Encouraging youths to showcase talents in innovation to benefit society

STEP Chairman, Professor Leo Tan
Director & CEO of ITE, Mr Bruce Poh
Professor Hooi Den Huan, Director of Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre
Principals of ITE colleges,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. A very good morning to all!

2. It's always very good to meet the young people, like all of you here, early in the morning. I may be a little bit more senior in terms of age as compared to all of you, but I am still young at heart. So while all our young friends call themselves youth, I call myself “senior youth”. I am delighted to be here this morning and express my warmest welcome to all of you to this inaugural partnership between the Singapore Technologies Endowment Programme (STEP) and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). I hope following yesterday's team bonding activities and industry visits, you have known your members better and are ready to embark on the new and exciting journey together.

3. When I was asked by STEP to be the Guest of Honour for this event, the first thought that came to me was “Why me as the Guest-of-Honour?” In fact, I thought that the Guest-of-Honour should be our youths who are present here today. Then the second thought that came to me was how this programme provides the participants with deeper insights on how innovation and technology can be harnessed to improve quality of life, and for the greater good of society. I found out that there are actually quite a few good designs this outcome. Take the example of the EZ Mobility Device designed and developed by a group of students from the ITE College East. This device is designed to assist someone who is unable to stand up on their own, to sit up or stand up with the device. This innovation has won many accreditations and accolades, including the ITE Student Achievers' Award and The National Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology Students' Challenge last year. The EZ Mobility Device is one of the many brilliant innovations by our youths. Hence, this morning I am keen to find out what are other great and meaningful ideas you have, and I look forward to the updates from the organising committee later.

4. For our youths who are here this morning, take the opportunities you have over this one-week journey to learn from expert mentors on entrepreneurship, innovation and technology. Do not be afraid to ask them questions on how to improve your design and ideas as they are people with great minds who can help you along. Seize this opportunity to deepen your insights and knowledge, so that you can use it to improve the lives of the people around you and also the community at large. You will also have substantial practical training using the excellent workshop facilities at the Institute of Technical Education. What you will experience this one week will not only enhance your skills, but will also nurture you into a problem-solving youth.

Supporting & Developing our Youths

5. Our youths are also becoming more involved in social entrepreneurship. They desire to make something of their pursuits, not just for personal satisfaction, but for societal good. In this regard, we have various grant schemes from the government to support our young people and youth sector organisations at their different stages of development. For example, the Youth Expedition Project (YEP) and the Young ChangeMakers (YCM) are two of National Youth Council's (NYC) key initiatives supporting our young people in community projects, both locally and overseas.

6. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and NYC will continue to do more to support the aspirations of all our young people. We seek to engage our youths and to create an environment where our youths are empowered to create positive changes in the community. We want our youths to pursue causes they are interested in so as to create a better society where their fellow citizens can lead a better life.

7. The Sunburst Innovation Programme is in line with the government's efforts in supporting and developing our youths. STEP, in collaboration with ITE, provides a platform for our young aspiring innovators to discover their calling and passion. To me, the unique part of this programme is the challenge which all of you will face in conceptualising and presenting an Innovation Project Proposal which I believe, when actualised, will serve to benefit the society.

Building and Fostering Friendships

8. I am also happy to see some 40 other youths from other parts of Asia teaming up with our ITE students on this innovation journey. This again is a very meaningful and useful element in sparking multi-faceted creative and innovative ideas amongst the young people. I hope all of you will also take this opportunity to forge new friendships, and to learn more about one another's culture.

9. You are the pioneers of this inaugural STEP ITE Sunburst Innovation Programme. I strongly recommend and encourage all of you to capitalise on the many opportunities during this one week to learn from our experts and people around you.

10. My vision and challenge to all of you here this morning is to retain, nurture and build on all that you have learnt, do not be afraid to think out of the box, and re-innovate should your projects not fully take off. With your enthusiasm, energy and also the “can do” spirit, I am confident that going forward, we will see more budding innovators and entrepreneurs emerging from some of you.

11. I also hope that STEP and ITE will continue to organise future iterations of this programme so as to provide a platform for our young people to showcase their talents in innovation to benefit the community and our Nation. In closing, I hope all of you will enjoy yourself, especially our friends from overseas. Make full use of your time to pick up new knowledge and make new friends. I am certain that this will be a fruitful journey for all of you.

12. Thank you very much.