng Huiwen

Six months ago, Mr Mohammad Roslan Zaini invited a man to be his flatmate after he learnt that he had been sleeping at the staircase land-ing at Block 165A, Teck Whye Cres-cent, for two years.

Yesterday morning, Mr Roslan was found dead and his 48-year-old flatmate, known only as Rosli, has since been arrested for his murder.

The Straits Times understands that the 35-year-old victim had suf-fered stab wounds to his chest and was found lying motionless atabout 4.40am on a grass patch at the foot of his block.

There was a trail of blood from the corridor outside his fourth- storey one-room rental unit lead-ing down the staircase to where the victim finally collapsed from his injuries.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 4.55am.

Next-door neighbour FrankieTan, 49, told ST that Rosli had been sleeping at the third-storey stair-case landing of the block for two years, before the victim invited him to move into his flat.

The warehouse assistant, who had known Mr Roslan for about three years, added: “The victim said he pitied him, that is why he in-vited him.”

He said Rosli came across as a po-lite man who had previously apolo-gised for the ruckus he made when frequent fights broke out in the unit.

Another neighbour, Ms Ani No-raini, 42, said that the loud argu-ments would erupt at least once a week and would go on for hours, even late into the night.

“The police officers came by very often. It is normal,” she said, adding that the early morning fight yester-day started with a loud argument be-fore degenerating into a yelling match. It is believed the argument involved the victim and Rosli.

Housewife Sasha Nuraisah, 31, who lives on the same floor as the victim, said she had heard a commo-tion at 4am yesterday. “I heard a woman shouting in Malay, ‘you don’t be crazy’. But I didn’t think much of it, because there have al-ways been fights and people shout-ing in that unit,” she said.

A 57-year-old kitchen helper,who lives one floor above the vic-tim, said he saw a panic-stricken

man running into the unit at about 4am. He did not recognise the man, but said it was not the victim.

Ms Ani, who works in the logistics sector, said the victim, who had dyed blonde hair, was a divorcee. His former wife and baby son used to live in the unit with him.

Neighbours said fights oftenbroke out in the unit, especially when the victim had friends over for gatherings, which were said to be rowdy affairs.

When ST arrived at the scene at about 11am, police officers were seen gathering evidence in the flat, and at the corridor and staircase.

At about 11.30am, a woman who identified herself as the victim’s girl-friend arrived at the block.

She said a friend had alerted her to the incident involving herboyfriend whom she only got to-gether with in May.

Visibly shaken, with tearswelling up in her eyes, she said: “My friend just told me to come down now, because (my boy-friend) was unconscious.”

The weapon used in the murder has yet to be recovered. Investiga-tions are ongoing.

nghuiwen@sph.com.sg

Chia Yan MinEconomics Correspondent

Singapore has come out ahead of Hong Kong in a ranking of the world’s most liveable cities, due mainly to education improvements.

The country rose 11 spots to 35th, while Hong Kong fell two places to 45th in the annual league table com-piled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Melbourne was named the world’s most liveable city for the seventh straight year, while Damascus in Syria came in last on the list of 140 cities surveyed.

The EIU ranks cities by assigning each a rating for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, health-care, culture and environment, edu-cation and infrastructure. The rat-ings are then compiled andweighted to give a score out of 100.

Mr Stefano Scuratti, who leads the EIU’s public policy, economics and politics consulting team in South-East Asia, said Singapore’s “fantastic” performance in thisyear’s ranking is in line with a trend that has seen the country improve by 17 places over the past five years.

Improvements in indicators re-lated to education were the princi-pal driver of this, he said.

While Singapore performedstrongly across most liveability met-rics, it did less well in the culture and environment domain, which measures elements such as the availability of sports and cultural events, he added.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s slide was attributed to “the aftermath of the Umbrella Revolution, whichhighlighted people’s unease with the recent political developments fol-lowing the proposed reforms to the electoral system”, said Mr Scuratti.

Among major cities with declin-ing scores, only Paris – hit by a spate of recent terror attacks in and around the city – recorded a worse slump than Hong Kong.

Still, Mr Scuratti said both Hong Kong and Singapore “are extremely liveable cities... with scores of 88.8 and 90.4 (out of 100), respectively”.

The EIU report noted that cities with the best scores tend to be mid-sized and located in wealthier countries with a relatively low popu-lation density. “These can foster a range of recreational activities with-out leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure.”

CIMB Private Bank economist Song Seng Wun noted that Singa-pore is striving to be a global city and is positioning itself as a hub for new technologies and emerging sectors such as e-commerce and fintech, which should contribute to improv-ing its liveability in the long term.

Also, “those with families in-evitably find that Singapore is an at-tractive place because of the infra-structure and education system”.

“Singapore will never be thecheapest place to be based in, but on the whole it is an attractive place to live, work and play,” he added.

chiaym@sph.com.sg

Police officers gathering evidence outside the Teck Whye Crescent flat of the victim, Mr Mohammad Roslan Zaini, yesterday. His flatmate Rosli has been arrested for his murder. ST PHOTOS: DESMOND FOO

Jump in pace of R&D investments by SMEsHeng Swee Keat urges firms to continue seeking opportunities outside their sector

WATCHTHE VIDEOPolice officers gather evidence at crime scene.str.sg/4KFg

NOT CHEAPEST, BUT STILL ATTRACTIVE

Singapore will never be the cheapest place to be based in, buton the whole it is an attractive place to live, work and play.

’’ECONOMIST SONG SENG WUN

Melbourne, AustraliaVienna, AustriaVancouver, CanadaToronto, CanadaCalgary, CanadaAdelaide, AustraliaPerth, AustraliaAuckland, New ZealandHelsinki, FinlandHamburg, GermanySingaporeHong Kong

NOTE: *Both cities receive thesame overall liveability score.

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Rank20162017 City

Source: THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNITSTRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS

Most liveable cities

CROSS- DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

The real world is messy and does notfit neatly into one specific discipline. Often, to innovate, we have to bring together knowledge and insights across different areas, and to keep an open mind about new possibilities.

’’FINANCE MINISTER HENG SWEE KEAT,on the need for firms to look for opportunities outside their sector.

Part of the trail of blood that started from the fourth floor down to the ground floor.

Man, 35, found dead after dispute with flatmate

Mr Mohammad Roslan Zaini was found dead yesterday morning.

Singapore beats HK in liveability ranking

A4 TOPOFTHENEWS | THE STRAITS TIMES | THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 |