Speech by Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing at SIT Walk, SIT Punggol Campus

Good morning, everyone.

2.A special welcome to all the SITizens who have come and joined us this morning. A special thanks also to all the partners who have made this all possible, from partners in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), Land Transport Authority (LTA), Temasek Holdings and many more.

3.In this new beginning, let us also look forward to the future.

4.I have just three things I hope SIT will achieve in your next steps: reach in, reach out, and reach beyond. Let me explain.

5.In SIT's next phase, continue to reach in to the polytechnics and to the other Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). Never forget the roots where you started from, because this is where you can also draw strength from.

6.I hope that when you come together as a new community to either build a new identity or to refresh your sense of commitment to this identity, that you will keep your roots and your relationships with the many IHLs and polytechnics that have brought us here so far. So that's my first wish for SIT in this new phase, to reach in.

7.Second, I hope that SIT will not be SIT in isolation. I hope that SIT will always reach out.

8.The campus architecture has been designed in such a way for us to reach out. Be it to the JTC neighbors next door; to the schools that will be coming up next door, you will have at least two schools on your way here to be your new neighbors; or to the Punggol community.

9.By reaching out, I hope that SIT will make a name for itself on the economic map by providing what I call innovation as a service. Innovation as a service to the companies in and around Punggol, in and around Singapore. I hope there will come a day where every other company that we meet will have a relationship with SIT. It could be because they have worked with SIT to develop their products or to innovate their product. Perhaps some of our students have joined them, or maybe some of their employees are adult learners at SIT.

10.Last but not least, I hope SIT will continue to reach beyond.

11.To reach beyond your individual faculty, where you collaborate across faculty and produce new and exciting innovations at the frontier of science and technology and at the boundaries of conventional disciplines.

12.I hope you will reach beyond just the local community in Punggol to the rest of Singapore. If I may stretch you more, I hope you will even reach beyond Singapore. Innovation as a service need not and should not stop just at the shores of Singapore.

13.I have a dream that one day, even companies in the region will come knocking on SIT's doors to collaborate with you, to work with you on projects and to work with you to have your students exposed to an environment beyond Singapore.

14.Beyond all the gratitude to the partners who have brought us here, I wish SIT the very best in your next lap, and I hope that you will always remember to reach in to your roots, to draw strength, to reach out beyond SIT to connect with the industries, with the communities and the rest of Singapore.

15.May you make a name for yourself, where you are the partner of choice for industries and community partners.

16.Thank you very much, and all the best.

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