Official Opening of IMS on 17 July 2001

When approval to set up IMS was finally given by the Ministry of Education, Prof Chen personally picked two old University-owned bungalows at Prince George's Park within a stone's throw away from the technological hub of the Science Park. He oversaw the renovation and transformation of the two modest-looking buildings into what he hoped would be "a resort-like haven for research" within a peaceful, if not idyllic, environment.

The day of the Institute's official opening on 17 July 2001 began with bright sunshine that lasted until shortly after noon. When the guests have all taken leave of the reception at the lounge and after the journalists have fielded all their questions at the press conference that followed, the sky opened up with thunder and showers only to regain its composure just before a special lecture (in some sense, the Institute's inaugural lecture) was given by Professor Jean-Pierre Serre, who was on a three-week visit to the Institute and the Department of Mathematics (his fifth to the Department). One is tempted to believe that all should be well that begins well.

The approximately one-hour opening ceremony at the auditorium of the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, which is about 5 minutes' walk away from IMS, was attended by about 100 guests. About 40 of them were visitors to the Institute or participants of the first workshop of the inaugural program which had started the day before. About 40 came from NUS. The fact that more than half of the guests were not from NUS seemed to underline the Institute's objective of multi-disciplinary collaboration between researchers within NUS and without.

The three official speeches delivered may have offered some sobering thoughts, but by and large, the atmosphere throughout the ceremony was one of congeniality, informality and optimism. The ceremony ended with two short musical performances which reiterated the message that the spirit and substance of mathematics is cross-cultural in both the intellectual and sociological sense. The first was a rendition on four recorders by the Pipers' Guild @ NUS (an early music ensemble from NUS's Centre for the Arts) of J.S. Bach's "Fuga Alla Breve"- a piece that is as mathematical as it is occidental. The second was a performance on the guzheng (a traditional Chinese musical instrument that has its origins in the Middle East) by a young and talented Singaporean musician, Miss Lim Choo Li, of a piece titled "Xue Shan Chun Xiao" ("Spring Morning on Snow Mountain") and which is as lyrical as it is oriental.

The welcome speech by Prof Chen outlined the chasing of a collective dream that lead to the birth of IMS and the projection of a vision for research collaboration across disciplinary, organisational and physical borders. His slide presentation of the Institute's buildings and premises was not unlike that of a proud owner of a new home. The only regret he expressed was the recent demise of a friend and founding member of the Institute's international Scientific Advisory Board - Prof Jacques-Louis Lions of the French Academy of Science, who had helped in charting the direction of the Institute in its embryonic stage. Other members of the Board who were present were Professors Chong Chi Tat (NUS's Deputy Vice-Chancellor), Roger Howe (Yale), Lui Pao Chuen (Singapore's Chief Defence Scientist) and David Siegmund (Stanford) while the following three members were unable to come: Hans Föllmer (Humboldt-University of Berlin), Avner Friedman (Minnesota) and Keith Moffat (Cambridge).

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