Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the MINDEF Volunteers' Dinner

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

First, let me together with Senior Minister of State (SMS) Heng Chee How, SMS Dr Maliki Bin Osman, Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong, welcome all of you to tonight's appreciation dinner. Let me express my deep thanks and appreciation for your contributions towards building a strong national defence. When I look out I see so many senior figures, established figures, CEOs of companies, volunteer groups, social organisations and I know that all of you are very busy people. It is very gratifying that every year we see both old faces and new faces but together you contribute significantly to help the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Some of you may remember that three years ago, the SAF commemorated its Golden Jubilee. Can anyone remember the tagline? We spent many hours discussing taglines. It was "Giving Strength to Our Nation". If you reflect on this, even countries find strength in ascendency. In 2016, US President Trump's campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again", and his "America First" policy rode on that. President Xi Jinping speaks of "the great revival of the Chinese nation", 中国强起来, as part of the "Chinese Dream". Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls for the building of a "New India". Nearer home, President Joko Widodo has a vision for Indonesia "to become a creative, great nation that will contribute to the greatness of the global civilisation". Very lofty ideas. Near and far, both organisations as well as nations want to be strong, want to rise to that strength and be that source of strength.

And why not? Weak nations, as history shows, are ignored and can fragment, make slow progress and cannot improve the lives of their citizens. But here's the question. Where and how do organisations or nations derive their strength? You need organisations, you need departments. Where is that source of strength? The question is interesting. But I think the answers are even more fascinating, and as diverse and deep as the trove of historical examples across time and nationalities. It is not size alone that gives strength, although that certainly helps. Take the US for example, (who has) only 300 million citizens but has a GDP larger than China and India, with four times its population. Historically, remember Athens was much smaller, for those of you who have been to Venice, much smaller than its neighbours but at its zenith, Athens ruled the Mediterranean. 

What about diversity within any country or an organisation? Diversity within the population can be both a hindrance to and a catalyst for strength. What do I mean? Take Germany. All of us would agree that Germany is a very strong nation. But it took many centuries and wars for the north and south to be united. In fact, historically, the Napoleonic Wars were catalysts for the events that finally brought 25 states together as a unified Germany. So if you read history books, for the longest time it was an un-unified Germany. The Napoleonic Wars came along, united it and the strength of Germany set off a train of events as we know it in the 18th, 19th and 20th century.
 
Inevitably in this reflection, we come to Singapore and we ask, is Singapore strong? I would give a qualified yes, but with caveats. I think we are strong given our relative youth as a nation and we have come far in a short span of 50 plus years because we did not start off that way. We did not have the natural ingredients to gel a nation. This is what Mr Lee Kuan Yew observed in 1984 when he reflected what his thoughts were on independence. I quote him, "The basic attributes of nationhood were missing. We were groups of diverse and different peoples. We had no common past. We had no common language, culture, or religion. We did not have the ‘social glue' to hold together as a nation.", which leads to the second caveat that our nation building is still and always will be a work in progress. Third, a universal truth that we will only discover our strength and weaknesses when tested.

Historical Perspective on Volunteerism

In our short history, there has been a number of tests and there are facets of Singapore which we, ourselves as Singaporeans, and foreigners notice are significant strengths. I will name some of them. Our pragmatic and open approach to problems and challenges is often cited as a strength. So when we have a problem, we deal with it directly, we expose it, we tell people what the problem is and that is not only for government. You see that in companies as well, because Singaporeans do not like, and rightly so, to be kept in the dark. Our standard of governance is a strength, even despite lapses from time to time. Our multiracial harmony and tolerance is a strength that we are quietly proud of. It was an area of concern after 9/11 but our society kept together and that was a natural instinct when we unearthed the plot, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot against seven targets. When 9/11 occurred, the first thought to the national leaders, the members of Parliament, was "Can we hold together?". We did well, I think, given the circumstances but we have to keep working on this never-ending challenge. 

Our Total Defence is a strength. Why do I say that? Well, very few countries, if you take a national poll, and ask them any question. I think if you get 60% to 70%, it is considered very strong consensus. It is amazing to me that every time we do a national poll, 98% of Singaporeans believe in a strong defence. It is very hard to get 98% of people to agree on anything, let alone Total Defence or national defence. This is consistently the level of support that Singaporeans give. 

And I believe that your examples as volunteers are a strong factor that keeps this support for national defence strong. You are the leaven of society, in other words, you make it rise. I think your personal examples speak louder than your words. The fact that we have conscription, mandatory military service, national service (NS), for males, has neither diminished the need for, nor detracted from, the contributions of volunteers. In fact, I think it is synergistic.

Enhancing the SAF Volunteer Corps

Without the positive experience with you volunteers, MINDEF would not have had the confidence to launch the SAF Volunteer Corps, or the SAFVC. It has now provided an avenue for new citizens and female Singaporeans to do their part for our national security. Interest in the SAFVC has surpassed expectations, and as a result, 15 new roles have been created for volunteers this year, bringing the total number of roles to 31. Spanning across five domains, these include engineering, safety, supply chain, and the military band. Our SAFVC volunteers undergo tough and effective training so that it allows them to contribute and gain appreciation for National Service. They have completed over 90 deployments since the establishment of the SAFVC, serving alongside our active (servicemen), full-time national servicemen and Operationally Ready NSmen. This year, we recognise their contributions and commitments at the inaugural tri-service promotion parade where 67 SAFVC volunteers were promoted, and 73 were presented with formation patches.

New Opportunities for Service

What I particularly like is when we step up or create new schemes, they grow from strength to strength. Schemes like the Reservist on Voluntary Extended Reserve Service (ROVERS) Scheme, the NS Volunteers Scheme, and the Expertise Conversion Scheme (ECS). 

I talked about new programmes. Let me name some of them. We have recently started a new programme which allows lawyers to volunteer their expertise pro bono to servicemen facing military trials. They supplement our current Defending Officers Scheme. These lawyers would help to strengthen our military justice system. I am happy to say that eleven lawyers have already volunteered for the programme and many of them are here with us today. Thank you very much. We have some of them starting cases already, like Mr Anand Nalachandran.

Recently, you would have read of a fatality that we had. Unfortunately a Full-time National Serviceman died from heat stroke. Of course we convened our internal Committee of Inquiry (COI) but instinctively, we drew from the strength of our volunteers and we set up an External Review Panel on Heat Injury Management. It was chaired by Associate Professor Mark Leong, with four other members. They are very busy people but they completed their work in a short time. At the same time, we drew on another volunteer scheme, the External Review Panel on SAF Safety headed by Mr Heng Chiang Gnee to look at the COI findings when we presented to the public. 

Reaffirming Commitment to National Service

I cannot tell you how often your varied backgrounds as volunteers helped us to reach diverse groups that SAF and MINDEF will have to reach. For example, some of you may know that our SAF veterans now go to schools and they tell their life stories to children. That is much better than reading a book. You have a person in front of you, it is engaging. He tells the story of what he was. How he went to the jungles during Konfrontasi. It is alive, a portion of history. Or how members of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD) come up with new ideas. There is one new idea next week, next weekend. It is a boot camp for women. You may have read about it. We asked for people to sign up and, and we have overwhelming response. We have, I think, only about a hundred places, and a thousand women signed up. We had to turn away nine hundred because the SAF can only handle a hundred women. Maybe the next one will have more. But it is ideas like this that germinate and has resonance with the public. It allows our Singaporean daughters to get a taste of what NS and military life is like. Employers and Trade Associations, especially SMEs, were better engaged through the SALUTE! leaflets; and because our population is becoming more diverse, we have many students, many more students, from the foreign system schools, such as the United World College and the Global Indian International School. We have people who go to these schools to familiarise them with what National Service obligations are.

Volunteers strengthen our processes and deepen our expertise 

Your professional skills are invaluable, they give strength to our system. We have volunteers like Professor Kua Ee Heok - Chairman of our Psychiatry Specialist Advisory Board since 2011 - who helps address the mental well-being of our soldiers. We had, recently, a Parliamentary question about the mental health of our enlistees. And if you think about it, for two years, we get a whole male cohort. And yes, NS for some may be stressful, so we have to handle it. And without your inputs, the psychiatrists and psychologists helping us, I think we would be stretched.

We have people like Reverend Chiu Ming Li, who has been on the Board of Visitors in the SAF Detention Barracks (SAFDB) since 2006 and has helped train volunteers and rehabilitated our detainees. For two years, we get the whole male cohort in. We get the whole of society, not a microcosm, but the whole male society. And inevitably, we will have issues of those with drugs, breaking the law and the SAF must deal with it. So Reverend Chiu helped us with a 12-week Life Skills Programme, and it improved the rate of recidivism, in other words, people falling back into their bad old habits. It reduced it from 31% to 21% over the last five years. 

We have architects like Mr Chan Sui Him and Mr Liu Thai Ker, who have been on an Architectural Advisory Board, and gave good advice when we built the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College.

But, I will tell you that what is more exciting are that younger volunteers are also learning from your example and joining us. Let me just name one example, Mr Wan Junyuan, who is a games enthusiast and designer, is using his interests to help secondary school students understand the principles of Total Defence. Of course, if you ask anybody above the age of 50 what is Total Defence, we will list it. But the new generation approaches it differently. 

Conclusion

The strength of our nation is ultimately only as strong as each citizen's dedication to the vision and idea of our Singapore. As volunteers, you both embody and express those values of nationhood that make our nation strong. At the beginning of this speech, I asked where do nations draw strength from? One source is certainly the commitment of its citizens, like you, who are willing to go beyond the call of duty to give of themselves, to give strength to our nation. Thank you very much.

More Resources

Honouring MINDEF Volunteers