The inaugural centennial lecture: celebrating milestones achieved and pondering the road ahead.

1 University Professor, Senior Consultant in Endocrinology and Immediate Past Vice-Chancellor National University of Singapore, Singapore Address for Correspondence: Professor Lim Pin, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119074. Email: [email protected] I am deeply conscious of the conspicuous honour of being invited to deliver the inaugural Centennial Lecture. This lecture has been specially established to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Faculty of Medicine and of the National University of Singapore (NUS); it is the opening event of the main scientific programme of the special 39th Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine. I thank the Academy of Medicine and the Faculty of Medicine for bestowing on me this rare honour and the opportunity to make a personal contribution to the centennial celebrations. One hundred years ago, our medical school was founded and it marked the very first step leading to the development of a full-fledged university, which we now call NUS. Compared to the very old universities of Europe, some of which boast a history of almost a millennium (e.g., University of Bologna), one century of existence seems hardly significant. But considered in the context of the history of the society in which a university has been established, our centenary takes on a significance which justifies the jubilation and pride that characterise our centennial celebrations. Medical education was established and with it the beginning of our University in 1905, 86 years after the founding of Singapore itself. Our medical school and University have since attained the standing befitting a developed country, and have done so in tandem with Singapore’s rapid transformation from a thirdto a firstworld country. The focus of my talk today will be on the Faculty of Medicine, since this is the only component of the University that can lay claim to having attained the venerable age of 100. I shall first share with you my personal evaluation of the major milestones achieved so far by our Faculty. This will be followed by an attempt to assess what the future holds for the Faculty, the important issues and questions that will challenge the Faculty and how the Faculty could respond to them, drawing on the valuable lessons and experience gained from our rich history of 100 years.