Mr Xie Yao Quan, CEO of Quantedge Foundation Singapore,
Mr Peter Lam, CEO of Institute of Technical Education,
Distinguished Guests, Friends
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening. I am very delighted to join you as Quantedge Foundation celebrates its 10th Anniversary and charts its path for the next 10. I want to congratulate Quantedge Foundation and all the partners who have journeyed alongside you.
2.Over the past decade, Quantedge Foundation has brought people from different sectors together, around a shared purpose: to strengthen social mobility and help Singaporeans from vulnerable backgrounds realise their potential.
3.You have supported programmes that give children a stronger start in life, created safe and nurturing spaces where they can grow in confidence, and helped to open doors through mentorship and wraparound support. You have also invested in research, worked closely with academic institutions and partners to turn evidence into action, and build a stronger culture of learning across our social sector.
Sustaining Social Mobility
4.This work matters. Every Singaporean should have the chance to discover their interests and strengths, develop them, and to pursue their aspirations. Where they start in life should not determine their entire life course.
5.We have made encouraging progress on social mobility, as Yao Quan articulated earlier. The 2026 Occasional Paper by MOF on Income Growth, Inequality and Social Mobility Trends shows that real incomes have grown across the board, with lower-income households seeing stronger growth over the past decade. Income inequality has also continued to narrow.
6.But as our society and economy matures, social mobility becomes harder to sustain. Many societies have experienced this. And that is why we must keep working at it, so that opportunities remain open to everybody.
7.We are committed to this. We invest in our children from their earliest years, support Singaporeans through education and skills development throughout life, and give more help to those with greater needs.
8.But the Government cannot do this alone. We need partners like Quantedge Foundation, who bring your networks, expertise and fresh ideas, and are prepared to do some risk-taking and experimentation, to extend our reach on the ground and strengthen our ecosystem of support, and to experiment and break new frontiers.
Partnership with Quantedge
9.Quantedge Foundation has been a valued partner on this journey. Through initiatives like the University Access, you have worked with our Autonomous Universities to strengthen financial support for close to 2,000 students in need.
10.But keeping opportunities open does not end with access to education. As young people prepare for work, they also benefit from mentorship, exposure to the workplace and very importantly, access to professional networks. Through JumpStart, Quantedge Foundation works with ITE and The Astronauts Collective to help our ITE students make the transition from school to work.
11.JumpStart shows what is possible when partners bring their strengths to the table: ITE understanding students’ needs, the Astronauts Collective bringing mentoring expertise, with volunteer professionals sharing their workplace experience and networks. Quantedge Foundation provides the funding and strategic support that bring these efforts together.
12.Together, they offer support and opportunities that no single organisation can provide alone.
New Quantedge Opportunity Lab
13.So I am glad that Quantedge Foundation’s next chapter will build on this spirit of partnership, by bringing together people working on the same challenges through the Quantedge Opportunity Lab, or QOLab for short.
14.Located at the former Jalan Bukit Ho Swee Community Centre, QOLab will bring together organisations working to advance social mobility, as well as the partners who support them. It will be a shared space designed to spark interaction, collaboration, exploration, and learning across organisations.
15.When it opens in 2028, QOLab will be home to a community of up to 250 practitioners, collaborators and partners. Here, good ideas can travel further, from research into experimentation, and into practice. And as organisations learn from one another and adopt what works, more people can benefit.
Looking Ahead
16.The work of strengthening social mobility is never done, but as society matures, that work gets harder. We have to bring more resources and more coordination today. The opportunities that shaped the earlier generations may not be the ones that shape the next. So, we must keep asking ourselves: how do we keep opportunities within reach of every Singaporean?
17.But the goal remains the same. Whether in education or social services, we want everyone to flourish and realise their full potential, whatever their background.
18.As Quantedge Foundation enters its second decade, we look forward to our continued partnership in this mission, deepen it, strengthen it, and to widen it. Congratulations once again to Quantedge Foundation Singapore on ten years of meaningful impact. I wish you every success in the next chapter.
19.Thank you, and have a good evening.