Speech by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the Overseas Service Medal Presentation Ceremony

Chief of Defence Force,
Service Chiefs,
Distinguished Guests,
Families and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen

First let me thank the family members for joining us. It is always a pleasure to have you here; to meet and get to know the family members of our SAF servicemen and women. This evening, we recognise the efforts of SAF men and women in overseas operations who were part of the multinational coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the aerial fire-fighting operations to combat the haze in Indonesia. Let me thank all the servicemen and women for a job well done. 

COMBATING ISIS

In November 2014, I informed Parliament that the SAF would continue to participate in efforts to stop the radicalising influence of terror groups that can harm our citizens here. I told Parliament that, as we did in Afghanistan against the threat of Al-Qaeda, the SAF would be contributing assets and personnel to the multinational coalition to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. 

The fight against extremist groups like Al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah and ISIS is a global one. As with Al-Qaeda, it was clear from the start that it would only be a matter of time before ISIS inspired acolytes to harm and kill innocent citizens in other parts of the world. On this score, ISIS poses an even greater threat to our region because it has inducted as many sympathisers in our region in the last three years as Al-Qaeda did in 10 years. 

As a result, all of us have read the headlines around the world. We have seen since attacks in Sydney, Paris, San Bernardino, Istanbul, and most recently in Jakarta. What does this tell us? It tells us that no country is safe as long as these extremist elements have the means to recruit, influence, indoctrinate others to follow their call to wreak destruction and sow terror. Just look at our neighbours around us. Malaysia too recently announced that they apprehended a suspect just hours before his planned suicide attack at an entertainment outlet, and recently, a few more arrests. Even Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia with majority Muslim populations are targets. How can any country be safe? What is the goal of these jihadi extremists, many who are willing to mount suicide attacks? Their goal is to compel citizens within that target country to accept their way of life through force and intimidation - you must behave the way I like, if not, I will use force to make you behave that way. They want to establish, openly as they have said, a wilayat, a province under the ISIS’ caliphate, in this region. 

The alleged leader of the Jakarta blasts - Bahrun Naim - is a known terrorist who went to Syria after being released from Indonesian prison, runs a blog that celebrates attacks carried out by affiliates of ISIS. He is the leader of the Katibah Nusantara (Malay Archipelago Combat Unit). These are clear names, these are not code names. These are names that say 'I am establishing a region here and I am coming to get you'. There are many like him leading various cells, which is why Indonesian authorities have come out openly to say they expect more planned attacks of an even more serious nature. I must tell you that the Katibah Nusantara includes Singapore. An enemy has identified for himself, a mission that says 'I will harm Singaporeans in Singapore'.

As misguided as these extremists are, they are willing to die for their cause and to harm as many innocents before doing so. Countries that value their way of life and seek to protect their citizens, must therefore collaborate to resolutely oppose these extremist elements.

This is the core mission of the SAF. The SAF will take on this core responsibility because whether our citizens are harmed here or elsewhere, our citizens are in harm's way. Our mission, we have sworn, is to protect Singapore and Singaporeans. The SAF must step up to this challenge and it cannot fail in this mission. This is why the SAF has been involved in multinational counter terrorism operations since 2007. We deployed in Afghanistan for six years against Al-Qaeda and over the past year against ISIS. Since the beginning of the deployment, the SAF's contributions have encompassed a range of missions, whether it is Intelligence Fusion Officers (IFO) and an Imagery Analysis Team (IAT) or whether it is to support the HQ Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF). Such intelligence support is vital for monitoring ISIS activities and targeting their strongholds in Iraq and Syria. As you know, we also deployed a RSAF KC-135R air-to-air refueling tanker. Based in the Middle East, the crew performed crucial air-to-air refueling operations for the coalition force aircraft, allowing them to stay in the air longer to perform their missions.

Our contributions represent small but niche capabilities that have been operationally useful to the coalition. We join this fight because if we do not triumph over extremist terrorism, the danger and risks to our citizens here will only grow. As Jakarta and the rest of Malaysia show, if the danger is brought to our doorstep, I expect all SAF units to be alert and to see this as part of your core mission to protect citizens here. This is our duty, and this is our mission.

COMBATING THE HAZE

 I also want to acknowledge the efforts of SAF men and women who helped fight the haze in Indonesia. The SAF deployed a Chinook helicopter and 33 SAF personnel, together with personnel from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and a 5000-litre heli-bucket. All of us are very familiar why we sent our forces to Palembang. The haze was affecting all of us and I think when we sent our units to Palembang, Singaporeans were very happy that we were doing something to put the haze out. The units were deployed to Palembang in South Sumatra, one of the worst-hit areas during the haze then. They braved thick haze and poor visibility, and I think they did very well to fly 11 aerial firefighting sorties amidst the haze, and they discharged more than 400,000 litres of water and extinguished more than 50 hotspots in Sumatra. Our people worked well with their counterparts from the SCDF, and their efforts were recognised by our Indonesian friends. At a farewell event in Palembang, the Deputy Head of the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management expressed his sincere gratitude to our people for their hard work in fighting the forest fires.

MISSION SUCCESS UNDERPINNED BY OUR PEOPLE 

The conduct and performance of our SAF personnel in these two missions have been exemplary and highly professional. It has brought credit and raised the standing of the SAF wherever they served. Many went beyond the call of duty and volunteered for these missions. This included a NSF who stepped forward to contribute to our fire-fighting efforts. I believe that both personally and as a unit, you have learnt many valuable operational lessons from these deployments that you should share with others.

CONCLUSION

To all the family members, I want to acknowledge and thank you for your constant support and encouragement. It was because of your strength, your shouldering of extra responsibilities at home when our SAF servicemen and women went on overseas deployments, that gave them peace of mind to focus and achieve mission success. To all our servicemen receiving awards - wear the medal with pride knowing that your contributions are deeply appreciated and have made a difference. Thank you.