Speeches
Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education, at the 2009 Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award Presentation Ceremony on Saturday, 23 May 2009, 10.00am at Annexe Hall 1, Singapore Science Centre
Professor Phua Kok Khoo, Chairman, Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award Committee,
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Boys and Girls.
It is my pleasure to be here at the 2009 Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award Presentation Ceremony. Let me first congratulate all the award winners and participants for your creativity and participation. From bringing an idea to life, you have shown passion and perseverance.
The Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award
The Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award was mooted by Nobel Laureate CN Yang in 1986 to stimulate creative thinking among Singapore’s youth.
Over 70% of the entries came from young people below 18 years old, with 30% from primary school students. The figures suggest a high level of curiosity and awareness among our young people in harnessing science and technology to bring new solutions to our everyday lives.
A culture of innovation and creativity
As a society, we have to constantly innovate and search for better ways of doing things. It is this inventive spirit that has contributed greatly to our nation’s development. In a 2009 study carried out by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Singapore was ranked number one on global competitiveness and innovation. We are ahead of advanced countries like No. 2 Sweden and No. 6 USA. Such international recognition of our culture of innovation is an affirmation of what our schools are doing right.
The constant nurturing of a creative mindset must start in school. Our youths are encouraged to question the norm, think out of the box and come up with new ways of solving problems. Our schools and teachers will continue to develop effective teaching methods to help nurture the spirit of innovation in our students. We are already seeing the fruits of our efforts among the prize winners today. They have demonstrated their ability to apply those thinking processes with their winning designs and inventions.
Take, for instance, Han Cho Hee and Siti Alifah from Yumin Primary School. These 12-year-old students have designed a baking tool that is able to churn out perfect cookies of the desired thickness all the time. This ingenious invention by Cho Hee and Siti will enable a baker to cut down preparation time significantly. With our young inventors coming up with such impressive solutions, I am confident that our culture of innovation and creativity will prevail and contribute to our nation’s progress and success.
The need for innovation in the global economy
Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award provides the opportunities to prevent the innovative and creative ideas of our young people. The ideas and inventions showcased hold out much potential for companies to adopt and develop for the benefit of mankind.
Conclusion
I would therefore like to commend the Tan Kah Kee Foundation and its partners, A*STAR, DSTA and the Science Centre, for their concerted and continuing efforts in organizing this annual Award. You have done much to encourage innovation among the young.
I would like to also thank the teachers who have guided and nurtured their students. You, too, are an important part of their achievements.
Finally, creativity and innovation are especially vital now in the next lap of our economic development. Singaporeans have to go for higher value-added jobs and compete with the world for greater economic benefits. Not only do we need creative ways to reduce our cost, increase our productivity, we need new products and services with high value to sustain our growth. More importantly, there are many problems in the world such as infectious disease, energy and water shortage, global warming that are in need of new solutions. We need you, the young people in Singapore to find solutions for the future of Singapore and the world. Dream your dreams and bring them alive.
Thank you