14 April 2000

SPEECH BY MR MOHAMAD MAIDIN PACKER MOHD, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY (EDUCATION) AND MP FOR MARINE PARADE GRC AT THE CDC-ITE SCHOLARSHIP & BURSARY PRESENTATION AT KG UBI EUNOS VILLAGE RC AT BLK 415 EUNOS ROAD 5 #01-46 ON FRIDAY, 14 APRIL 2000 AT 7.30PM

Good Evening Award recipients, Parents, and Guests.

I am glad to see all of you this evening together with your family members, whom I have no doubt, are also here to share the proud moment of your child's achievement. To the parents who are present this evening, I would like to take this opportunity to commend your encouragement and support in your children's education. Our society is one which attaches great value to education, and where schools, parents, the community and the government work hand-in-hand to provide the best possible education for our children. To spur your children to do well academically shows the high regard that you have for education.

2 Education aims to mould the minds of tomorrow. An educated person is one who possesses the values, mindset, knowledge and skills to be a responsible member of his/her family, a useful person in society and a good citizen of Singapore. And for that reason, the Government invests heavily in the education of our young.

3 The awards that we are presenting today demonstrate the government's and the community's commitment to encourage our students to do well in their studies especially those in the tertiary and technical education. The CDC CCC-ITE scholarships and bursaries were first presented in 1996 and to date, a total of 25 scholarships and 122 bursaries have benefited ITE students residing in the Kampong Ubi ward. This evening, the CDC/CCC-ITE Award sponsored by our grassroots organisations will be given to a total of 7 Scholarship and 31 Bursary recipients.

4 The Scholarship that some of you will be receiving today is designed to reward you for your academic excellence. Pupils are selected for these scholarships regardless of their family circumstances.

5 This bursary gives recognition to pupils from less well-off homes who do well academically and encourages them to do even better. I am happy to see that more students are benefiting from these awards.

6 In closing, I wish to congratulate this evening's award recipients - the scholarship, bursary award winners for the fine work that you have put in, and to wish you well in your studies. To your proud parents, I would like to commend them for their support and encouragement in nurturing our award recipients. Your sacrifices, effort and love are well worth it. Thank you.