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OPENING ADDRESS BY MR LEE TZU YANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, AT THE 2021 PSC SCHOLARSHIPS AWARD CEREMONY ON 28 JULY 2021

1.      Good afternoon.

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister of Education and Minister-in-charge of the Public Service

My Fellow Commission Members

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

2.      On behalf of my Commission colleagues, let me first extend my warmest congratulations to all recipients of scholarships and your families. I would also like to thank your principals and teachers for their patience and support in your education journey. This is a proud day for all of you.  The selection of young Singaporeans for public service is an intensive effort and many stakeholders have come together. I would like to express my appreciation to everyone, and this includes my fellow Commission members and the secretariat team.

3.      I would have preferred a physical ceremony today. Unfortunately, we are not able to do so owing to the uncertainties and measures these couple of months. Nonetheless, we have endeavoured to make today’s virtual ceremony a meaningful one.  We each have the responsibility to ensure good outcomes for Singapore, and in the current circumstances this means not having a physical ceremony, to keep the community and our loved ones safe. In these unconventional times, we must be willing to change in how we approach new challenges.

4.      The PSC Scholarship is Singapore’s premier scholarship for school leavers. We aim to bring committed and able young Singaporeans to serve in the Public Service. You are selected for whole-person qualities, with emphasis on character, integrity and passion to serve. Where you come from and your background are less important to the Commission than where we think you are capable of going to and contributing.

5.      Of the 75 [1] of you this year, 74 will pursue undergraduate studies and 1 for Masters. You come from different educational pathways and institutions, including Junior Colleges, Integrated Programme schools, International Baccalaureate schools and Polytechnics.  You will pursue a wide variety of disciplines at many well-established local and overseas universities.

6.      Our development of a stronger and more resilient corps of future public service leaders leads us to search for diverse backgrounds and various perspectives, as the Public Service must tackle many wicked problems with no obvious solutions. This is why, even in a pandemic, we continue to award overseas scholarships. This range in your experience will strengthen your ability to make sense of the world and contribute to Singapore.

7.      I would like to offer just two pieces of advice.  We must be able to apply learnings from multiple disciplines and seek synergies from them to understand and solve problems. The fight against COVID-19 teaches us that we need this multi-disciplinary approach to tackle challenges. Science and technology are critical, but alone they will not suffice. Societal understanding, economics and business, good communications and building of trust – all these are needed. You should take the opportunity to learn more widely than your chosen courses.

8.      Second, follow your curiosity and take courage to venture where it is new for you. This could be in your chosen course, in your choice of Masters, or in your internships or vacations. Wherever you go, you should explore and seize opportunities to engage.  Experience more of other countries, especially our regional neighbours, but also, in the private sector and people sector. As a student you have many many more degrees of freedom in how you choose to spend your time. Yes, grades matter, and English-speaking countries may appear more familiar, but the diversity of insights and perspectives which you grow will become your assets.

9.      Now in all this, your safety and wellbeing are important to us, and we will continue to look out for you. When the pandemic situation was worsening last year in many parts of the world, the PSC Secretariat worked with other agencies to bring PSC and other public sector scholarship holders back safely to Singapore. As the situation evolved, we provided flexibility to suit needs and circumstances, such as the option to temporarily study for overseas degrees from Singapore. For those who decided to proceed overseas, we provided support. I am happy to say that all our scholarship holders are safe and well, and we have kept in close contact with them. We have engaged professional services to support their well-being, including provision of counselling, advice and services.

10.    The PSC Scholarship is the beginning of your journey to prepare you for a career in the Public Service. Later this evening, you will take the pledge as a PSC scholarship holder. It will affirm your commitment to do all that you can to serve Singapore. Ask yourselves – what will you do with this opportunity?

11.    Congratulations once again and I wish all of you a meaningful journey ahead. Thank you.

 KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND MINISTER-IN-CHARGE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE CHAN CHUN SING AT THE 2021 PSC SCHOLARSHIPS AWARD CEREMONY, 28 JUL 2021

Introduction

1.   A very good afternoon to all of you, Chairman and members of the Public Service Commission, parents, teachers, principals, and recipients.

2.    First, a warm welcome and my congratulations to all the award recipients.

3.    All of you could have chosen a different path, but you didn’t.

4.    You have decided to join the ranks of many who have come before you, to commit your future to taking care of our country and people. For that, thank you very much.

5.    The challenges that will confront our country and our people in the coming years will be no less daunting than those that we have overcome. 

6.    COVID-19 has accentuated many of the trends shaping our future – for example: digitalisation, the political flux of our region, and many others.

7.    COVID-19 has also compounded many of our challenges – from the security and sustainability of our supply chains, to our connectivity with the world, just to name some.

8.    Yet COVID-19 has also provided new opportunities for us to transcend the tyranny of geography and demographics to reinforce our brand, as a trusted and principled partner that brings relevance to the parties we deal with.

9.    So what has the Public Service learned from the COVID-19 pandemic thus far? There are many lessons, but I will share three aspects today – Agility, Connectivity and Trust.

10. No country in the world could claim they were ready for COVID or had fully anticipated its impact. Even now, we are all grappling with the surprises that COVID continues to throw at us.

11. However, in such an uncertain environment, agility is key. Countries that survive best are not necessarily the biggest or strongest, but those that are most agile in adapting; countries that do not just tackle COVID, but also seize the unexpected opportunities that come their way.

12. These are the ones that have done relatively better than us. We have not done too badly thus far. But we should not be complacent.

13. Our Public Service has to reconfigure ourselves to have new organisations and processes to keep Singapore going through this pandemic.

• We had to change our processes in double quick time to determine the industries and businesses to keep open, and those whose operations had to cease, as the situation evolved.
• We had to start up a new Assurance, Care and Engagement Group, or ACE Group, to take care of the wellbeing of migrant workers in a very short time.
• We worked out new ways to manage our airports, ports and points of entry to maintain our connectivity while safeguarding our public health.
• These are just some examples of what we had to do to keep our country going, and our people safe.
• Our responses may not be perfect, but they have allowed us to keep going, hopefully better than our competitors.

14. The lesson learnt is that no organisation and structure of yesterday can fully prepare us for the future and tomorrow’s crises. We all have to be agile and adapt quickly – faster than the competition if we are to keep our lunch.

15. How did we get things done in an uncertain and chaotic environment?  How did we secure critical supplies and vaccines? The answer lies in Connectivity.

16. We tapped on our whole of nation network, our public, private and people sectors working together. We leveraged our extensive network of overseas contacts.

17. Take the example of the disruption to our food chains. We kept supplies flowing by pulling out all stops to leverage our domestic and overseas networks to secure supplies ahead of time.

18. All these would not have been possible if our people did not have a culture of anticipation and working together across sectors and domains as a habit, and these were all developed in times of peace.

19. All these would also not have been possible if our Public Service operated in silos and not in close partnership with the private and people sectors, leveraging each other’s perspectives, capabilities and capacities.

20. Hence, it is of utmost importance that we continue to enrich the public sector with private and people sector perspectives, experiences and contacts.

21. To this end, we will introduce the Mid-Career Leaders Track to strengthen our recruitment of mid-career professionals with the heart to serve, and the skills and experience to contribute. Doing so will inject diversity and consequent resilience to the public sector.

22. There is one very important aspect that brought us this far, much further than many other countries, in the fight against COVID. And that is trust.

23. Trust between people and Government. Trust between Singapore and partners beyond our shores.

24. If we did not have a reputation of being a principled and trusted partner globally, we would have had a much harder time securing the things that we need in a crisis.

25. If we had not built up a reservoir of goodwill and trust with our people, we would not have been able to execute our responses so effectively in a collective and cohesive manner. This is what distinguishes us from many others in the world.

26. However, this trust must be earned, and renewed every generation.

27. So to all the award recipients today, I hope you will remember the significance of today’s ceremony where you commit to help take care of Singapore and Singaporeans in time to come.

28. I hope you will always strive to help Singapore and Singaporeans find opportunities amidst challenges by staying agile and adaptable.

29. I hope you will help build up our network of ties with the world, and with the private and people sectors, for us to be able to mobilise a whole of nation effort, in times of peace and in crisis.

30. I hope you will work hard and earn the trust of Singaporeans and partners beyond Singapore, so that we will always have a reservoir of goodwill to call upon.

31. Thank you for your service to our nation.

32. In partnership and with teamwork, we fear no challenges too big for us.

2021 LEE KUAN YEW SCHOLARSHIP AWARD CEREMONY

1.           In commemoration of the significant contributions made by Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship was set up in 1991 by the Tanjong Pagar Citizens’ Consultative Committee. It is publicly funded and awarded to exceptional individuals who demonstrate a strong sense of commitment to serve Singapore and her citizens.

2.         In 2021, three outstanding candidates have been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to support their pursuit of postgraduate studies. The awardees are:

3.         Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship holders may choose to pursue their postgraduate studies in any country and field of study that best develops their potential as leaders. The scholarship holders are expected to contribute actively to better Singapore and her community.