Speech by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence, at Launch of the Defence Science Revealed Exhibition

Dr Tan Kim Siew, PS (DD) 
Ms Tan Yen Yen, Chairman, Singapore Science Board 
Principals and Teachers, 
Ladies and gentlemen, 
Good afternoon.

First and foremost, I am delighted to join you as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the DSO National Laboratories. As all of you know, this year marks the 40th anniversary and there are a number of celebrations, including this one, to herald the achievements over the past 40 years. DSO’s story really began with the strategic decision that for Singapore, we had to focus on science and technology. This critical decision was made very soon after the Singapore Armed Forces was raised. That decision to focus on science and technology was taken by the founding generation which included Dr Goh Keng Swee and the pioneer batch of scientists and engineers because they recognised, and I think many of us here would affirm that Singapore because of our small size and limited resources has vulnerabilities. And because of that we leverage on more technologically-advanced platforms and know-how so that we can mitigate these constrains. Some of you may know that DSO began as the Electronics Test Centre. It was in 1972 and began by testing night vision goggles and building simple equipment. I hear stories about what they did in the early days and it was all very exciting but these were all very humble beginnings. The DSO that we know today is very different. It has progressed exponentially and today conducts research on electronic warfare and develops leading-edge technologies across a full spectrum of land, sea, air and cyberspace domains.

Today, DSO is the largest defence R&D organisation in Singapore, with more than 1,200 defence scientists and engineers. They provide core capabilities to develop and integrate new technologies. They provide innovative solutions in a wide range of defence needs, including the Army Tactical Network, unmanned platforms like the Skyblade IV UAV and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive (CBRE) robots as well as the RSN's Combat Management System (CMS).

40 years ago when DSO started, the founding generation recognised our vulnerabilities - small state and limited number of people and human resource. Well I have news for you - our vulnerabilities have not changed. In fact I think we may have less births compared to then. We are still small, maybe a little larger - 700 sq km. Our vulnerabilities are indeed immutable; Singapore will therefore always need our local defence scientists and engineers to produce indigenous cutting-edge technologies to sharpen our defence capabilities. And we have a critical need for one element and that is good people. Our defence agencies such as DSO and DSTA will need to continually attract and recruit top-notch people to join our scientific and engineering community. Well, that is a challenge and one that is increasingly difficult because our young people, or less of our young people, are excited or enamoured by science and technology. How many of you here have children who are going to take up science and technology in university? How many of you here have children who are more inclined towards the humanities? It is a worldwide trend. In fact a Harvard professor told me that it not only applies to communities within nations, it applies across nations. This is of course Clayton Christenson who has done very good work in documenting that as countries develop per capita GDP, the entire generation shifts away from science and technology and we are seeing that in America and even in China which is developing. Within China, populations are moving towards humanities. Now, for Singapore it is still quite healthy - about half our graduate population is in science and technology and we want to maintain that. But we not only have to inform students about wonderful career prospects in science and technology industries but to excite students. To this end, I am very happy that DSO has partnered Science Centre Singapore (SCS), A*STAR and the Ministry of Education to set up CRADLE. CRADLE stands for Centre for Research and Applied Learning in Science. It is a unique research and learning hub specifically for students to engage in inquiry-based experimentation and real-world research. MINDEF will continue to offer the prestigious DSTA-DSO Scholarships to students to study in leading science and technology universities and we want to attract passionate, innovative and capable students who can create the next wave of leading technologies for the SAF.

I visit our defence science industries often; not only DSO and DSTA but on the private side like commercial firms like the Singapore Technologies family and other agencies. I am always struck by how excited they are when they share with me their ideas. They are like adults still with the essence of youth. Defence scientists and engineers have a critical impact on Singapore but it is also a career that is stimulating and fun. Our defence scientists and engineers embody the spirit articulate by Thomas Edison, who remarked, "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun." In reflecting this attitude, DSO has chosen the theme "40 Years of Serious Fun" - and indeed it is - to celebrate its 40th anniversary. It has also collaborated with SCS to develop a series of fun and exciting outreach programmes for our youths such as the "Amazing Series" of competitions, namely, the Amazing Science-X Challenge, Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition and Singapore Amazing Machine Competition. It is our attempt to showcase to our young, to excite them about science and technology and hopefully create the environment for imagination and bold experimentation.

As part of its 40th Anniversary celebrations, DSO has collaborated with the Science Centre to organise the "Defence Science Revealed" exhibition. Covering a massive 3,000 sq m, it is the largest defence science exhibition ever held in Singapore. The aim as you have heard is to demystify defence science and give the public a deeper understanding on the scientific processes behind many of the SAF's military innovations. I have been told of the 80 enthralling exhibits that you would see and I am pleased to note that Science Centre intends to incorporate these exhibits into its permanent gallery. The organising chairman mentioned that the defence scientists and engineers often lament that they work so hard and they cannot tell anyone else about their discoveries and innovations. At least the 40th anniversary allows you a peek into what they have been doing.

I am looking forward to the exhibition, just like you, and I am sure that we will be all enthralled and have fun while at the same time recognising how important it is for Singapore to retain this edge in science and technology. It now gives great pleasure to officially launch the "Defence Science Revealed" exhibition. 

Thank you.

More Resources

• Largest defence science exhibition in S'pore opens