) or https:// as an added precaution.NUS Provost, Professor Aaron Thean
Distinguished guests, staff, and students
Introduction
1. Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to join you at the launch of Valour House today.
2. Valour House is the first sports-themed hostel in NUS, and aims to provide you with the right environment to pursue sports, and build a united community where you can live, work and play together.
3. This is not just a physical space, but a living, breathing symbol of spirit, courage and community.
4. The word Valour reminds us that success is not built on luck or hope, but on the courage to take risks, challenge assumptions, and persevere through uncertainty – qualities that will be nurtured in all of you during your time in Valour House, whether you are a high performance athlete, or sports enthusiast.
A National Ecosystem for the Next Bound of Sporting Excellence
5. For the high performance athletes amongst us, we are building an ecosystem to support you in chasing your dreams.
6. Next week, we will consolidate our key sport entities, —the High Performance Sport Institute (HPSI), the Singapore Sports School (SSP) and Unleash the Roar! (UTR!) – into a new entity called Sport Excellence Singapore – or SpexSG.
7. SpexSG will be a seamless and integrated system to support our athletes throughout their journey from youth to elite sport.
8. SpexSG will expand our Athlete Life Management capabilities to help athletes stay longer and go further in sport, through supporting you in your pursuit of tertiary education, career development, financial literacy and personal growth.
9. It will support your aspirations with the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship. Cheung Kemei, national fencer and NUS Business School student is one of our scholars.
10. Just three months ago, Kemei brought home a Gold medal from the SEA Games, proving that with the right support, our athletes can excel both in the lecture theatre as well as the sporting arena.
NUS: Answering the Call to Support Our Dual-Career Athletes
11. NUS, Singapore's largest university, is also supporting your pursuit of sporting excellence. NUS reached out to prospective national athletes to show how they can pursue both sporting and academic excellence here.
12. In 2025, NUS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Sports School (SSP) to expand athlete-friendly practices.
- Such as enabling athletes to better fit their academic timetables around their training schedules. Or ensuring that exams schedules do not clash with major competitions and offering alternative assessment arrangements where necessary.
13. And today, NUS is going one step further.
- There are more than 90 national carded student-athletes in NUS. This is the highest number amongst our Universities.
- And we have several of our national athletes amongst us today.
- Emma Yap, our Arts & Social Sciences undergraduate who won a Silver Medal in Gymnastics at the recent SEA Games.
- Or Kaosigan K Yoganathan, our Law undergraduate who won a Bronze in Indoor Hockey, at the same Games.
- Valour House is a tangible and visible reminder to our national student-athletes that the government and NUS are behind you as you chase your dreams.
14. Beyond our high performance athletes, Valour House is also a community for all sports enthusiasts to build a like-minded and high spirited community.
15. As the first sports-themed student hostel, Valour House will integrate sports, wellness and community into our student athletes' living experience.
Conclusion
16. To the leadership of NUS, thank you for leading the way, and for supporting our young people in chasing their dreams.
17. Let us work together to support the sporting and educational aspirations of all our athletes.
18. To our students gathered here today:
- May Valour House be a home where you find the strength to push your limits.
- May it be a place where you find the comfort of a team that always backs you up.
- And may you always find the courage through victories and defeats to always emerge stronger.
19. Thank you!