OUTSTANDING BARTLEYANS

Dr Chia Siow Yue Retired Director Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Class of 1953 -1957

Dr Chia was known as Tan Siew Yee during her years at Bartley. She was one of the few young girls who joined Bartley at the secondary school level. She was a school prefect, leader of the school debating team, and topped the school Senior Cambridge examinations. She remembers fondly the inspiring mentoring she received from the late Mr E W Jesudason and from Professor Maurice Baker (before he joined the university as lecturer).

After Bartley, Dr Chia went on to study at the University of Malaya in Singapore, was one of the University entrance scholars, and topped the Economics Honours class in 1961. She then proceeded to study at University of Manitoba and McGill University on a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and subsequently obtained her Ph D in Economics from McGill. She taught Statistics and Economics at the University of Singapore and the National University of Singapore from 1967 to 1996. She was appointed Director and CEO of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and retired from that position in October 2002. While at ISEAS, she was concurrently Director of the Singapore APEC Study Centre. She was also Regional Coordinator of the East Asian Development Network (EADN), a research network covering the whole of East Asia and funded by the World Bank, and has just retired from that position in September 2004.

Dr Chia remains an enthusiastic economist and researcher even after retiring from her administrative positions. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. She is very active on the international and regional research and consultancy circuit, travelling over 20 times a year to present research papers on various economic issues and give speeches at conferences, seminars and public forums overseas. She specialises on the economies of East Asia , particularly on issues of development, trade and investment, She has consulted for the World Bank, International Labour Organisation, OECD Development Centre, UNCTAD, UN-ESCAP, Asian Development Bank, and ASEAN Secretariat.

Dr Chia is married with two daughters and three grandchildren. She loves cooking, gardening and travelling.

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