Everyone has the ability to inspire others

Ms Chia Yong Yong, President, SPD

Mr Ashish Anupam, President and CEO, NatSteel Holdings

Distinguished guests

Teachers, parents and students

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. A very good morning and Happy New Year to everyone. I’m most delighted to be here for the SPD Education Programme Awards Presentation Ceremony.

2. First, I’d like to congratulate the award recipients for your outstanding achievements and hard work. I am sure everyone around you, from your family to your teachers and of course SPD, are all very proud of you. Success is rarely a journey taken alone, and I believe everyone will continue to be with you, to help you succeed, and achieve greater heights in school and in life.

SPD Education Programme

3. I am especially encouraged that SPD has been a long-established partner in ensuring our youth receive an education, regardless of their financial backgrounds or physical conditions. For instance, for some 30 years (since 1985), the SPD Education Programme has been providing financial and other support to students with physical disabilities and to those whose parents are physically-disabled. In addition, SPD also actively runs programmes to raise the general awareness of the learning and social needs of students with disabilities. This will go a long way towards eventually helping students to integrate better into mainstream schools and society.Beyond academics, I am also very happy to know that SPD supports and recognises our youth who do well in arts, sports, and community work. Through the Youth Aspiration Award, SPD opens up opportunities for them to pursue such interests, and to lead even more fulfilling lives. This year’s award recipients – Alvina Neo, Ritchie Chan, Tan Kok Yew and Edgar Cheong – each have a story of resilience and generosity of spirit that will inspire us.

Inspiring award winners

4. Alvina for example. She used to be an avid hand-cyclist and represented Singapore at the Asian Para Games. Once, she even hand-cycled 100 kilometres to raise funds for children with chronic or terminal illnesses. Not many people can fathom what 100 kilometres is like, let alone accomplish it. However, a shoulder injury meant she had to take a break from hand-cycling. Undeterred and driven by her passion for sport, she picked up shooting, and brought pride to the nation by clinching a bronze medal in the air pistol event at the ASEAN Para Games here in Singapore. I understand that she is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at SIM University, and I am sure she will continue to inspire many others with her nerves of steel and heart of gold. Alvina.

5. Another award winner today, Ritchie was also a medallist in shooting at the APG last December. Like Alvina, he was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, but that did not stop him from taking up sports like swimming and shooting. Having picked up air rifle shooting only in 2014, he trained hard and gave his all at the Games to pick up a silver medal, losing narrowly in the finals to his Thai opponent, an experienced Paralympian. Ritchie’s sporting career is certainly looking bright, and at just 16 years old, I’m sure we can all expect to see more of him, especially at the podium. Ritchie.

6. Another young recipient is 14-year-old Kok Yew, who is an arm amputee and also a passionate dancer, K-Pop in particular. Kok Yew hopes to continue spreading the joy of dancing, especially to other persons with disabilities. Last but not least, we have Edgar, who suffered a spinal cord injury that affected his mobility. Undeterred, Edgar now gets around with a wheelchair, and even helps others with disability too, such as volunteering at his school’s Mentoring Club. Can we acknowledge Kok Yew and Edgar?

7. They will share more about their journeys later, and I believe we will all be inspired by the resilience, generosity and spirit of kindness of Alvina, Ritchie, Kok Yew and Edgar.
   

Acknowledging sponsors and supporters

8. As we celebrate their achievements, I would also like to acknowledge those who have supported them through their journey. This includes the parents, the teachers, the family members and the friends, who have undoubtedly played an important role in their successes.

9. I would like to also acknowledge NatSteel Holdings, which has been sponsoring SPD’s bursary awards since 2009, as well as other existing corporate partners, sponsors and donors for their contributions to SPD. I hope you will continue to support SPD, and I urge other companies and organisations to similarly step forward and contribute towards this worthy cause.
   

Building an inclusive and endearing home

10. We believe that all Singaporeans, of all abilities, should be given equal opportunities to lead fulfilled and engaged lives. The Government is committed to achieving this vision. For example, the Government’s Enabling Masterplan provides the national roadmap of policies, programmes and services to support the needs of persons with disabilities so that they can reach their full potential. Last month, the Enabling Village was launched to provide an integrated community space for persons with different abilities, and offers a range of amenities and services including job training and employment support.

11. Our Disability Sports Masterplan will ensure a more inclusive sporting Singapore, where everyone, regardless of ability, can take part and even excel in sport. The ASEAN Para Games last December was certainly a boost towards encouraging more persons with disabilities to take up and enjoy the benefits of sport.

12. Similarly, the arts is a wonderful platform to reach out to the community. The ArtReach initiative by the National Arts Council, for instance, supports projects by artists and VWOs that harness the arts to improve the well-being of persons with disabilities and other underprivileged groups. These are all important steps to ultimately make Singapore an endearing home for everyone.
    

Role models

13. Congratulations once again to all award winners, and this is really my formal part of the speech. And I just like to say a few things about Ms Chia Yong Yong. She has never failed to inspire me, and she’s really my role model. Being a practising lawyer and a very active leader in the social sector, I think she exemplifies the ability of anyone, regardless of the physical conditions, to be a contributing member of the society.

14. I would just like to mention this particular fact, which is I think, not very well-known outside the Parliament. Of course, Ms Chia, as you know, is a Nominated MP in the last term of Parliament, and when she put herself up, nominated by the sector, we were very excited in the Parliament. I was on the committee for selection and I know that. We were all very thrilled to see someone representing the community, wanting to be part of this national, I would say apex of legislative-making. Then we all said yes, go with Ms Chia. Then came this whole string of administrative issues. How do we provide for someone who requires wheelchair access? It was never done in the Parliament House, and with a bit of shame, I must say that we had not envisaged that day when we receive someone there in the Chamber. So Parliament staff had to really run very, very quickly, get the engineers in, get the architects in to see how we can provide barrier-free accessibility for Ms Chia.

15. The point I’d like to make is that Ms Chia has actually blazed the trail for all of you who require accessibility to the Parliament. And you know that now the Parliament is all ready to receive anyone of you. This is an important message for every single one of you – that you have the potential to be the next Ms Chia Yong Yong, in whatever sector that you are interested in, whether it’s in legislation-making, whether it’s in sport, whether in arts, already, some members are already pushing the boundary both individually as well as for the community. And I think if each of you takes up the torch from the person before you, the community will go further and further, extend your involvement to a much bigger and bigger sphere in the entire society, cutting across all possible sectors.

16. And with my involvement in the ASEAN Para Games, I’ve also come across many, many working athletes. We mentioned two of them here. Just like to also mention another handsome young man who I’ve come across. He’s in the Cerebral Palsy Football Team, his name is Peter Kam. If you look up Facebook, he’s called himself Peter ‘Troy’ Kam. The reason why I mention him is that he, like many of the athletes, is very unassuming, very, very humble, but very, very determined as well. They struggle with schoolwork, with family, with work – many of them are working – and being an elite athlete, competing at the highest level against athletes who are equally strong, if not stronger.

17. What I’d like to mention about Peter is this – he’s one of the recipients of the spexBusiness programme, which is the Sports Excellence Business programme, and one of the things we do there is to match spex athletes, meaning athletes performing at a high level, with corporates in the business sector. So the business sector will come in, provide jobs that accommodate their conditions and also their training schedule, so that they can train and work at the same time. And Peter was one of those beneficiaries of that scheme. So he began working in a sporting group, and what I’d like to mention to you is not Peter’s experience, but rather, his bosses’ comments to me. His bosses met me and without really being prompted, just said that “we are so happy to have Peter with us because he works so hard and he tries so hard that actually, we don’t find him any different from anyone else.” So Peter, although he has some disability, in many ways, he’s shown us what his abilities are.
    

Everyone has the ability to inspire others

18. And I’d like to just say this as, really, an encouragement, that again, every one of you in your daily lives, you have the ability to impress upon the others who are around you, that you have the ability to do things – great things – whether it’s in sports, in your work life, or in the arts. So what Peter has done is that, because of his performance in the company, he has encouraged his supervisor, his bosses, his managers to employ even more persons with disabilities, to be even more positive about engaging the community. So you can do a lot as individuals, you have big roles, small roles – in many ways, you are carrying the flag for your community.

19. So like Ms Chia, I’d just like to encourage all of you that while today, we are here to provide assistance, to help you, you are a beneficiary, in many ways, you have the ability to be a benefactor. You can, in many ways, become the person that will inspire others around you, to be a role model to people around you, to show others what you can do, and then give the life lessons, like Peter has given me, like Ms Chia has given me, to people around you.

20. So be that person, and as Ms Chia had said, study hard and make full use of the opportunities that are given to you. And when you have the ability and the time, come back and contribute to the sector and be the person that will change other people’s lives.

21. Thank you and congratulations. I wish you all the very best.