Speech by Minister of Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the Total Defence Awards Presentation Ceremony

Permanent Secretaries,
Chief of Defence Force,
Chiefs of Services,
Minister of State Lawrence Wong,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Recipients of the Total Defence Awards,
Good evening.

First, let me say how happy I am to join you. Once a year, we want to acknowledge your efforts in helping us promote Total Defence. That was a very good video and I asked Gerard Koh who is helping organise this if this was an in-house production. He said we had some help but the people were real. Of course they are, you could tell how spontaneous they are. In fact, some are so good we may sign them up as our poster girls and poster boys for many years to come. But thank you for your affirmation of what is important. I know you spoke from the heart. Thank you for the things that you said spontaneously and especially in this time, I think it bears repeating. In the last decade, Singapore was impacted by a number of unforeseen events at a global scale and I will walk you through what we went through. All of us will remember 9/11, which changed the world the day after for all countries, including Singapore. I will just give you one thought. Prior to 9/11, if anyone would have said that in this coming decade Singapore would send their troops to Afghanistan or Iraq, the Northern Arabian Gulf, I think you would either commit him to an institution or you would, it is proven after the fact, say very sorry for not believing. It would have been inconceivable that SAF troops would deploy to Afghanistan. Yet today, we have sent more than 300 personnel over 23 deployments since 2007. We have sent in combat engineer teams to Bamiyan, medical and dental teams, imagery analysts, military institutional trainer, weapon locating radars, because our boys in Afghanistan who we sent there will receive rockets from the villages and we have to send in these weapon locating radars to give them advance notice so that they can defend themselves and sometimes they would have a few seconds, which would be a life-saver. Unthinkable. Unthinkable also that we would deploy in the Northern Arabian Gulf as I said. Unthinkable that we would be off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden fighting piracy in this 21st century. The Australians and Kiwis, our FDPA partners and whom we partner in Afghanistan, reminded me in some of our conversations that this has been their longest overseas deployment, both for Australia and New Zealand, since the Vietnam War. After 9/11, you would remember SARS and the H1N1 flu pandemic. They presented us with another set of challenges that threatened lives and the economy here. In 2008, the global financial crisis struck and the effects of which continue to reverberate today with the risk of default of sovereign debt by a number of countries.

We should remind ourselves that prior to 2001, at the end of the last millennium, there were very few, if any, hints that the coming decade, from 2001 to 2011, would bring about severe turbulence. So if we ask ourselves what will this decade bring, what would 2011 to 2020 bring, I think we would be very wise to not expect that these 10 years ahead will be smooth sailing, especially when none of the root problems that have occurred in the last decade have been solved.

Yes Osama Bin Laden has been killed, but extremist views and terrorism continue to recruit followers. The risk of a global pandemic is still present, and every now and then I read of new mutations being discovered that are reported ever so often. When these mutations come out, what scientists are looking for is the perfect storm, just the right amount of mutations for a virus to be very infectious and very lethal. And ever so often you are just close to that and scientists say we are just close thankfully, we find that the mutations are not that infective but you can never tell. The global financial system is still in need of fixing to improve its robustness. "Too big to fail" catastrophes, of companies and now countries, have not been averted. We must expect the unexpected and whenever a crisis hits, we need to be prepared.

This is the essence of our message of Total Defence, that we need to be prepared in the event of a crisis. This message was introduced in 1984 and I think it is ever more relevant today. Basically for Singapore, we need to build up capacity to withstand adversity and threats as a way of life for Singaporeans. What I worry is that we have never been tested in the last decade even though there was severe turbulence, it was usually a "V" shape recovery. We need to be a nation with resilience, willing to make sacrifices and take difficult, but necessary, measures to overcome the adversities when they come our way.

The recent tragic events in Norway last Friday left more than 70 dead after a lone gunman bombed Oslo's government district and then went on a shooting spree on Utoeya island, are a stark reminder that the unthinkable can happen. I visited Norway a few times and it is touted to be the world's luckiest country. It found oil in the 50s or 60s, every time it thought they would run oil, the technology got updated and they found they could get more energy and gas. And people use Norway as an example of a country that has socially inclusive policies, homogenous population, narrow wage gap, it is a developed country. But even in those circumstances, individuals can be radicalised with extremist views. So for Singapore how much more with a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural population, we need to weave a strong fabric of community bonding that reaches out to all groups, old and new citizens.

Employers and CEOs like yourselves play a crucial role in Total Defence. National Servicemen form the backbone of the Singapore Armed Forces, and your making provisions for your NSmen employees to participate in their In-Camp Trainings (ICTs) is critical to ensuring that they remain operationally ready. We are very grateful for enlightened employers who support NS, to allow them to fulfill their duties and obligations. MINDEF appreciates that others have to shoulder extra responsibilities in your companies when NSmen go for their ICTs but we know that employers do so and support when they go for their ICTs because you understand the importance of a strong defence in guaranteeing a secure and stable environment for businesses to grow and prosper. As the Country President for Novartis said in the video, there is peace of mind because you know that this is a secure environment.

You saw in the video, International Energy Services - Asia Pte Ltd, one of the award winners tonight. To ensure that the company is able to continue functioning when its male employees are called up for their ICTs, International Energy Services has instituted a backup system where another person is always paired up with the primary appointment holder. It gives the NSmen employees a peace of mind while in camp, knowing that their work back in the office is being taken care of. In addition, to encourage a strong fitness culture and motivate the employees to do well, International Energy Services provides incentives in cash or kind to the NSmen for attaining certain standards in their IPPT. I was pleasantly surprised by the lady in the video who said that when her NS employee got a letter of commendation, the company sent him and his family for a cruise. I am not suggesting that all of you do this but it is a good benchmark.

Supporting NS employees has, as the employers, advantages too. Many companies recognise the value-add that NS and military training bring to their companies' productivity and work culture. Because in essence, NS commanders have to define a mission, communicate a mission, implement it and have timelines to meet, skills that are ransferrable. According to Mr Chris Snook, Country President for Novartis Singapore, his company believes that the leadership and analytical skills honed during NS have helped its NS employees' work performance at the company. Employees who are NSmen have also given us feedback that they find themselves better team members and team builders.

We are also grateful to those of you who make available your equipment and services to the SAF and who always meet the stipulated timings during mobilisation exercises. Your readiness to contribute has enabled the SAF to marshal a wider pool of resources, giving the SAF greater capability and flexibility to carry out a full spectrum of operations, both at home and abroad. This year-round commitment to ensure that your equipment is well maintained and records updated I know comes at some cost to your company.

This evening, I would like on behalf of all Singaporeans, to recognise the contributions that all of you have made in support of Total Defence. May I also congratulate the award recipients, and hope that what you do would be an inspiration for other companies in Singapore. I do not know when a crisis will hit that will test our ability to be resilient, we do not hope for one, but by playing an active role in Total Defence, you would have helped to safeguard the peace and security of Singapore. Let us all continue to do our part to ensure that Singapore remains safe and secure for many more years to come or if a crisis occurs, that we can bounce back, stay united, continue as one people, regain our competitiveness, pick up and move on. I think that, if we are ever put to the test, will show that we have indeed succeeded in Total Defence. Thank you, and have a pleasant evening.

More Resources

Employers and Civil Resource Owners Recognised for Contributions to Total Defence

Fact Sheet: Total Defence Awards 2011 Presentation Ceremony