Colleagues, industry and agency partners,
Our scholars and family members,
1. I am delighted to join you to celebrate the record 210 recipients of the Singapore-Industry Scholarship (SgIS) this year.
2. Congratulations to all our new scholars and welcome to the SgIS family!
Shared Investment in Our Future
3. Fifteen years ago, we started SgIS to nurture Singapore's future industry talent.
4. Through the SgIS, employers and government agencies support promising Singaporeans in their university education, give them early industry exposure, mentor and guide them while they are studying, and help them build careers in important sectors in Singapore.
5. We have come a long way since then. In 2012, we started with 28 Sponsoring Organisations.
6. Today, close to 150 organisations across 16 key sectors are part of the SgIS, and more than 2,000 Singaporeans have benefited.
7. To all our Sponsoring Organisations and agency partners, I would like to say a very big thank you for opening your doors to our scholars, and for investing in Singapore's future talent pipeline.
8. And to all our parents, loved ones, teachers and mentors who have supported our scholars, thank you for helping them reach this milestone, and I am sure that along with us, you will also be cheering them on.
Navigating the Next Bound Together
9. We are living through an era of significant change. The industry leaders in this room will know that technology is rapidly reshaping how we learn, work and solve problems. I'm sure many of you are in the thick of action, whether in boardrooms, meeting rooms and in discussions with your partners – how AI, robotics and other forms of technology can help you transform your value chain and work processes, as well as improve your products to beat the competition.
10. Indeed, the competition for talent and investment is intensifying, while the global environment has become a lot more uncertain.
11. That is why the Singapore Industry Scholarships matters even more today.
12. This scholarship is co-funded by the Singapore Government and our Industry, and they help our companies build a strong Singaporean talent pipeline, while giving our local students the industry-relevant skills, experience and confidence to contribute, as their organisations navigate change.
13. We deeply value our companies' close partnership.
14. You are at the forefront of change in the way your industry sectors work and what skills your teams will need in an AI-impacted world.
15. Through the SgIS, you help our students experience the workplace early even while they are studying. You enable them to learn from practitioners like yourselves, and build confidence in real industry settings.
16. Our universities also recognise the importance of close industry collaboration, so that our curricula and programmes remain relevant and cutting-edge, and that our graduates leave with the knowledge, skills and practical experience to thrive. While they may leave when they graduate, they never really leave because we want to keep engaging them through lifelong learning. For example, our universities convene advisory committees with industry experts, sector agencies and academic leaders. In fact, all our Institutes of Higher Learning do so, including our polytechnics and ITE. I invite SgIS companies to contribute to this ecosystem by sharing your industry insights with our students, agencies and Institutes of Higher Learning. By working together, we can better prepare our Singaporean graduates for a dynamic economy — a win-win-win for our graduates, our companies and Team Singapore.
R-I-S-E to the Challenge
17. To our scholars and students, I encourage you to prepare actively for this new age — an age that is impacted by AI. We will support you in doing so.
18. For example, we recently announced that our IHLs will develop baseline AI competency frameworks for our autonomous universities, polytechnics and the ITE, so that students gain a strong and consistent foundation to harness AI opportunities, both now and in the future.
19. At the same time, you will need core life skills to navigate the future workplace. Deep knowledge and technical skills remain important. But human competencies and values — which are less easily replaced by AI — will become even more important for you and your careers.
20. So I encourage you to deepen these life skills, like:
- Resilience, to pick yourself up, keep going, and learn new skills as old ones get disrupted;
- Integration, to connect ideas across different disciplines because the workplace is not two-dimensional;
- Stewardship, to use your opportunities and talents for a cause or community larger than yourselves;
- And Empathy, to understand and relate to others with respect and kindness.
21. In short, R-I-S-E to the occasion.
22. Let me share a few examples of how our SgIS scholars and alumni are already demonstrating some of these abilities.
23. Joshua Tan is a new SgIS scholar from Siltronic who will study Electrical Engineering at NUS. He faced health issues, but overcame them with a mix of grit and support from others. Today, he gives back by volunteering with SG Enable. He coaches athletes at the Special Olympics, and tutors his peers in Mathematics.
24. Muhammad Aarifeen Bin Iskander Shah is a new SgIS scholar with Obayashi Singapore, and is studying Civil Engineering at SIT. To him, engineering is not a standalone field, but a way to integrate design, sustainability and community needs, so that cities become more resilient and liveable. He volunteers with Meals on Wheels, a programme that arranges hot meals to be delivered to seniors and individuals with mobility difficulties. He also volunteers with Tembusu Eldercare Centre, which has also deepened his empathy for the people who use the spaces that engineers help build.
25. Our SgIS alumni have also shown stewardship in supporting their companies' growth and transformation and in so doing, contribute to Singapore. Noon Teo, from SgIS's inaugural batch in 2012, joined YCH Group and took on a whole range of roles. Today, she is the Group Head of Group Operations Excellence at YCH; she has built live monitoring systems that support our healthcare supply chains, benefitting 95,000 students each year through school vaccination programmes. This in turn, strengthens the resilience of Singapore's supply chains.
26. Congratulations, Joshua, Aarifeen and Noon, and all our SgIS scholars, whom I am sure will do well in your companies, and we look forward to you contributing not just to the firms, but to the sector, and to Singapore.
Conclusion
27. So to all our scholars, as you learn deeply during your undergraduate courses at your universities and from your Sponsoring Organisations, keep growing these qualities. They will help you respond to setbacks, work well as a team with others, and use your opportunities meaningfully.
28. Thank you all once again, and I wish you all the best.