Recognising the achievements and contributions of NTU alumni members to society

Professor Bertil Andersson, President of NTU,

Distinguished NTU alumni and guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

1. It gives me great pleasure to be with all of you tonight to honour the outstanding achievements of NTU alumni, and also to celebrate the home coming of those who studied on this beautiful campus.

2. I am sure that all of you here tonight are familiar with your university's remarkable history. NTU was started as a private initiative, and built through the generous contributions of the Chinese community. The enterprise was backed by generous and public spirited community leaders and philanthropists, including prominent founders like Mr Tan Lark Sye and Mr Lee Kong Chian. It was supported by the entire Chinese community in Singapore. Even the ground that the campus sits on, this beautiful Yunnan Gardens campus, was a gift from the Hokkien Huay Kuan.

3. Since these early beginnings, the university has undergone significant change and transformation. The restructuring process has not always been an easy one. But today, all of us can be proud of what NTU has become and you heard Bertil just now, going through some of the achievements and the international recognitions that NTU has achieved. Indeed the university now is a premier university, among the best in Asia. Over the last 57 years, we have had nearly 180,000 students graduating from the university. And all of the NTU alumni have helped to establish the reputation of their alma mater, and gone on to make significant contributions in Singapore and abroad.

NTU achievements and development

4. NTU's achievements are made possible by its continued focus on quality research and teaching. All great universities must focus on both. They must be sources of innovation and discovery, they must provide an environment that promotes open inquiry and experimentation, thereby generating cutting-edge research and major breakthrough. At the same time, universities must also provide students with the values, outlooks and skills needed to negotiate the knowledge-based environment of today.

5. So I am very happy to read about NTU's achievements in both of these areas – research and teaching. In teaching, as you heard Bertil recounts just now, NTU is pioneering many different methods to improve its teaching pedagogies and enhance learning for students. For example, a key initiative currently being implemented is what we called a “flipped classroom”. Meaning that instead of going for lectures and doing homework at home, students are provided online materials to go through at home. So they go for the lectures at home through online learning. Then they utilise their class time to pose questions to the lecturer and discuss issues. This makes more efficient use of the class time by going deeper into the subject matter. More importantly, it encourages students to develop inquisitiveness and to actively engage in learning. And I believe such curiosity will be valuable for graduates in their future undertakings.

6. NTU is also advancing research that will ultimately help to improve our lives. The university is now well-known for its excellence in interdisciplinary research, with global giants such as Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin and BMW choosing to partner NTU in industrial research. For example, NTU's work with the car company, BMW, demonstrates NTU's interdisciplinary prowess. To deal with new energy sources, it studies advance battery materials for electric vehicles. To deal with changing computer technologies, it looks at new human-to-machine interfaces, rethinking how we interact with our cars. To deal with human psychology and physiology, it examines mobility patterns, how people drive, in order to develop more intuitive driving experiences. So all of this research can one day make our lives better and perhaps BMW can make new models of electric cars and have NTU as their source of inspiration and innovation.
   

Alumni support forges university identity

7. While quality teaching and research are important, the measure of the success of a university is much more than that. Ultimately, I believe that a great university must have a strong identity and community spirit. It is not something which we can earily measure, and things like community spirit will not show up in international rankings. But as the saying goes, sometimes the most important things in life cannot be counted. And I think one of the great things that a university should have, is this sense of community spirit, especially among its people. And this is the spirit that will produce graduates who are proud to be associated with the university, and who feel a sense of mission to contribute to and better our society, so that the next generation can enjoy equal or greater opportunities than they themselves had.

8. These values are very much an integral part of NTU's roots and tradition as I recounted earlier how NTU was started. And I am glad that the university continues to embody these values. NTU today continues to encourage the spirit of volunteerism and giving amongst its alumni. It is now a tradition for every NTU graduating class to make a class gift to benefit their juniors. I am told that this year's Graduation Giving campaign achieved yet another record breaking participation rate of over 87 percent (87.2%). So, congratulations to the class for your efforts. I think it is very encouraging to see such participation and I hope that this trend, just like your ranking trend, will continue to go up year after year.

9. Giving is not just about donating funds; it is also about the contribution of time and effort. In this regard, I understand that NTU has over 4,000 alumni ambassadors who are amongst the university's strongest advocates. Some volunteer in alumni events and activities. Others sit on advisory boards and interview panels to select NTU bursaries' recipients. Many prominent alumni take time off their busy schedules to speak at alumni forums. A number of NTU alumni even offer career and internship opportunities to students. - See more at: http://app.mccy.gov.sg/Newsroom/SpeechbyAgMinisteratNTUAlumniAwards2013.aspx#sthash.sdGSVEYO.dpuf

10. Such giving makes NTU a caring community, with deep ties that extend across generations. In fact, this strong sense of community and mutual support is vital not just for universities like NTU, but also for the future of our nation. This is why we decided to set up the volunteer youth corps, so that there will be more opportunities for young people to contribute and serve in meaningful ways. And I would encourage all of the NTU alumni to participate and help us to make this youth corps a success – participate either by being part the youth corps or helping us design the youth corps and even serving the youth corps. I firmly believe that each one of us can change society for the better, and that our individual contributions can make a difference. And with more opportunities to serve, I hope to see a stronger spirit of giving in more institutions and across all of Singapore.
    

Commemorating the achievement of award recipients

11. Tonight, we are here to celebrate the many achievements of past generations of NTU alumni who have given to society and made NTU proud. There are two recipients of the highest honour – the Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award.

12. Masagos Zukifli bin Masagos Mohamad, from the class of 1988. He has been a Member of Parliament for Tampines for seven years. He is currently serving as the Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, as well as Foreign Affairs. I have known Masagos for some time as a colleague in parliament and we have worked together. He has been a strong advocate of establishing an inclusive society, and he has been very actively championing the cause to provide more opportunities for ex-offenders to rehabilitate and reintegrate them back into society. He has also played an active role in the Malay-Muslim community. He helps me chair the Malay Language Council which come under my ministry. And he has been a big advocate for that. He has also over the years, served in different roles as the President of PERDAUS (where he co-founded Mercy Relief, an organisation which is at the forefront of disaster relief work in the region) and also as a board member of MUIS. So, congratulations to Masagos as a very worthy recipient of the Nanyang Alumni award.

13. The second recipient of this distinguished alumni award is Dr Wong Meng Voon, from the class of 1961. He is one of our best-known Chinese authors and has been awarded Singapore's highest arts accolade, the Cultural Medallion (1981). Dr Wong founded the Singapore Association of Writers and served as its President for 20 years. The Association is now the largest registered Chinese literary association in Singapore and he has been a key force behind the development of Singapore Chinese literature and culture. Congratulations to Dr Wong and once again, we have a very worthy recipient of this distinguished award.

14. I'm not sure if this is deliberately planned by NTU but you will see that one, Masagos is a champion of Malay language and the second, Dr Wong is a champion of Chinese language and culture. So, it is very balanced.

15. Tonight, NTU will also present awards to 21 other outstanding individuals who have excelled in their respective fields, and have contributed to society. There are many of them and if you look through in your booklets, you will see their write-ups and their many contributions. I look forward to you continuing to do your alma mater, and Singapore proud.

16. So finally, let me once again congratulate all the award winners, the distinguished alumni award winners as well as service awards winners. I wish all of you here an enjoyable evening.

17. Thank you very much!