Mr Lee Kok Choy, Chairman, Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors,
Mr Peter Lam, Principal & CEO, Temasek Polytechnic,
Members, Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors and School of Engineering Advisory Committee,
Distinguished Guests and Graduands
A very good morning to all.
1. I am happy to be here with all of you to celebrate the graduation of Temasek Polytechnic students from the Diploma in Aviation Management and the Diploma in Aerospace Electronics courses, as well as the achievements of the polytechnic-level award winners. Congratulations to all on the successful completion of your diploma programmes at TP. I speak for everyone when I say that we are all so happy to be present physically to celebrate this milestone – the journey of our graduands, together with their family members.
2. Graduation is a milestone every student looks forward to. Beyond the recognition of academic achievements, it represents the start of a new phase of your lives. Some of you will go on to fulfil your National Service obligations. Others may enter the workforce, or pursue further studies, or simply take a break to decide what your next steps are. Whichever path you take, I believe you will bring with you not just the academic knowledge and skills that you gained at TP, but also friendships and life lessons that you have learnt both within and beyond the classroom.
3. As you embark on the next leg of your journey in life, I thought I might share with you three values that I hold dear and which I hope may be helpful to you.
Resilience
4. The first value is resilience. This is something that all of us have had to ask ourselves in the past two-and-a-half years as we fought COVID-19. Resilience is the ability to stay strong despite life's challenges. We all know that the journey in the past two years has not been easy. It must especially have not been easy for our graduates as you had to soldier on through virtual lessons and scaled down or had virtual co-curricular activities, all the while wondering about the uncertainties that the future might bring.
5. This was especially so for our graduates trained for the aviation industry. During these trying times, I am sure you might have had fears or doubts given the severe disruptions to the industry. In addition, the closing of borders in many countries meant that students could not venture overseas for internships and other experiential programmes.
6. But adversity builds resilience. During the pandemic, all of us had found new ways to adapt. Connections with family and friends were kept alive via video calls. Many of you found ways to thrive in this pandemic.
7. For example, instead of going on overseas internships, some TP students embarked on virtual overseas internships, which in the circumstances had given you opportunities for international exposure and learning.
8. One of your fellow students, Mr Gerald Tan, completed a virtual internship with Aurora Aerial, a training and drone manufacturing company based in Canada. While navigating a borderless world and working with colleagues through a computer screen posed as a challenge initially, working with international colleagues with diverse opinions and working styles had given Gerald a newfound perspective on working in the aviation sector.
9. All of you must also take pride in the resilience you have demonstrated as a cohort, and continue to excel even in these challenging circumstances.
- I would like to mention Ms Arianne Sambo, the Silver Medallist from the Diploma of Aerospace Electronics as one example. During her internship, she was assigned to the Load Control Department of SATS Ltd (SATS). Her internship took her training and learning beyond her diploma, to project management and the weighing and balancing of aircraft. She impressed her colleagues with her good domain knowledge, critical thinking and LifeSkills.
- Another example is Mr Lukas Lee, recipient of the Lee Kong Chian Award. His desire to create something useful in a pandemic resulted in "Aegis" — a prototype of a self-sanitising material that allows "hygiene on surfaces to be made visual" by changing colour after touch. This could have applications in many areas such as public transport with high touch points. When developing "Aegis", Lukas had to undertake extensive research to ensure his idea was feasible and scalable. Lukas' efforts paid off as a company found value in his work and reached out to him on the possibility of commercialising "Aegis".
10. When the going gets tough in the next phase of your life, always remember how you have successfully adapted during this challenging time.
Curiosity and Continuous Learning
11. The second value is to remain curious and continue learning. We all know that economic cycles have become shorter, and old jobs may disappear as quickly as new ones are being created.
12. You graduate today trained for a career in your sector, but it is important that all of us consider how we can actively seek out new skills to keep yourself current and relevant.
13. The Government is committed to support Singaporeans on their lifelong learning journey. Our Institutes of Higher Learning play a critical role in this.
14. There are many Continuing Education and Training Programmes available at the Institutes of Higher Learning. These include work-study programmes for you to deepen your skills beyond your current diploma in preparation for more advanced jobs, and also shorter modular courses focused on new technologies or tools. For example, Mr Conan Chua, one of your seniors from the Diploma in Aerospace Electronics, who had chosen to deepen his skills by enrolling in the WSP-WSQ Advanced Certificate in Aerospace, which would help him achieve his goal of becoming a licensed aircraft engineer.
15. At the same time, learning need not always take place within the traditional confines of a classroom. Equally important are the times when you learn on the job through discussions with your peers, as well as the opportunities for self-discovery and research.
16. I am sure that as long every one of us continues to stay curious and engaged that we will all keep learning and growing
Empathy
17. The third value which I hold dear is empathy, and the importance of giving back to the community.
18. Many of you have participated actively in community service activities during your time in TP. For example, with the shift to e-payments and online social activities during the pandemic, students from the Diploma in Aerospace Electronics wanted to ensure that older Singaporeans could similarly access digital services. Hence, 45 of you dedicated time to teaching seniors at Jia Ying Community Social Services basic digital skills such as making e-payments. To ensure the seniors understood your lessons, these students had gone the extra mile to prepare slides in English, Malay and Mandarin to guide the seniors. I understand that those of you who were involved in this exercise found the experience a useful two-way learning process, where you learnt from the life experiences of the seniors you interacted with.
19. I would like to mention Mr Alvin Teo, recipient of the CapitaLand Award for All-Round Excellence. Alvin was an active participant in community service projects. Seeing that many people lost their jobs during the pandemic, he led his peers in TP through the "Bags of Joy" project, and they distributed food packages to 40 needy families in Tampines.
20. One simple way you can consider to give back is to contribute to TP as an alumni. Your support can help improve the experience for many of your juniors. For example, one of your seniors from the Diploma in Aviation Management & Services, Ms Hazel Tay, contributed her expertise in marketing and communications by mentoring her juniors in managing social media pages. As you graduate and find success in your career, I hope you will find ways to give back to TP and the community, such as through mentoring and providing opportunities for your juniors.
Conclusion
21. With international borders reopening, the prospects for the aerospace and aviation industries are looking brighter. I am confident that your education in TP has equipped you with not only the technical skills required by the industry, but also strong values and competencies to guide you in life.
22. I would like the graduands to join me in a round of applause for your family members and lecturers. Their unwavering support has been instrumental to your success today.
23. Let me end with my well wishes for the TP graduating class of 2022. Spread your wings and fly high. The sky is no limit for all of you. Thank you.