Distinguished Guests,
Participants of WorldSkills Singapore 2023,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Introduction
1. I have been to several WorldSkills events, and I must say that every time I attend these events, I am very inspired by our youth who have so much energy, passion and devotion to skills and excellence.
2. Congratulations to all of you for being on this journey.
3. I am very happy to be here at the Closing Ceremony of WorldSkills Singapore 2023 to celebrate the culmination of a remarkable journey of skills, determination, and passion.
WorldSkills Singapore Participants – Overcoming Challenges, Mastering Skills, Inspiring Others
4. WorldSkills Singapore is an important platform where we showcase, recognise, and celebrate skills mastery of youth in Singapore. We hope that they will inspire other young Singaporeans to pursue skills excellence.
5. Let me share the stories of two inspiring participants. One of them is Minhal Kazim from Temasek Polytechnic (TP).
- After discovering his strengths in Design and Technology, Mathematics and Science subjects in school, Minhal made the tough decision to transfer from the School of Design to the School of Engineering in 2021. This meant that Minhal had to re-start his polytechnic journey as a first-year student while his peers had moved on to the second year.
- In spite of this, Minhal was undaunted and continued to work hard. His excellent learning attitude and skills in Building Information Modelling are recognised by the WorldSkills Singapore coaches.
- Minhal is here today as one of the three finalists representing TP in Digital Construction. Throughout the training and competition, Minhal worked hard to overcome the challenges that he faced. For example, he created notes and diligently documented his strategy and approaches on each of the tasks systemically in order to improve his critical analysis.
6. Another impressive participant who has displayed perseverance and passion is Eden Sng from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP).
- Eden had to undergo a tough internal selection process to be selected to represent NYP in IT Network System Administration for Phase 1 of the competition. Although Eden did not manage to win an award then, he did not give up.
- For nine months, Eden dedicated himself to preparing for Phase 2 of the competition. His commitment and determination paid off as he made a triumphant return.
- The deeper understanding that Eden acquired through the competition further solidified his passion for information technology and fuelled his aspirations for a career in the field. All the best to you Eden.
7. Minhal and Eden, your stories are an inspiration to all of us. You showed us that with dedication and hard work, you can overcome challenges, master the skills in your chosen field, and achieve your dreams. To all students here, keep up the good work!
8. In an economy where jobs and skills are evolving at an ever-increasing pace, upskilling, and reskilling throughout one's career will be the new normal. I'm sure you've heard this many times, but this is how we need to pick up the skills to remain relevant throughout our careers and to be employable.
Industry Experts – Elevating WorldSkills Singapore
9. As we celebrate the accomplishments of the participants today, we also want to thank industry experts who have contributed to the success of WorldSkills Singapore over the years.
- Our industry experts play a pivotal role in establishing testing projects and marking criteria for the WorldSkills Singapore competition series.
- Serving as judges, they set and uphold high standards in their domain skills areas, which our young participants strive to achieve during each WorldSkills Singapore competition.
10. I would like to specially mention three industry experts who will receive the Distinguished Service Awards for their service in 10 WorldSkills Singapore competitions. They are:
- Mr Daniel Koh, Group Director (Culinary) at San Rong Culinary Group, has been the industry expert of the Technical Working Group of Cooking since 1998. Thank you, Mr Koh.
- Mr Bai Qing, Technical Director of System Engineer 360, who has been part of the Technical Working Group of IT Network Systems Administration since 2006 and is the Chief Expert since 2016. Thank you, Mr Bai Qing.
- Mr Premarajan Ponnambath, Managing Director of Pixel Automation Pte Ltd, who has been serving in the Technical Working Group of Mechatronics for 17 years and is the Chief Expert since 2014. Thank you, Mr Ponnambath.
11. To the three Distinguished Award recipients and all our industry experts who are here, thank you for providing the opportunity for our youth to deepen their skills through the competition and elevating WorldSkills Singapore to the prestigious event that it is today.
Closing
12. To all our participants, once again, I want to congratulate you for walking this journey. Please remember to thank the people around you who made this journey possible – including your family and friends, as well as your mentors and supporters who have supported you in your learning journey. To those of you who will be representing Singapore at the 47th WorldSkills Competition in France, may you fly the Singapore flag high.
13. Thank you.