Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing presents awards to outstanding students set to take on future leadership roles in Singapore’s defence community.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, has presented scholarships to 82 outstanding recipients at a ceremony held this evening at the Temasek Club, recognising their academic excellence, leadership potential, and commitment to national service.
The awards presented included The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholarship to six recipients, the Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and Security to two recipients, the SAF Merit Scholarship to 16 recipients, the SAF Engineering Scholarship to four recipients, the Defence Merit Scholarship to 13 recipients, the SAF Medicine Scholarship to eight recipients, and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) Scholarship to 33 recipients.
In his speech, Mr Chan underscored the importance of attracting the best talent to Singapore’s defence sector, describing it as “one of the most challenging and yet most vital aspects for our survival and success.” He reaffirmed Singapore’s long-standing commitment to building strong leadership within the SAF and the wider defence community, noting plans to recruit around 3,000 personnel this year, of which approximately 1,000 will be in non-uniformed roles.
Mr Chan encouraged the scholarship recipients to lead with humility and purpose, highlighting the importance of uniting people from diverse backgrounds into a cohesive and effective fighting force. “Your mission is not just trying to lead people who are like you. Our mission is to lead people from across all walks of life with different capabilities and different challenges and to build them into a cohesive and effective fighting force in service for our nation for us to keep defying the odds of history,” he said.
The scholarship recipients will pursue undergraduate studies at leading local and overseas universities before returning to take on leadership roles within MINDEF, the SAF, and the defence technology community. Their future roles will range from senior command and management positions to medical leadership in the SAF Medical Corps and engineering leadership within Singapore’s defence technology ecosystem.
Also present at the event were Senior Minister of State for Defence Mr Zaqy Mohamad, senior officials from MINDEF, the SAF, DSTA, DSO, CSIT, members of the PSC, school representatives, and guests of the award recipients.
Source: MINDEF
