Encouraging youths to do their part in building a cohesive society

Dr Hon Chiew Weng, Principal, Hwa Chong Institution
Teachers, Student Leaders
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good afternoon to you all.

2. It is my pleasure to be here today at the Hwa Chong Student Leaders Convention. And to our overseas students, welcome to Singapore.

Cohesive Communities, Synergised Societies

3. When Singapore celebrated our Golden Jubilee last year, we reflected on our achievements as a nation, and looked ahead to imagine the future that we want together. We also recognised the contributions of our pioneers, whose hard work and sacrifice made it possible for us to enjoy what we have today. Although our pioneers were from diverse backgrounds, they came together as one people to build a better Singapore. That is why the theme of this year’s Convention, “Cohesive Communities, Synergised Societies”, is an important one. It embodies the spirit of our forefathers, and the shared future that we envisage for Singapore. Singapore can only progress as a nation when we move forward together. When we care for one another, we become a cohesive society that will stand stronger together during tough times.
   

Inspiring a national culture of caring and contribution

4. I am very heartened to know that Hwa Chong is encouraging you to take on service learning projects as part of the commitment to nurture holistic individuals. Earlier this year, I know that more than 3,000 Hwa Chong students did your part for the community by distributing daily necessities to more than 600 families across Singapore in one single day. Many of you also participated in the North West CDC’s Green initiative, and encouraged residents in over 10,000 households to go green, to recycle, and to conserve electricity. And just last Sunday, the Hwa Chong Canoeing Team raised more than $30,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore, through the 24-hour Static Kayaking Challenge. So I’d like to say well done to all the students here.

5. As part of the ongoing Project Integrate, a team of Hwa Chong students help migrant workers assimilate into the Singapore society. They engage them on their rest days, and develop posters and promotional videos to raise public awareness on the important roles migrant workers play today. I am proud to note that this project has gained international recognition by winning an award at a conference in the US. Their passion to serve, demonstrates how as youths, you can do your part towards building a national culture of caring and contribution. I understand that two of the students involved are here – Alan and Dexter, where are you? Congratulations and well done!

6. I hope these experiences in school that you go through will inspire you to continue serving the community, even after you graduate. If you have a passion to volunteer, you can consider joining Youth Corps Singapore, which is part of the National Youth Council. It welcomes youths who are 16 years old and above, and it will provide you with training and also opportunities to volunteer. In addition, the National Youth Council administers grants such as the Young ChangeMakers grant, which can provide you with funds to carry out projects that serve the community. So together, we can build a Singapore, which we and our future generations will be proud to call home.

Building a rugged and resilient nation

7. Shared experiences are also important in developing a cohesive community. Our pioneers worked hard and persevered through difficult times to build Singapore to what it is today. And looking ahead to the next 50 years, we want to continue inculcating in our youths the values of teamwork and resilience. So when the going gets tough, we will be hardy enough to overcome difficulties and bounce back together.

8. Outward Bound Singapore, or OBS, was thus started in 1967 to develop rugged youths. If you’ve attended an OBS programme before, I’m sure it was an eye-opening, life-changing experience for you. That’s why we want students from all schools, and all backgrounds to be part of the OBS experience. They will learn to work together as a team to solve tough challenges, much like how our pioneer generation has done before. And to enable this, we will need a much bigger OBS, and so we are planning to build a new OBS campus on Coney Island by 2020. So probably you will not have a chance to go through OBS in Coney Island in 2020, but your juniors will go through and I’m sure it will help them learn life experiences. And for yourselves, there will be other opportunities to go through similar projects and programmes to develop a sense of resilience and teamwork among your peers.
   

Conclusion

9. Later on, we are going to have a dialogue together, and I hope that we can discuss how we can make Singapore better and brighter in the next 50 years. I also like to encourage you to take this opportunity to interact with our overseas friends who are here for the next few days. It is a rare opportunity for them to be here and for us to have this chance to discuss things and to also work on projects together, because the different experiences of each country or people from different societies can give us fresh perspectives to the issues that we face in Singapore today.

10. So to our friends from overseas, we welcome your views, and we hope that you will have a fruitful stay with us in Singapore.

11. With that, thank you very much. Have a nice day.