Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at 44th Command and Staff Course (CSC), 14th CSC (NS) and 2nd CSC (E) Graduation Ceremony

Chief of Defence Force,
Service Chiefs,
Deputy Commissioner of Police,
Senior Commanders,
Graduands of the 44th Command and Staff Course,
14th Command and Staff Course (National Service),
2nd Command and Staff Course (Executive).

Ladies and Gentlemen, First, let me put you at ease, the speech will only be 10% of the 85,000 page-reading materials that the course graduands read. My wife and I are very delighted to join you, to celebrate your graduation. One lament, though, I always find that we do not have enough time to meet you personally, to hear your stories. That is really what I prefer to do, but we will take it as it is and enjoy each other's company. But I was happy to see while shaking your hands and meeting your very lovely spouses, that many of you are establishing your families. And I heard twins and other babies being delivered during this course; if you can convince me this is scalable and viable, we will consider sending all Singaporeans to this course.

Well, congratulations. With the successful completion of this course, many of you know and expect that you will take on heavier responsibilities and higher roles in your respective organisations. And listening to you and meeting you, hearing how much you have learnt and the impressions you have made, I am confident that you will lead your organisations well, as you have been equipped and prepared as graduands of this Command and Staff College.

Developing Effective Leadership As senior commanders, when you return to your respective organisations and for some of you, your home countries, you will now have what you asked for: the ability to shape your organisations. You can stop complaining and talking about the person up there, because you will be the person up there.

You will have the view from the top; to drive it in the right direction you think your organisation should go. And leadership is very much a personal vision and your abilities. There is a personal imprint in leadership. And leadership presents opportunities, as it does responsibilities. So I guess you will be asking yourself what kind of leader do you hope to be? What are your strengths, your weak points, your blind spots, and what directions will you set as you go back? And I think these are important questions for all leaders, whether in this organisation or any other organisation. And I think the time at the College is meant for you to reflect and understand yourself first, and prepare yourself for these roles ahead.

But it is through your contributions and impact on society, that the prestige of this college, the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College will be enhanced. Because for most educational institutions, including the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College, its alumni are its investments. So to fulfil this role well, the College must benchmark itself with other similar leading organisations globally. And I think we want it and it does set high standards for itself - to be recognised as a premier command and staff college. And the only way you can do that is to be distinguished by the quality of your staff and students. And over the years, indeed the College has established strong linkages with foreign command and staff colleges as well as with local academic institutions - you have heard of the NTU programmes - and it is theselinkages that help you to benchmark, compare, and enhance your ability to deliver both academic rigours as well as real-world learning for your officers.

I think the ability to attract capable high ranking officers from other countries is also a measure of the College's reputation. And here, I think you have done very well this year. I am pleased to note that amongst the 209 graduands, we have a diverse group; I met many of you. We have one from the Singapore Police Force, I was very happy to meet you and your wife, and 14 International Officers from 12 countries - Australia, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam and for the first time, Italy. This is very useful because this diversity promotes robust intellectual exchange and the sharing of different operational experiences. And it is this kind of exchange that broadens your horizons and your appreciation of the global security challenges that nations face. So I can well imagine the discussion group between the Koreans, and between the Vietnamese and between those from Europe. And you basically have a global view each time you talk about security challenges. And also, you begin to appreciate different cultural backgrounds and perspectives arising from these differences.

The Strategic Environment

Well, as many of you rightly declared that now you have to face reality; to go back and lead your units and men. And I think you will have to help them understand the world better, so that when called upon, your unit and your men can make meaningful contributions when they are asked to maintain peace and security. Because the reality is that security challenges are increasingly transnational in origin and reach, and therefore complex to address. Just take a few examples: tensions within the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, Middle East, terrorism, piracy and pandemics. I doubt any of them may be resolved in our lifetime. There will be no quick fixes, no easy answers. And they will require parties to interact and this includes military-to-military engagements, to build first a level of mutual trust and confidence before any substantive collaboration and cooperation can take place. All progress between parties, whether state-to-state, whether person to person, depend first on building that trust and confidence.

Importance of International Collaboration

This was the basis and indeed the modus operandi of the Malacca Strait Patrols (MSP). As you know, it is a multilateral collaborative arrangement between the four littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. And we started sea patrols started in 2004. Some of you will remember that Lloyds, the insurance group, increased the risk ratings for the Straits of Malacca at that time, and shippers knew that, because you had to pay higher premiums. And it was considered the equivalent of a war-risk zone. The air patrols were first mooted at Shangri-La Dialogue 2005 and is a prime example of how dialogue, and mutual trust form the basis of positive outcomes. And since the sea and air patrols, piracy has come down, the Lloyd's risk category has been downgraded, and premiums have come down, effectively addressing piracy and ensuring security for our ships passing through. We should continue to work together to identify more of such collaborative opportunities to strengthen our regional peace.

Building mutual trust and confidence is a key deliverable when SAF participates in joint exercises and exchanges, whether it is under the Five Power Defence Arrangements or the Western Pacific Naval Symposium. And in June this year, some of you who have been following the news (would know), we had a very interesting event. This was the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus, and I think for the first time in the region, 18 militaries - 10 ASEAN countries and 8 partners - sent their militaries for a massive exercise with the theme of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)/and Military Medicine (MM). This was held off the coast of Brunei, and involved 3,200 personnel and many land, sea and air assets. I joked with my Brunei counterpart; this must be the first time in their history they have an armada assembled, a peaceful one, but nonetheless, assembled on their shores. And it was very interesting from the footage to see crew men from China, US, India, Korea and so on just joining together to execute missions. The Chinese and US soldiers crossed decks, in other words, landed on each other's ships. The Chinese sent their Peace Ark, which is a hospital ship. And this indeed was the first time that 18 regional and extra-regional countries came together, and we must have more of these.

The SAF's Overseas DeploymentsAs security challenges cross boundaries, in other words, not geographically confined, militaries, individual military forces will be increasingly asked to participate in multilateral missions. Singapore is not spared. As a responsible member of the international community, we deployed our forces.

If you ask anybody in the military 10 to 15 years ago whether they will foresee Singapore being deployed some five to six thousand kilometres away in Afghanistan, it would have been unthinkable.

But there we were. In fact, the SAF completed its longest and most challenging overseas deployment to date.

It was six years in Afghanistan. We sent 500 personnel as part of the multinational reconstruction and stabilisation mission. We worked with other partners closely - Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the US - whether it was to provide medical treatment, to build health facilities, or to train the local security forces. It was a very enriching exercise both military and humanitarian-wise. I remember one mission coming back from Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. That is where you remember images of the reclining Buddha were desecrated. I asked our SAF soliders when they came back whether they found the reclining Buddha or not. Apparently they tried but they didn't. We sent the dental team to Afghanistan, and there are no regular dentists there. Where we sent the dental team, the Afghans queued for hours. I am not sure how long they have been living with their toothaches but this was an opportunity to have their teeth looked at. It was not just humanitarian contributions. Our boys and girls in the south were subjected to rockets and mortars when we sent out the Weapon Locating Radar to enhance protection for our coalition partners. And I know that some of you International Students have served in Afghanistan and I am sure that during the course, you would have shared your common experiences . It was very valuable experience for the SAF through our six-years in Afghanistan.

Since 2009, the SAF has been in the Gulf of Aden, deployed against pirates, again as part of the counter-piracy efforts under the ambit of the multinational counter-piracy Combined Task Force. We sent so far four ships1 with over 1200 men and women to the Gulf of Aden. We have recently completed our third command of CTF 151. Today, I am pleased to announce that the SAF will be deploying a fifth Task Group, consisting of a frigate and a Naval Helicopter, to the Gulf of Aden from March to June next year. As with previous deployments, we will be inviting International Officers to participate with us.

Investments in Our People

I shared with you a slice, if you like, very quickly, what the SAF does, and it is an experience common to many modern militaries. And all these challenges and demand for modern militaries point to an inescapable fact. Modern militaries need commanders with expanded skill sets. The challenges are complex, the terrain is complex, the problems are complex, with the many nationalities you have to handle. There are no routine challenges as it were. I am convinced that if you can succeed as a military commander, as you routinely deal with complex challenges, you can succeed inany field and in life. And indeed businesses in many developed countries have recognised this and often head hunt military personnel to head their operations.

This is particularly important for the SAF, where people are our most valuable resource. This is why the SAF invests heavily in our people to bring out their fullest potential out. And as Commandant said, the college works with NTU to hold its Masters Programme. And 35 officers have graduated from this programme since its inception and another 39 officers from thiscourse will also commence their CE Masters programme after graduation.

Recently, the College worked with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) so that all CSC graduands can now also receive the Graduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership. This is under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) framework. This is something that provides a leadership development roadmap for business and strategic leaders at the CEO and Divisional Director levels. And I think this is a good initiative to ensure that competencies developed in our military officers are also relevant and valued in the public and private sectors.

Recognising NSmen's Contributions As you heard tonight, 45 NSmen are also graduating and they will move on to hold key leadership positions - Chief-of-Staff in the Divisions, Brigade Commanders and so on. NSmen form the backbone of the SAF and it is only through their commitment and contributions that we can build a credible defence force. And most of us agree that for Singapore to continue to be stable and prosperous, we have to maintain, this commitment to NS for each new generation.

And this was one of the main reasons why we started the Committee to Strengthen National Service (CSNS). Among the graduands tonight is MAJ (NS) Nicholas Fang, a member of the CSNS working group. We consulted widely with Singaporeans - some 10,000 of them, and we commissioned the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study as an independent study to see what Singaporeans thought of national service. And many of you may have heard or read for yourselves. When they were asked whether they supported national service, 98% of respondents acknowledged that NS is crucial for national defence and necessary in securing Singapore’s peace and prosperity. Let me repeat that again - 98%.

When the researchers shared with us this result, our first reaction was disbelief, because a public poll with 98% support!  And I kept asking them very difficult questions. Was the sample selection wrong? Did you bribe people to answer? Were you choosing people? This was not to question their ability but to make sure that it was a robust survey. The reality is Singaporeans understand that in a small country, defence is of paramount importance. And if you wonder why this is so after nearly 50 years, look around you. It is what you have said, what you have committed yourself to. Whether you are working, whether you are in the SAF, it is people like you who, having committed many months and asking your families to sacrifice, that has kept up this commitment to defence. In fact, from the survey, those who were not called up wanted to contribute to national service, including women. Among the female respondents, more than half agreed that women should be allowed to serve as a volunteer in the SAF in a professional role. They did not mean token roles. I do not believe in tokens. I believe that you can get the greatest contribution if you allow people to contribute to their fullest. So we will allow this and study this in detail. This support is gratifying but humbling, and should not make MINDEF/SAF complacent but instead motivate us to work harder.

The commitment of our next generation of NSmen will depend on people like you, who make personal sacrifices beyond the call of duty because you believe in defending Singapore. And I am conscious of your stories and that your family members are also called upon to make sacrifices in the process. In fact here we have one MAJ (NS) Koh Chee Beng William. His wife also delivered their third child. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with his family, but he could not as the course was ongoing. Thus this story shows that Singaporeans, their families, their employers are very supportive and make sacrifices, and this is essential to help us upkeep commitment to NS. Without their unwavering support and understanding, graduands here tonight would not have peace of mind to focus on their course. So I thank you all for your support. I would like to congratulate again all the graduands, for successfully completing your course and I wish you every success as you take on new and expanded responsibilities.

Thank you and have an enjoyable evening tonight.