Speech by Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, at the Defence Scholarship Awards Ceremony on 13 Aug 2025 at Temasek Club

A very good evening to all the scholarship recipients, families, colleagues from MINDEF and the SAF. Welcome to the 2025 Defence Scholarship Ceremony.

Maybe about 37 years ago, I was seated at your place, like many of you – fresh out of college, some of us in the units – we were awarded various MINDEF/SAF scholarships to go overseas to study.

At that point in time, we did not think very much about it. Nobody reminded us that that was SG23. The phrase never came to our mind, and many of us, to be frank, did not think very much about why we took up the scholarship. Some of us – I think, most of us –d took up the scholarship because it was a chance for us to go to university, without which we probably would not have continued our studies. Very few of us would have thought about the prestige; even fewer would have thought about the mission and the responsibilities that were to be entrusted on our shoulders. It was all about getting a job.

Many of us, including myself, wondered why we were given the SAF scholarship. I am Exhibit A. I did not apply for the SAF scholarship. I wanted to be a librarian. It was a very logical choice. I liked to read books. At that point in time, the library was about the only place in the world that had air-conditioning, and I thought, what a wonderful thing if I was a librarian –  I could read books and get paid and be in an air-conditioned room. But they awarded me the SAF Scholarship, and they convinced me to sign on with the SAF. I had no idea what I was going into, except that (a) I could go to university; and that (b) I had a job.

Serving in Defence is a Challenge and a Calling

No one told me that being in uniform or being in MINDEF/SAF was a calling to serve and a calling to help our country defy the odds of history. No one told me that we were just at SG23 and that borders do change in this part of the world. Although for now, we may have gotten used to the idea that we are called Singapore and Singaporeans, it was until only much later that my mother reminded me that at 80 plus years old, she has sung four national anthems staying in this land of ours.

It got me thinking – today and in more recent years, is it so natural for us to be called Singaporeans and is it so natural for us to be able to celebrate SG60 this year? And for those of you who have heard me speak, I will often raise this question – will we get to SG100? The record for small states in this part of the world has not been very encouraging.

At that point in time, no one told me the kind of work that I was going to do, and what success at work meant. We did not have this philosophical discussion. It was a chance to go to a university and to get a job. So, if I tell you now that when you will take up the MINDEF/SAF scholarship, there is a heavy responsibility entrusted on your shoulders – more than any other scholarship – that you will be the generation that will take us to SG100 and beyond, would you still want to take up the scholarship?

If today, I tell you that much of the work that you do when you come back, you cannot tell people about it, and even when it is successful, it is very hard to tell people about it. One of my previous Permanent Secretaries used to remind us that in MINDEF/SAF, if we raise the capability, we build up the capability, operationalise it, never have to use it, and retire it. We call that a success. Unlike any other vocation, you may not have the chance to even talk about what you do with your family and loved ones.

Now, that sounds rather daunting. Just to give you some examples, for those of you who are joining the Defence Technology Community (DTC). I have just returned to MINDEF as your Defence Minister. Today, when they update me on the various classified projects, the secret edge capabilities that we have – these were talked about and I had worked together with the DTC on 20 years ago when I was Head, Joint Plans. It took us 20 years to realise many of these secret edge capabilities, and the cycle goes on. Every generation will develop those capabilities that we hope to never have to use and that others need not know about, unless we deem it necessary for others to know. That is a long cycle, and that has some similarities with the MOE scholarship, because the results of what you do can only be seen a generation later. We are not here for the here and now, because I know that our work in MINDEF is for the long haul.

Advice to Future Leaders

I will just say that, yes, it is daunting. It may even sound scary, but if you are concerned, then there are few useful pointers to remind yourself with.

First, we are never doing this alone. Never in MINDEF, SAF or the DTC, do we do any of this alone. We do it in teams, not just the current teams, but we also do it across generations. All of us play our part. All of us do slightly different things, but all are contributing to the eventual outcome, that is how we overcome the most difficult challenges in MINDEF and the SAF. We never do it alone.

Second, never think about changing the world and doing big things – that is how I started. I was taught by my seniors, by my Warrant Officers, that all great things start from taking care of the men and women under our charge. When we take care of the men and women under our charge, they will take care of the mission. That philosophy has not changed since I joined the SAF 37 years ago, until today as the Defence Minister, and I hope that it will never change.

Third, always remember that MINDEF and the SAF are quite different from any other defence establishment across the world. Not many defence establishments are like us, with the ability to take in the best people from across the entire society and to have to lead the entire society. Many other armed forces will recruit their people from a certain select niche segment of society. We do not. From NSF to NSman, we have the most capable to the most challenging, and each and every one of them is valuable to our mission.

Just this year alone, we will step up our recruitment, and we will bring in about 3,000 uniformed and non-uniformed personnel into MINDEF/SAF. Out of these 3,000, about 1,000 of them will be non-uniformed service personnel. Some of them, like yourself, will be in the DTC, some will be in other classified areas. That is the scale of just one cohort of people whom we bring in.

Every year, we will bring in 15,000 to 20,000 NSFs to lead, to inspire and to serve. Your mission is not just trying to lead people who are like you. Our mission is to lead people from across all walks of life with different capabilities and different challenges, and to build them into a cohesive and effective fighting force in service for our nation for us to keep defying the odds of history. If we did not think that this was so important, we would not have invested so much resources and talent into this. This is something that has not changed from 1965, when we first started our independence journey. We want our best, our brightest, our most committed – to serve in the armed forces, in the defence establishment, because it is one of the most challenging and yet most vital aspect for our survival and success, and that mission continues.

Facing Generational Challenges Together

Today, your generation will face new challenges, just as every generation will. Today, if you look at the geopolitical situation around the world, you will know what we were familiar with, the so-called “rules-based order” has changed. Today, it is a much more transactional world, a much less coherent, a much less consistent and a much less secure world. It will present new challenges, because the geopolitical pieces are in flux, and it will take some time before a new order emerges. You will be at the heart of this, not just in reacting to the new order, but you will be at the heart of this, because you will also play a part to the extent that we can shape our own future, so that we are not just pawns in a bigger strategic game.

Your generation will also find new disruptive technologies, and it is not just about computer warfare or drones. There are many other areas of disruptive technologies that will challenge the way we defend and secure our future.

Your generation will also face another challenge of the changing demographics and changing aspirations, or constantly evolving aspirations of our people. How do we continue to inspire them to serve, whether as national servicemen or as regulars, will be yet another challenge. These are some of the challenges that I hope that you will think about as you pick up the various MINDEF/SAF scholarships and embark on this journey with us.

The Path to SG100

Ultimately, whether we get to SG100 or not, will depend on this generation. Never start from the assumption that we will get there effortlessly. If I may share with you a story, when I was out of MINDEF, I would always come back every year to give the Distinguished Speaker lecture in our Command and Staff College. One of the years, I asked them exactly this question: "Are they confident of getting to SG100?" Most of them put up their hands, and I asked them why. They could not give me a very firm answer, but they seemed to be very confident that we will get there. I reminded them that if their confidence was founded on hard work, I would be very happy, but if your confidence was but a mere an assumption, then I would be worried, because the very reason why we are in uniform is because we never make the assumption that we will get there effortlessly or without challenges.

But we are quietly confident that this generation will start off much better than the last. We have more resources, we have a better, stronger foundation, but we must keep building on this in order for us not to be surpassed or bypassed. You have your generational challenges cut out for you, just as we have our generational challenges cut out for us. But you can rest assured that no matter how challenging the task ahead might be for your generation, our generation will do our best to enable you, not just to succeed, but to do even better than our generation. And that must be the Singapore spirit, where every generation does not define our success by how well we do for ourselves, but how well we enable the next generation to do even better than ours. If we can keep to this spirit and ethos, I am very sure we will get to SG100 and beyond, and we will be an even stronger, more cohesive and better society in time to come.

The Legacy of the Reverse March

I hope you will remember and think about some of these things that I have shared with you. If you are ever in doubt, remember the “Reverse March”, if you have taken part in it, the “Reverse March” is where we, the graduating recruits, walk from Changi back into the city. It is called the “Reverse March” because many years ago, after the fall of Singapore, many of our earlier generations and some of our grandparents were marched off from Nicoll Highway to Changi, and were not seen again.

I want every generation to do the “Reverse March”, where you will come back into the city full of pride. I want you to remember the moment when you are standing at the then-Floating Platform and, in time to come, the new NS Square – the three things that you see, are the three things that you will defend. It is not about just a beautiful skyline. More important than the beautiful skyline, you will see your family in front of you, and you will see your buddies standing shoulder to shoulder with you.

The Importance of the DTC

That is why we do what we do – for our buddies, for our family, and for our country. Whether you are in uniform when you come back or you are in the DTC you all play a role. In my mind, MINDEF and the SAF always have five Services: Army, Air Force, Navy, DIS and the Defence Technology Community. In fact, very often, for those of you who are going to DSO National Laboratories (DSO) and Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), I jokingly say that if you do your job well, the SAF will have an easier fight; if you really do your job very well, we may never need to use the SAF.

Our Collective Future

Finally, we are here because we want to see SG100 and beyond. We are here to defend and secure our right to be called Singaporeans. Being a Singaporean must be a matter of conviction and not a matter of convenience. We are not defined by the challenges ahead; we will be defined by our responses to the challenges ahead. And I have every confidence that just as the previous generations have done so for us, we too will overcome challenges together, regardless of the geopolitical challenges, the technological challenges, or the demographic challenges.

Finally, I would like to say: welcome to the force, welcome to our family. Thank you very much.

More Resources

82 Award Recipients, One Defence Community

Fact Sheet: The Defence Scholarships and Profiles of Scholarship Recipients