Speech by Senior Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, at the Singapore Youth Flying Club's Private Pilot Wings and Aviation Award Ceremony on 13 May 17, 1000hrs

MG Mervyn Tan Wei Ming, Deputy Chairman of the SYFC's Board of Governors
BG Neo Hong Keat, President of the SYFC's Management Committee
Distinguished Guests
Principals, Parents, Teachers
Instructors
Students of the SYFC
Graduands
Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good morning. I am very pleased to be here today to recognise and celebrate the achievements of 33 students who have attained the Private Pilot Licence (PPL). You heard two of them earlier and I am sure all of us are very proud of their achievements. To the graduands, you are here today because you have persevered through one year of demanding and rigorous training, while pursuing your academic studies at the same time. This is not an easy feat, but you did it. I know this for a fact as I have been taken on an F-15 as well as Apache Helicopter flights. My heartiest congratulations on your hard-earned success! 

Flying is a complex task – manoeuvring a sophisticated machine, thousands of feet above the ground, requires not only technical skills. More importantly, you must possess traits such as good situational awareness, emotional stability and discipline. Pilots must be able to make astute decisions quickly and often under stressful circumstances. Your attainment of the PPL is a strong testament that you possess the skills and abilities to pursue a career as a pilot. 

I am heartened to notice one female pilot graduand from this cohort, you heard her earlier - Miss Novia Wong. I hope she will follow the footsteps of other female pilots such as Lieutenant Colonel Christine Sim and Captain Lim Wen Shan who are currently Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) pilots flying the Super Puma helicopter and C-130 aircraft respectively. As a nation with limited resources, I believe both genders could contribute equally to nation building and defence! Having the courage to make her first step today is a step closer towards realising her dream tomorrow.

I would also like to commend two young gentlemen from the Club who have done Singapore proud. In May 2016, Luzian and Bryan represented Singapore to participate in the Control Line World Championship held in Perth, Australia. For the first time, our participants emerged as World Champions in the Junior Team Racing Category. It is also worth recognising that Luzian attained his PPL just two months prior to the World Championships. This is a show of resilience by Luzian to be able to cope with the PPL Flying, Racing Training and studies at the same time. Congratulations. Well done, Luzian and Bryan! These two boys are fuelled with great passion and interest in the field of aviation, and with their strong determination, they charged their way to victory and made Singapore proud! This demonstrates that if we work hard and manage our time well to leverage our strengths and pursue our passions, we can achieve our dreams!

We can also learn from the Singapore story, and the perseverance of our pioneers that has helped Singapore grow from third to first world. As a small nation with no natural resources or hinterland, Singapore's primary resource is her people. We need to constantly upgrade our people to ensure a steady stream of young, vibrant and passionate citizens, like Novia, Luzian and Bryan, step forward and contribute to the nation. By nurturing our talent pool, especially in sectors such as engineering, Singapore will be able and better placed to harness the next bound where technology and automation will change the way traditional industries function. Similarly, the key in building a credible defence force with a relatively small population, is to leverage on technology and more importantly, develop and train our people well to be an effective and efficient fighting force. Equipping our Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is but one part of the equation. More importantly, it is the people in the SAF and their strong desire to protect the nation that propel the SAF forward and ensure that it remains a credible defence force. 

On that note, I am happy to see that almost all of you have applied to join the RSAF as pilot trainees upon the completion of your studies. The PPL course serves as a first encounter with flying, and sets a critical foundation for many of our RSAF pilots. In fact, close to a quarter of our RSAF pilots first learned to fly at the Singapore Youth Flying Club (SYFC), and many more alumni serve in the RSAF in various other vocations. This is the start of your journey in the RSAF. It will be as challenging, maybe even more than your PPL experience – I hope it is more challenging than your PPL experience. But I am confident that you will do well in your BMTC and make it to OCS. In fact, about 80% of our PPL graduands go on to succeed as RSAF pilots, including our fighter pilots. 

I would like to commend and thank the SYFC for its achievements. The PPL course is a challenging and exciting journey that many have attempted, but only a handful have succeeded in. Since its inception in 1971, the Club has conducted flying courses for more than 6,500 young Singaporeans and produced close to 1,100 PPL graduands. More importantly, the Club has achieved an excellent safety record, and has been accident-free for 46 years of flying operations. Congratulations. This is no easy feat and is only made possible by the constant emphasis on safety by the Management Committee, the professionalism of the flying instructors, and the commitment to excellence by the students.

I would like to take this opportunity to also acknowledge and thank the principals, teachers and parents for their strong support for the SYFC's programmes. It is only through your support and encouragement that the SYFC can continue to achieve its core mission of promoting aviation and inculcating a strong passion in flying among our youths. 

Let me once again congratulate all the graduands on your achievements. Today, you join the ranks of many alumni who have gone before you in keeping our skies safe for all Singaporeans. 

I would like to specially congratulate Bertrand Yan who won the Best in Flying Award and Jonathan Toh who clinched the Best in Ground School Award. 

I wish all of you success in your endeavours and may you continue to strive for excellence in all that you do. Thank you.