Defence scholars set sights on tackling cyber threat

SINGAPORE — One of Ms Ong Ray Yi’s most distinct childhood memories was when her father took her to his workplace at the research and development unit at tech giant Apple, and showed her a circuit board.

That was probably where the first seeds were sown in developing her interest in engineering, for she was curious about how the board works and what it does.

Later on, when she was in secondary school, her father — who had moved to computer maker Dell to develop monitor displays — would take home various gadgets such as virtual-reality headsets and they would tinker with these items together. So it would come as no surprise that Ray Yi, now 19, would pick a Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholarship in engineering — in the area of defence and security — to further her studies.

The scholarship was launched for the first time as part of this year’s award exercise, and Ray Yi received hers yesterday at the inaugural Defence Scholarship Awards ceremony. She is slated to study engineering at the University of Cambridge in England.

Explaining her choice, she said: “Without engineering, our defence (technology) cannot reach (higher) levels ... It would also be very exciting to find innovative solutions to problems in defence. I hope to contribute to Singapore in terms of creating such solutions using programming and maybe a bit of hardware as well.”

As a student, while most of her peers spent their free time watching movies, Ray Yi learnt to do coding by herself during her first year of junior college in Raffles Institution, and she began creating applications “for fun”.

She added that she has an interest in cyber security, alongside her desire to specialise in electrical engineering and computer science.

“I foresee that cyber attacks will keep evolving, and we can’t just use a piece of code to prevent all attacks. So we have to think a step ahead, think of how people can find vulnerabilities in our software infrastructure, and how we can code to refine our infrastructure,” she said.

Out of the 63 recipients in this year’s exercise, Ray Yi was one of four PSC Scholarship (engineering) recipients. Another 15 were awarded the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Merit Scholarship, seven got the SAF Scholarship, two were given the SAF Engineering Scholarship, the Defence Merit Scholarship went to six people and 29 received the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) Scholarship.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen stressed that for the next-generation SAF to become a “potent and credible” force, it must harness all assets, both in manpower and technology.

He said that by 2030, there would be a one-third reduction in the number of National Service recruits, with the local manpower growth hitting zero from 2020. “The SAF will have to do the same (with less), and perhaps, much more with less. To build and sustain this type of next-generation SAF will require field commanders to work with engineers and scientists as one,” he added.

This is why the PSC Scholarship in engineering was offered for the first time, he explained.

Like Ray Yi, an SAF Scholarship recipient, Midshipman (MID) Satesh Kumar Sukumar, also sees cyber attacks as the latest menace that the country must ready itself for as part of its defence. He is keen to take on defence policy at the later stage of his career.

The 19-year-old navy officer, who was from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), is heading to King’s College London to take up war studies and history. “Cyber attacks are the new mode of attack, it is easy for the cyber terrorists to attack us from anywhere and this is increasingly gaining prominence,” he said.

For now, he would like to continue serving in the navy after his studies, in particular to explore submarine systems. “The scholarship to me is a vote of confidence from the SAF ... It provides me with a number of opportunities, in being able to go overseas and study ... it makes me want to do my best and contribute.”

When they have completed their studies, scholarship recipients such as MID Satesh will return to their respective organisations to take on a variety of appointments to groom them for senior leadership positions in the Defence Ministry and the SAF.

The PSC and DSTA recipients will be groomed for engineering and technological leadership roles in the defence technology community.