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Speech by Second Minister for Education Dr Maliki Osman at the Special Awards Presentation Ceremony at the University Cultural Centre, National University of Singapore

Colleagues, award recipients, ladies and gentlemen,

1. It gives me great pleasure to celebrate in person today with our 195 recipients. After a two-year hiatus from an in-person ceremony, I am sure we are all delighted to be able to gather again and today is the first day we have lifted the restrictions on wearing of masks. I am glad that we are combining the best of our traditions with what we have learned from COVID-19. Hence, the ceremony this year takes on a hybrid mode. In addition to the recipients and guests with us physically, we are also able to invite more teachers and family members of our recipients to join us virtually in our celebration.

2. My heartiest congratulations to all award recipients on your achievements! The Special Awards Presentation ceremony is a meaningful one because it celebrates the many talents of, and spirit of excellence in our students. The range of 11 awards we are presenting this afternoon reflects our belief that there are different definitions of success and peaks of excellence in our society, and our commitment to provide multiple pathways in education. Our recipients exemplify some of the qualities we hope to nurture in our students, which will stand them in good stead for the future and in life.

3. One such quality is having the growth mindset. This requires resilience and a positive attitude. One of our Lee Kuan Yew Exemplary Student Award recipients, Rachel Tan from Metta School, exemplifies this. Rachel has autism spectrum disorder and this can make learning and interacting with others challenging. However, Rachel’s enthusiasm to learn and excel has motivated her to seek out ways to turn these challenges into opportunities. For example, she participates actively in role plays and other learning activities during lessons, and she willingly volunteers to do presentations to strengthen her public speaking and engagement skills. As a student leader and class monitor, Rachel discharges her duties diligently. During her vocational training, Rachel was commended by her supervisors as she went beyond what was expected of her. During the Chinese New Year period, Rachel persevered to complete all orders with a positive attitude, despite having to put in extra time.

4. Rachel’s perseverance and willingness to try is an inspiration for all our students!

5. We also hope that our students will have an innovative mindset โ€“ to dare to dream, be creative and inventive. But they should not let their dreams stay as dreams. Instead, they should see possibilities on how to put their creativity to good and practical use. Some of the award recipients today have harnessed the wizardry of technology to do so.

6. For instance, during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in the migrant worker dormitories, Kelvin Lek, Rajasekaran Karthik, Chow Jing Xiang, and Lu Zi Xing from Singapore Polytechnic, came up with a cloud-based solution to effectively deploy wastewater samplers on a large scale. Now, wastewater sampling has proven to be a valuable resource in the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19. However, the initial sampling method which relied on manual onsite processes, was labour and time intensive, and stakeholders did not have a good overview of what was happening in real time. The team’s cloud-based solution enabled stakeholders to now automate the processes, monitor the deployed samplers, and receive notifications and alerts of faults, in real-time. To extend the reach of their innovation, the team plans to work with other industries and businesses to implement smart solutions to automate their processes.

7. Congratulations to Kelvin, Rajasekaran, Jing Xiang and Zi Xing for receiving the Lee Hsien Loong Interactive Digital Media Smart Nation Award!

8. As our students excel in various undertakings and put in time and effort to develop holistically, it is also important for them to have a service mindset which is put to action. Our learning is not only to better ourselves. Our learning, with empathy and sensitivity, is to better the lives of others. And this will contribute to a caring and gracious civic culture in our society which is for the collective good.

9. Mohammed Aizam bin Abd Rahman, one of our Lee Hsien Loong Award for Outstanding All-Round Achievement recipients who recently graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic, shares that his main motivation to do well and to contribute, is to repay kindness that he and his family received after his father passed on while he was in primary school. Recalling how the community rallied to help his family, Aizam said, “It helped us move forward. So, it is important to me now that I give back.” And he has indeed done so through his active involvement in projects such as with the Pathlight School, the Purple Parade, and the BEKIND@NYP Willing Hearts Kitchen. At the height of the pandemic, he also worked hard with five friends to rally volunteers to provide free online tutoring to around 1,000 students, as part of the COVID-19 Tutoring Support for Students. His experiences working with the community have inspired him to join the Public Service in future to contribute in a different capacity.

10. Another example is Amelia Tay, formerly a student of Raffles Girls’ Primary School and now a student at Raffles Girls’ School. Amelia is here today to receive the Lee Kuan Yew All-Round Excellence Award (Primary Category). Besides shining in areas such as Science and the English language, she also rallied others to contribute to the community. Leveraging her love for reading and creative writing, she worked together with a team to develop a board game based on one of the English Language readers for the Primary 3 pupils in APSN Chaoyang. Her care for others extends beyond her involvement in school. Since 2019, Amelia has been serving regularly alongside her siblings at Ren Ci Ang Mo Kio Nursing Home.

11. Well-done, Aizam, Amelia, and all those highlighted earlier! We are proud of you, as we are of all our recipients.

12. Today, even as we celebrate with each recipient here, we are in fact celebrating as a community. For the achievements of our young people here today are not merely their own, but also due to the efforts and encouragement of parents, teachers, school leaders, the industry and the larger community. And I thank all of you for your strong support and partnership which have enabled our students to achieve their potential in the different pathways in education. Your encouragement and care for them regardless of the calm and storms of life, certainly play an instrumental role to help them have the confidence to be who they are today. And enable them to create a better Singapore in the coming days.

13. To all award recipients, I would like to leave you with these few messages:

1. First, as you move forward in life’s journey, always remember and show your appreciation to your family, your schools, your teachers, your friends, your mentors โ€“ all of whom have stood by you.

2. Second, continue to have a growth mindset, an innovative mindset and a service mindset โ€“ and translate those into positive action. Never cease to wonder at the world around you and find joy in learning and pursuing your dreams. Most importantly, use your knowledge, talents, and skills to better the lives of others and bring people together.

3. Third, always remain humble and ready to learn. Learn about yourself as you relate to others and things around you. Even as you do well in your various endeavours, never forget that there will always be something new to learn and be ready to embrace it.

14. Once again, my heartiest congratulations to each and every one of you, and I wish all of you the very best!

15. Thank you.

Source: Ministry of Education