Speech by Minister of State for Defence and Education Lawrence Wong, at the SAF Senior Military Expert Appointment Ceremony

Chief of Defence Force,
Graduands of the second SAF Senior Military Experts Course,
Friends and family,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Very good evening to all of you.

The Importance of Military Experts in the SAFI am very happy to join you this evening for the SAF Senior Military Expert appointment ceremony. Let me congratulate, once again, all the graduands of the course, especially the award recipients - Debbie Phua, Denny Cheng, Jian Jia Jun. I want to acknowledge also the family and friends who are here, because all of you I'm sure you have supported your sibling, your children in the progress of their careers, and I'm sure this is a very happy occasion for all of you. So congratulations once again to everyone.

In the SAF of today, where modern technology is exploited at every level and every activity, from the networking of our combat units to the training and teaching of our servicemen, the SAF Military Experts help to keep our operational units fighting fit and ready. With your deep professional expertise, your experience in critical domains ranging from engineering to intelligence and military medicine, all of you play an important role in enabling the SAF to operate our wide range of sophisticated equipment and systems, and maximising them to their fullest potential.

Your many contributions are reflected in the daily operations of the SAF as well as in our overseas missions. For example in the Gulf of Aden, our Military Experts man key combat systems on board the Navy's Landing Ship Tanks and ensure the readiness of the Super Puma helicopters on board. In Afghanistan, there are Military Experts deployed as part of the SAF's imagery analysis, medical and weapon locating radar teams.

Given the role of Military Experts in the SAF, it is very important that all of you develop yourselves professionally. When you put on the rank of a Military Expert, you represent a highly specialised corps of uniformed personnel that stands out for its technical competencies, expertise and knowledge.

Such expertise does not happen overnight. There are no short-cuts to achieving a high level of expertise. To be an expert, to truly master your craft, you must have the passion for what you do. Most importantly, you have to spend time and effort to practise, to learn, and improve yourself. The more you learn, the longer you do the job, the more you'll see and experience, and the less likely you'll be surprised by new scenarios or unexpected outcomes. Some people call this the 10,000 hour rule. I don't know if you have heard this, in other words people are saying to achieve expertise in any field requires 10,000 hours of practice. If you do the math, 10,000 hours translates to 20 hours a week for 10 years! I don't know if this applies to all fields or if this applies to military expertise, but I think there is no doubt that expertise comes with perseverance. So I would encourage all of you to apply yourselves to learning all you can about your domain areas, whatever it is - read widely, subscribe to military journals to know the latest in military trends in your area of your work, and benchmark yourselves against other professionals in your fields.

One way which you can set high standards is to look at developments in the related industry and obtain professional certifications in your specific domains. I am therefore very happy to learn that Naval Warfare System Engineers in the RSN will be registering their professional qualifications with the Engineering Council, which is an internationally recognised regulatory body that sets and maintains the standards for professional engineering competence and ethics.

I think you would also know that we have recently awarded the first SAF Post Graduate Award, or SPA, to a Military Expert to pursue a PhD in engineering. The SPA(PhD) recognises servicemen who have excelled in their fields of military expertise. The first recipient of this prestigious award is ME5 Reuben Lim Chi Keong. Reuben has spearheaded several engineering solutions to enhance the robustness and life span of our air platforms. He is currently pursuing an Aeromechanical Engineering PhD in Cranfield University in the UK. We hope to have more Military Experts following in his footsteps, pursuing and advancing themselves, getting a PhD if need be, so that the SAF can progressively build up a core of highly knowledgeable and skilled experts.

Developing the Ethos, Culture and Traditions for the MDESKnowledge and professional qualifications are important but they tell only part of the story. MDES officers are also expected to display the same leadership qualities and values as your counterparts in the SAF Officer and Warrant Officers Corps. The Senior Military Experts Course that you have all gone through is therefore an important milestone as it has provided you with important foundational leadership and military training.

To the 30 Senior Military Experts who have successfully completed the course, once again my congratulations to all of you. As leaders in the MDES corps, you must now forge a culture of excellence in knowledge and skills, lead by example, and help to shape the ethos, culture and tradition for the Military Experts - one that is consistent with the broader values of the SAF, and yet distinct and unique from the Officer and Warrant Officer corps. I think this is very important because you are amongst the pioneering batches of Senior Military Experts, and all of you will play a very important role in shaping the ethos and culture of the Military Experts going forward.

A very good example amongst today's graduands is Military Medical Expert Kelly Foo. Kelly served with the SAF's combat peacekeepers in East Timor in 2001, and she has participated in numerous humanitarian missions such as Operation Surya Bhaskara Jaya, the Indo-Sin Bakti Social and the Pacific Partnership. Kelly recently graduated from the Medical Officers' Conversion Course with the Top Knowledge award. This is a very remarkable achievement because there were 47 medical officers with her in the same course. So I think she has really achieved something tremendous, and in recognition of her professionalism and dedication, she recently assumed the pinnacle appointment of Chief Warrant Officer in the Navy Medical Service. So well done, Kelly.

I am sure that there are many others like Kelly amongst all of you. But I think what is important is that all of you must have the passion to learn and the desire to push new boundaries. In the process of learning and becoming an expert, you must also be prepared to experiment and make mistakes. Making mistakes is OK, because in fact, without failure, we cannot hope to learn the best way to do things. As one saying goes, "the definition of an expert is someone who knows what not to do". And the only way to know what not to do, or the best way to know what not to do, is to admit a mistake and realise that that is not the right way and to better not repeat the same thing. So be prepared to make mistakes. Being willing to fail is a sign of maturity, a sign of bravery and a desire to do things better.

Also, the more knowledge you gain, the more important it is to stay humble. The people who are generally regarded as experts in any field are often the last to call themselves one. Sometimes the ones who say they are experts are not the real experts. In fact, the real experts often go to great lengths to point out the limitations of their own knowledge and to be humble, and they will always be the ones to acknowledge they have more to learn, and they are always the ones who continuously strive to improve themselves. So I hope you remember that being an expert, and especially being a Military Expert in the SAF, is not about bringing attention to yourself but about serving others. In particular, it is about adding value to the organisation, enhancing the capabilities of the SAF, and ultimately building a stronger defence for Singapore.

So with that, it now gives me great pleasure to appoint all of you as Senior Military Experts. As you begin this next phase of your career, I hope you will continue to learn and to practice your craft, to carry out your duties to the best of your abilities. I am confident that you will always uphold the highest traditions of the SAF and the MDES Corps, and I wish you success in all that you do. Thank you very much.

More Resources

30 Graduate as SAF Senior Military Experts