By Jamie Ee Wen Wei

Science and mathematics garnered high praise last night.

Giving an overview of their impact on Singapore, Dr Tony Tan said a strong focus on maths and science education helped it move from labour-intensive industries like textiles and electronics assembly to more highly-skilled ones like computer chip manufacturing in the 1980s.

Today, the emphasis on the two subjects continues to be important as Singapore moves further up the value chain into new areas of cutting-edge technology, including biomedical sciences and water and environment technologies.

Dr Tan, chairman of the National Research Foundation, was speaking at an event at the Sheraton Towers to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Science.

'For Singapore's economic strategy to succeed, we need to ensure that science and maths education in Singapore continues to be relevant, rigorous and engaging for all students,' he said.

To that end, Dr Tan, who is an alumnus, said the faculty has done well.

One of the biggest schools under the NUS umbrella, it is among the lead agencies preparing students to engage in research and development.

It is home to two of the four Research Centres of Excellence, each with a budget of $150 million or more, to do cutting-edge research.

Yesterday, 17 alumni were honoured for their careers and contributions to society.

Among the winners of the Outstanding Science Alumni Award were Mrs Chua-Lim Yen Ching, founding principal of Northlight School, and Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, president and CEO of SMRT Corporation.

As part of its celebration, the faculty also raised more than $250,000 to fund bursaries and overseas immersion programmes for students.