Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at the DSTA-DSO Scholarship Award Ceremony

Ladies and Gentlemen,Good evening.

Apple, the producer of Mac computers, was once written off by the computer industry in the 1990s for poor investments, product flops and missed deadlines. Two months ago, its market value surpassed that of Microsoft to make it the world’s most valuable technology company. Its string of innovative products - like the iPod, the iPhone and, most recently, the iPad - have revolutionised lifestyles globally. Apple's success stems from an organisational culture that prides itself on bringing out not just another product but something that is radically different from what is available in the market.

While Apple's engineers and designers create products that entice you to sink your teeth into them, as future defence scientists and engineers, you are called to a different task - to create military technologies that have some bite. Nonetheless, in both industries what is aimed for is surprise - in Apple's case, a pleasant surprise for consumers who get what they did not even know they wanted. And in our case, tactical or even strategic surprise by inflicting a decisive blow on potential adversaries in ways unknown to them.

The essential ingredient in both cases is motivated and passionate engineers and scientists, single-minded in pursuing innovation and striving for perfection. Jonathon Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, explained the key to Apple's successful products - the commitment of its designers to innovation. He was convinced that an organisation was only as effective as the people behind it, and unless each and every employee believed in innovation or design as a core value, it would be impossible to build a true, innovation-led culture.

Soon, as part of DSTA or DSO National Laboratories, you will add to this culture of nimbleness and innovation in our defence ecosystem. DSTA innovates by harnessing technologies from around the world to deliver leading-edge defence solutions, while DSO innovates in its own research and development of emerging new technologies. Most recently, DSTA brought together and worked with Boeing to integrate cutting-edge systems on the F-15SG to create the most lethal and technologically sophisticated variant of the F-15 family. DSO, in its own right, has developed Scentmate, the world's first handheld diagnostic kit which has the sensitivity of more elaborate laboratory equipment. With a single drop of blood, Scentmate can detect even the mildest exposure to nerve agents such as Sarin gas. These are but two of the many top-notch projects that our scientists and engineers are involved in.

Not unlike Apple employees, DSTA and DSO's engineers and scientists are also constantly challenged to push the boundaries of scientific and technical knowledge to deliver solutions that sharpen the SAF's technological edge. The key difference with Apple is that we do so quietly and some of our products never see the light of day. We are confronted with a wide spectrum of security challenges such as global terrorism, piracy, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, natural disasters and health pandemics. These threats can develop unexpectedly into full blown crises, driving the need for militaries to rapidly develop new capabilities within weeks or days for a timely and effective response. Our scientists and engineers are therefore at the forefront of what we do as an organisation; each new breakthrough making a critical difference to our defence and the lives of our servicemen, and having the potential to redefine the way wars are fought and crises overcome.

Some of our engineers and scientists today are amongst the world's best in their fields of expertise. As they innovate to create a technological edge for the SAF, their findings and research have consistently found their way into prestigious international journals, including those published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Optical Society of America. Both DSTA and DSO are also significant players in global defence technology, having developed defence systems of high operational capability which meet the demanding needs not just of the SAF, but of other modern armed forces as well. Indigenouslyproduced platforms such as the Bronco all-terrain tracked carrier and the Landing Ship Tank have found export markets.

While the talents, skills and experience of our engineers and scientists can be highly sought after in the commercial sector, many of our best have chosen to stay, out of a sense of service to the nation and a passion for the pursuit of defence science and technology, so that the SAF will always be fielded with the best possible systems and platforms.

Those of you awarded scholarships this evening have shown your keenness for defence science and technology, and commitment to the defence of Singapore. As you proceed to achieve your academic and personal aspirations, you carry this commitment with you. Expand your intellectual horizons, think deeply and laterally, and learn as much as you can, so that you are better able to sharpen the cutting edge of our national security when you return.

I wish you every success in your studies, and look forward to the contributions that you will make to the defence and security of Singapore. Thank you.