SPEECH BY SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, HENG CHEE HOW, AT THE SINGAPORE AMAZING FLYING MACHINE AWARDS CEREMONY 2025 ON 5 APRIL 2025

Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, Chief Executive Officer of DSO National Laboratories,

Dr Lee Song Choon, Senior Director of Education Science Centre Singapore,

Professor Ricky Ang, Associate Provost (International Relations), Singapore University of Technology and Design,

Partners,

Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

INTRODUCTION

A very good afternoon to everyone. It is a privilege for me to be here today at the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition (SAFMC) Awards Ceremony once again. Mr Cheong Chee Hoo mentioned that this is my sixth occasion coming to the award ceremony, and I must tell you that I very much look forward to it every year. So, when I received the sixth invitation this year, the sense of privilege was no less. Thank you very much for inviting me. This ceremony reminds us of the journey our participants have undertaken – a journey fuelled by creativity, the spirit of discovery, and an unwavering pursuit of excellence in innovation. Throughout my years of attending this event, the SAFMC has brought together participants from diverse backgrounds and interests, fostering the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators. And of course, we know that amongst the participation teams, we have them from both Singapore as well as overseas, and so a very warm welcome as well to our participants and teams from overseas.   

To the young minds who have chosen to participate in this event – your enthusiasm, passion and commitment have been the heart and soul of this competition. You have gone beyond book learning to embrace the challenge of tackling complex problems, iterating on designs, and ultimately, turning abstract concepts and aerodynamics knowledge into amazing flying machines. Your participation is testament to the power of youth-driven innovation. You are part of that new generation that will shape future breakthroughs in technology.

IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION TO SINGAPORE

For Singapore, innovation is not just a buzzword. It is a need and an enduring necessity. Without natural resources to leverage upon, we have to find alternative ways to thrive and to be the best at what we can do. We adopted a relentless focus on innovation which has transformed key challenges into opportunities for our country. One key challenge we face is energy security. As a small nation with limited resources, we have relied heavily on energy imports. However, instead of just seeing this as a constraint, we turned it into an opportunity to lead in renewable energy solutions. As an example of that, Singapore is diversifying energy sources by leveraging highly efficient solar panels and floating solar farms, such as the one that we have at Tengah Reservoir, to generate renewable energy for thousands of homes. We are also testing and deploying the direct use of ammonia as a low-carbon fuel for energy generation. This not only enhances our energy resilience, but also positions Singapore at the forefront of clean energy solutions.

Our ability to innovate, adapt and create new solutions has enabled Singapore to stay relevant and competitive in an ever-changing global landscape. As we are increasingly faced with global instability and geopolitical uncertainties, it has become even more important to adapt to evolving challenges and threats. The readiness to seek new ways of doing things and overcome obstacles will not only help us improve our daily lives, but also help us prevail against emerging and indeed, ever-changing threats.

A couple of examples from global conflicts that we continue to see today demonstrate the need for innovation in areas of defence and national security. Look at the Russia-Ukraine conflict. That conflict has led to accelerated development in military robotics and artificial intelligence on a global scale. These systems have enabled rapid decision-making in the heat of battle, quicker responses to threats, and ways to minimise harm to human soldiers. However, innovation is not only seen in advanced technology. In that same Russia-Ukraine conflict, looking at it from the Ukrainian side, you see the Ukrainian military demonstrating their resourcefulness and out-of-the-box thinking by modifying low-cost commercial drones to conduct surveillance and military action. In a like manner therefore, Singapore must be agile and adaptive by cultivating and nurturing an innovative spirit to solve critical problems, especially in troubled times. We must continue to prove that it is not the size of a country alone or its natural resources, or its vulnerabilities that will define its future. Its future will be defined even more by its ability to innovate and adapt.

INNOVATION IS KEY TO SAFEGUARDING SINGAPORE’S SECURITY

Singapore’s Defence Tech Community (DTC), which includes the DSO, was established more than 50 years ago to fulfil this mission – to leverage technology as a force multiplier to overcome Singapore’s strategic vulnerabilities. The DTC’s agility in exploring new areas and applying disruptive technologies has enabled us to build up indigenous capabilities and technological surprises that strengthens our national security. DTC has and will continue to play a key role in ensuring the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) leading technological edge and future readiness.

For example, we have the Navy’s Maritime Security Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), which began patrols since January this year. These USVs are equipped with an indigenous Collision Detection and Collision Avoidance (CDCA) algorithm which is specially designed by the DSO. The CDCA algorithm enables the USVs to navigate through our busy Singapore Strait, full of vessels big and small, moving and static, and cope with the constantly changing environmental conditions at sea. Another example would be the Singapore Army’s new V15 mini-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This is another innovation from DSO, and that one won the Defence Technology Prize in November last year. That drone can be quickly set up for use and has the unique ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter without requiring a large area to operate from.

These innovations demonstrate how our scientists and engineers are always thinking boldly and exploring new frontiers. In fact, some of them began their innovation journey with SAFMC, just like yourselves. Ms Tay Jing Xuan, the Technical Chair for Category D1, was indeed also a past participant of SAFMC across many years, from 2014 to 2017. She graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in Computer Engineering, and thereafter joined DSO. She is now a Robotics Engineer working on autonomous boats in the Robotics Division. In the future, perhaps we will see exciting technologies and systems developed by some of you, hopefully many of you will also join DSO in doing so! It is also customary for me every year, just like the CEO, to do some human resource promotion.

CONCLUSION

Innovation is not just about the end outcome or the final product. Beyond technological advancement and solutions, innovation stems from human capital, and the drive of the human spirit. It is a desire to make a real impact on people and the world around us.

We applaud the organisers of the SAFMC from DSO and Science Centre, for continuing to grow SAFMC as a platform to nurture our young innovators, and to inspire a spirit and culture of scientific curiosity and empowerment. To advance Singapore’s future in innovation and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), we must support and evolve such platforms, in addition to pursuing research and technological development. So, a big thank you to our teachers, lecturers, and parents, and of course, the participants yourselves, in participating and supporting this SAFMC. For the parents, lecturers and teachers, thank you for your constant guidance and encouragement.

I look forward to meeting our participants later after this ceremony at the concourse, and to see how all of you will continue your innovation journey by developing the ideas of today into the game-changers of tomorrow. Thank you once again for participating. My heartiest congratulations to the award winners and have a very good afternoon. Thank you.