The Elementary Particle Physics Research in Singapore: the Past, the Present and the Future

The discovery of the Higgs Boson (or more popularly known in media as God particle) in early July was hailed as one of the most significant scientific breakthrough in the 21st Century, stirring a sensation in the Science community and Media around the world. This discovery allows us to reassess our understanding of the importance of elementary particle physics or high energy physics, and how its study has to a certain extent influenced the direction of future development of scientific research as a whole. In this article, we want to take a look at how Singapore has fared in this area so far, and discuss some of the issues concerning the policies and directions of the research in the basic sciences in the Asia Pacific region.