Speeches
Closing Remarks by Minister for Defence Mr Chan Chun Sing at the SAF Day Combined Rededication Ceremony on 1 July 2026 at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI)
1 July 2026
A very good morning to all of you. Thank you all for being here.
Today, I want to say three sets of “thank you”.
First, let me thank SCCCI and the business community for organising this, but more important than that, I want to thank the business community for your continued support for our NSFs and our NSmen. When an investor comes to Singapore and if they want to know how strong Singapore's defence is, they will just need to ask the businessmen. If our businesses support our NSFs and NSmen, they will know that we have NSFs and NSmen who are able to focus on their duties and are able to put up credible capabilities for the defence of Singapore. So, on behalf of MINDEF, SAF, our NSFs and NSmen, all our servicemen and women, let me thank our business community for your tremendous support. Thank you very much.
Second, I want to thank all the NSFs, NSmen, and all the personnel regulars who have served for your consistent contributions to our defence. Everything that you do, no matter how big or small, matters. We have just finished the Shangri-La Dialogue. People listen to us, people talk to us seriously. People want to partner us because they know that we are trustworthy. They know we are credible. Nobody in the world will want to deal with us if we do not have a credible SAF, and certainly, no one will deal with us seriously if they do not think that we have a credible defence capability. This is why we said what we said in the video. Every effort counts – when they look at the SAF and they want to know whether we are a credible armed force, they do not just look at the Minister for Defence or the senior commanders, they look at down to the last soldier, the men and women operating every piece of equipment to see how seriously we take our responsibilities and how seriously we take our training. Over the years, to all our NSFs and NSmen, you have done very well to build up the credibility of the SAF, but never be complacent, because, as I said in the video, we need to get it right first time, every time, all the time, but any adversary will just need to get it right one time, anytime.
Last but not least, I want to thank all the family members and fellow Singaporeans who are here today. Even when you are not directly serving, wearing the uniform, you are part of our defence ecosystem. It is only with your support that our NSFs and NSmen can continue to focus on their duties in defending our nation. Day in day out, when they go in to serve and put on the uniform, it is the family members who are behind-the-scenes supporting us. Defence is a whole-of-nation business, and today what we have is the result of a whole-of nation-effort.
On that note, I want to thank you all – the business community that servicemen and women on duty, and families. Without all this, Singapore will not be what it is today. For this year's SAF Day theme, I have chosen the phrase, “平凡后的非凡”. Actually, I had selected this in Chinese before we translated it into English, because it is very easy for us to see the normalcy and forget the extraordinary work that is required. It is easy for us to see the ordinary, and sometimes, not even take note of the extraordinary effort behind. For everyone in uniform, and the people supporting those in uniform, I want to thank you, because you are the people who are doing the extraordinary work behind for us to have an ordinary day in Singapore. In Singapore today, for us to have every normal day, every ordinary day itself, is an effort amidst all the turmoil of the world. Thank you all for being the extraordinary behind the ordinary.
Thank you very much.
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