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Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development & Ministry of Education, at the Opening Ceremony of the 5th Congress of the Asian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (ASCAPAP): “The Asian Child: Resiliency in the Face of Evolving Challenges” on Friday, 29 August 2008, 8.30am at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre Theatre

Mr Leong Yew Meng
Chief Executive Officer
Institute of Mental Health

Dr Daniel Fung
President
Organising Committee of the 5th Congress of the Asian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions

Distinguished Guests

Delegates

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning.

Introduction

I am honoured to be here at the Opening Ceremony for the 5th Congress of the Asian Society For Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the delegates from Asia, our ASEAN neighbours, as well as the rest of the world.

Children are a national asset

Every child is a gift &#mdash; every newborn embodies promise and potential. Children are precious because they represent the future and the hopes of every country.

In Singapore, developing our children is key to our future as people is our only natural resource. Like many developing nations, Singapore’s birth rate has fallen, and at 1.29 children per woman, it has fallen below the 2.1 replacement rate for a population. The Government has recently announced a whole slew of incentives and policies changes to encourage Singaporeans to have more children. While we hope Singaporeans will heed the call, at MOE, we must work towards developing our children to their fullest potential, with the resilience and strength to carry through to the future.

Developing resilience in our children is critical

Developing resilience in our children is critical as we prepare them to face a globalised world that is characterised by intense competition and uncertainty brought about by rapid changes. In this future world, our young will have to rely more and more on their social and emotional competencies to help them cope with personal and social issues as well as to navigate through the challenges at work. Therefore, proactive strategies aimed at building the social and emotional resilience of our young must be a vital part of our work.

Nurturing students with good mental health is one of MOE’s key educational objectives. To work towards this end, MOE has embarked on the Social and Emotional Learning, or SEL, initiative in 2005. SEL helps students acquire a set of life competencies, which include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision making. The teaching of SEL will enable our students to understand themselves, interact effectively with others and cope with future challenges. Research has shown that doing SEL well will contribute to improved academic achievement, student health (including mental health) and better adaptation in working life.

“Many-Helping Hands” to support students with social-emotional issues

While prevention is better than cure, we must also look out for children who experience emotional and behavioral difficulties along the way. Every school in Singapore has at least a full-time school counsellor who is trained to provide support for these children. In addition, our schools have in place a referral system which will channel the identified pupils to the proper sources of help, be it the school counselor, social work agency or mental health professional. I am glad that schools have a good collaborative partnership with Institute of Mental Heath (IMH) and other community-based agencies in addressing the issue of mental health.

While much can be done by the various agencies to help our students, the family is an integral part of support system. The family environment is a crucial factor affecting the state of mental health of children and adolescents. Hence, we encourage parents to build positive relationships with their children and make efforts to understand the social and emotional needs of their children. In addition, parents can work closely with schools to support their children in their school life. They can also tap on the resources available in the community, such as counselling services and parenting workshops run by the various Family Service Centres, to equip themselves to better meet their children’s needs.

Looking forward, our students will continue to face new challenges that will affect their mental health, such as the rising rate of marital break-ups, and issues arising from the proliferation of internet use and computer games. We must strengthen our efforts, and work more closely together by tapping on each other’s capabilities.

ASCAPAP: A timely and relevant scientific conference

In empowering our children to remain resilient through life’s trials and tribulations, there are roles for medical and allied health professionals, educators, and parents. Hence, the theme of this conference, “The Asian Child: Resiliency in the Face of Evolving Challenges” is timely and relevant.

Over the next three days, we will have experts from different countries and various disciplines share their knowledge and findings to help us gain insights into resiliency in children across the social, educational and health domains. The conference will cover topics like Bullying, Stress and Anxiety, Internet Addiction, and many more. I believe these issues will strike a chord with many delegates, either directly as part of their work, or indirectly as an issue faced by the community in their respective countries. I am also heartened to see that many of our local school personnel are present here today.1

I commend the IMH for your efforts in organizing this important conference which will empower both local and regional health professionals with the knowledge to help our children in their development; and in preparing them to be independent, self-supporting and contributing members of society. As IMH celebrates her 80th Anniversary this year, this conference marks its position as a leader in the mental health field in Singapore.

I hope that the delegates will benefit from the conference by bringing back with them new knowledge, new ideas for more research, new friends and a renewed confidence in their work. I wish all delegates a fruitful and enriching conference.

It now gives me great pleasure to declare the 5th Congress of the Asian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions open. Thank you.