Speech by Senior Minister of State for Defence, Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, at the Singapore Youth Flying Club's (SYFC) Private Pilot's Licence (PPL) Wings and Aviation Awards Presentation Ceremony

Mr. Ng Chee Khern, Chairman of the SYFC's Board of Governors
Brigadier-General Lim Tuang Liang, President of the SYFC's Management Committee
Distinguished Guests
Principals, Parents, Teachers
Students of SYFC, graduands

Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good morning.

I am very pleased to be here today to recognise and celebrate the achievements of 46 students who have attained their Private Pilot's Licence (PPL). To all the graduands, you are here today because you have persevered through thirty-two weeks of demanding and rigorous training, while pursuing your academic studies at the same time. This is not an easy feat, but you did it. Congratulations. It is a very hard-earned success, I am sure.

For many of you here, you may have watched the aerial displays at National Day Parades with wide-eyed wonder as a child, just like Muhammad Nabil did. For others like Tessar Goh, as one of the two females in the PPL course, you may have taken the path less travelled to pursue your passion in aviation. Regardless of your motivation, today marks the first step towards realising that dream.

Flying is a complex task. Manoeuvring a sophisticated machine, thousands of feet above the ground, requiring not only technical skills. More importantly, you must possess traits such as good situational awareness, emotional stability and discipline. Pilots must also be able to make astute decisions quickly and often under stressful circumstances. Your attainment of the PPL is a strong testament that you possess the skills and abilities to pursue a career as a pilot.

A nation's airspace is and will always be vital to its sovereignty and security. The peace and stability that we have enjoyed over the last 50 years was only possible because many of our pioneers were willing to serve a cause greater than themselves. The responsibility of defending Singapore's airspace was thrust upon them in 1968, back when our airforce only had two Cessna aircraft borrowed from the Singapore Flying Club. Since then, the RSAF has undergone significant transformation to become a respected, modern force - one that is capable of protecting our skies from conventional airborne threats and ready to respond to new scenarios, such as potential aircraft hijackings by terrorists.

As we look beyond SG50, Singapore will need our youth to continue to answer this higher calling to protect our security and our skies. Every generation will confront new threats, and you will have to find new ways to keep Singapore safe and strong. For your generation, conflicts among nations might appear to be less frequent but they have by no means disappeared. While all-out armed conflict is unlikely, accidental miscalculations could lead to open confrontation, as could happen in the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Further away but no less relevant, Russia's annexation of Crimea two years ago remains a grim reminder of how it will always be too little too late to build up a strong defence only when threats appear. At the same time, the threats facing Singapore have become more multi-faceted and transnational, and will require more complex and innovative methods to tackle.

The RSAF is looking at developing new capabilities and concepts, to better enable it to address the evolving challenges of the security landscape. Even as it upkeeps a high operational tempo in 24/7 air defence, the RSAF is increasingly being called upon to address non-traditional security challenges, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), counter-terrorism and counter-piracy. Over the past three years, the RSAF has taken part in multinational efforts to counter ISIS and piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Closer to home, they took part in the search and locate operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. They also aid efforts in the aftermath of the earthquakes in Sabah and Nepal, as well as fire-fighting operations in Indonesia.

I am glad that almost all of you have applied to join the RSAF as pilot trainees upon the completion of your studies. The PPL course serves as a first encounter with flying, and sets a critical foundation for many of our RSAF pilots. In fact, close to a quarter of our RSAF pilots first learned to fly at SYFC, and many more alumni serve in the RSAF in various other vocations. For those of you who have applied, I am confident that you will do well in your RSAF training. In fact, more than 80 per cent of PPL graduands go on to succeed as RSAF pilots, including fighter pilots.

I would like to commend and thank SYFC for its achievements. The PPL course is a challenging and exciting journey that many have attempted, but only a handful have succeeded. Since its inception in 1971, the Club has conducted flying courses for more than 6,300 young Singaporeans and produced close to 1,100 PPL graduands. More importantly, the Club has achieved an excellent safety record, and has been accident-free for 45 years of flying operations. This is no easy feat and is only made possible by the constant safety emphasis by the Management Committee and the professionalism of the flying instructors, both past and present.

I would like to take this opportunity to also acknowledge and thank the principals, teachers and parents for their strong support for SYFC's programmes. It is only through your support and encouragement that the SYFC can continue to achieve its core mission of promoting aviation and inculcating a strong passion in flying among our youths.

Let me once again congratulate all graduands on your achievements. Today, you join the ranks of many alumni who have gone before you in keeping our skies safe for all Singaporeans. I would like to specially congratulate the winners who won the Best in Flying and Best in Ground School Awards. Again, I wish all of you every success in your endeavours and may you continue to strive for excellence in all that you do. Thank you. Have a pleasant day.