Speech by Minister Chan Chun Sing at the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (START) Award Ceremony 2024

1.A very good evening to all of you, and congratulations to all our scholarship recipients. We started this scholarship simply to grow our people. We wanted a variety of people in our academia who understand deeply our challenges and opportunities.

2.We have given you this scholarship, not just for you to play defensively or to try and solve the problems of the world, of which we have many. If I were to list the problems of the world, we can talk about the global geopolitical situation, the fragmenting world order, the fragile economic system that we are in, the fractious domestic or social issues that we have to contend with. We can even talk about the challenges of teaching, learning and education in an era of rapid change. But I don't want you to play defensively. I don't want you just to solve the problems. Instead, I want you to go forth in your research to find solutions at a higher order.

3.As an analogy, level one is what I call, solving problems. Level two is called pre-empting problems, if not seizing opportunities. I want you to see whether research can help us not just to solve problems, but to pre-empt problems and seize opportunities. at the highest level, I hope you will unlock the potential of our people and be bold. I know that you will be caught in this dilemma. In your research, you'll have to ponder whether you should focus on the local or international level. If you focus on the international level, chances are that you get publications in good journals, and that might help you to get tenure earlier.

4.But I also want you not to forget that there are many challenges and opportunities at the local level. For example, we talked about the change in education. Today, we are at the cusp of a transformation in education. In the past, we could never solve this trilemma - how to achieve education, and quality, at scale and at affordable cost. You can have three out of the two but chances are not all three. However, today with technology, we can do all three. We can achieve quality, scale and affordability. We can mass customise. That's the easy part. But what does that mean for our pedagogical practices? What does that mean for our relationship between teachers and learners? How are we going to evolve the pedagogies, not just for the young, but the pedagogies for lifelong learning, where people from age 25 to 65 will continue to keep learning. How do we make available information and content for them, anytime, anywhere? How do we build that relationship that requires deep thinking of how we evolve the next stage of our pedagogical practices, in tandem with the opportunities that comes with technology, but at the same time being very aware of the social challenges?

5.Here's another example. People keep talking about aging population as a challenge that we face. But Singapore can turn this challenge into an opportunity. If anybody can do it, it must be us. Everyone also talks about sustainability, and the transformation to clean energy. Can we be like the 1965 generation that turned water from a constraint into water as an opportunity? If water was a challenge for the last 50 years, energy will be our challenge for the next few years. Unlock the energy challenge, where we can have clean energy at affordable cost and there will be limitless opportunities for our economic growth. If we don't solve that problem, we will have problems even managing the carbon budget for our daily use.

6.Hence, there are tremendous challenges out there in the coming years, but I believe there are also tremendous opportunities for us to break new ground, and this is where you are entrusted with these responsibilities, not just alone, but together with your team members and the faculty. I hope you will help Singapore break new ground. May you be the pioneers, just like the last generation. May you see every challenge and turn it into an opportunity for us to defy our course of history. So, on that note, I wish you all the best, and I look forward to your contributions to Singapore and beyond for years to come. Thank you.