1. A very good afternoon to the SMU family and guests.
2. First, let me first congratulate SMU for pioneering the Co-Curricular transcript.
3. In some sense, we are always at risk of being a yardstick society. However, that is not the intent of having yet another CCA transcript. The CCA transcript is not another yardstick for people to chase and distinguish themselves. The CCA transcript, in its rightful spirit, is for our people to better understand their strengths and weaknesses - to know how to use those strengths to make a positive contribution to society.
4. After all, university is not about trying to surpass others. University is about finding yourself and in time, making an impact. I hope as we continue this good effort and proliferate this, we do not end up seeing the CCA transcript as yet another yardstick that we must fulfil. Otherwise, life will just become even more stressful if we try to chase everything in sight.
5. Today, while we often talk about the interdisciplinary pursuit of studies, we have to be frank that not everyone will be good at interdisciplinary work. All of us must have our core strengths, and at the same time be able to work in interdisciplinary teams. There are some people who can do many things, and there are many of us who can do some things. But each of us, regardless whether we can do many things or do some things, are able to contribute in our diverse ways. This is what the Co-Curricular transcript is about. It is about finding and understanding ourselves, to use what we have to make a positive contribution.
6. With that, I hope to set the bar for SMU students by sharing a few stories. They are the 4Cs which I always mention - Curiosity, Connection, Creation and Contribution. It is a given that as SMU students, you will naturally excel in your academic studies. However, I hope that each and every SMU student will also graduate with something that you can feel proud of and something that you are confident of contributing.
7. Let me start with a story of the United States (US) Army Special Forces. One might wonder, how does the US Army Special Forces, or the US "Green Berets", select their members? If you want to join the US Army Special Forces, you must have one special skillset that few or no one else has.
8. To outwit the enemy, they must have people from diverse backgrounds who can give them ideas from different perspectives, to compose the most effective team to achieve their mission in perhaps the most surprising ways. That is something that we can learn from. Instead of having everyone chase after the same yardstick, it is about how we can compose the strongest team who can deliver the most effective outcome from that diversity of backgrounds.
9. My first friend from the US Army Special Forces specialised in astronomy. My second friend from the US Army Special Forces was a bespectacled 40-year-old lady. No one along Main Street would even think that she was from the Special Forces. In 1997, she knew how to set up the internet when we were still trying to figure out how to use the email. These are the qualities that the US Army Special Forces, the most elite force in the world, looks for and I think we can take a leaf from their book.
10. For all SMU students, I hope that by the time you graduate from SMU, you will be confident enough to stand in front of your class and teach your class one thing that the rest would not know. In order to do that, you need to do two things. First, you must know what else everyone knows and not know. That itself is a very useful exercise. Then, you must have that one special skillset which you can teach or demonstrate to value add.
11. With that, I have alluded to the second C about Connection. If you want to know what people know and do not know, you must spend time to understand the fears, concerns and aspirations of people. This means building new, fresh and deep connections. In today's fragmenting world, if we as Singapore and Singaporeans want to value add to the rest of the world, and bring people together from different sides of the debate, we need to understand deeply what people need and want, as well as what people have or do not have. This will help us to value add and it requires discipline. It requires discipline for every SMU student to try to establish a new connection when you venture out of Singapore.
12. I went through this when I was sent to Indonesia more than 20 years ago as the Army attaché. I set myself one KPI. Every new day, I will make one new friend. It was quite easy in the first week but it got a bit harder in the first month. After the first year, it was even harder. Making one new friend does not mean ignoring the old friends. Instead, you need to continue to grow the network, and have the discipline to venture to new places to meet new people and make connections.
13. The third C is about creating something new. We cannot be trying to answer yesterday's questions with yesterday's answers. Instead, having understood people's fears, concerns and aspirations deeply from different sides of the spectrum, are we then able to create a new value proposition and share new a perspective?
14. This is what I aspire for all my students in the university. In your three to four years in university, you will be able to come up with a new perspective, make a new connection, and value add. These are the type of instincts that you will need when you take over the leadership of Singapore one day. In a troubled and fragmenting world, you are constantly thinking about value propositions. Instead of thinking about the side you should choose, you should be thinking about how to get people to choose me, as well as us, to be on their side.
15. Finally, the last C is Contribution, which I hope you will achieve as you pursue your various CCAs. In today's world, many people are stressed because we are constantly trying to look for meaning. We are looking for something that will give us meaning in life. I have spoken to students to encourage them to not just look for meaning in all things that they do and in all the jobs that they look for, but instead, to try to give meaning. If we are constantly looking for meaning, we are likely to be disappointed. But if we purposefully and intentionally aim to give meaning in all that we do, then the chances of us being disappointed are much smaller. Hence, these are my four Cs to start the fire for this afternoon's conversation.
16. May our students, SMU and beyond, always aspire to bring to the table one unique strength and a new value proposition, so that we entrench and strengthen our relevance to the rest of the world. May you have the discipline to keep connecting with people from diverse backgrounds of different persuasions so that we can be the true connected interlocutor in this fragmenting world. We want people to work with us on the basis of our relevance, and not because of charity or sympathy. Finally, we should remember to give meaning to all that we do in all stations of our life, instead of just trying to find meaning. We will then be contented with our lives and ourselves, and we will take pride in what we do beyond just seeking happiness from something amorphous.
17. On that note, I hope some of these thoughts will inspire you to continue your journey to develop that all-round education in SMU and our Singapore education system. No education system will give you everything that you want or you need, but our education system will seek to give you the opportunities to chart the paths that you need and want, so that you can in the process, understand your strengths and make that positive contribution to Singapore and the world. Your purpose in life will be beyond just what you achieve for yourself and your definition of success will be beyond what you accomplish for yourself. Instead, your definition of success will be much bigger and broader - based on what you can contribute to society and your work.
18. Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoy our conversation this afternoon.
