Mindef, SAF working with educators to encourage more scholarship applications from less privileged backgrounds

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) want more students from less privileged backgrounds to apply for defence scholarships. The move is meant to broaden the search for next generation leaders, as it seeks to ensure Singapore’s meritocratic system continues to function properly.

To do so, senior officers in Mindef and SAF will be working with principals of schools and polytechnics to get more students from poorer families, including those living in one to three-room flats to apply for defence scholarships, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said at a scholarship awards ceremony at the Istana on Friday (July 20).

“The selection criteria will still be merit-based, but we should also give due recognition that those who come from families with fewer resources will need more encouragement and support,” Mr Ng said.

He continued: “I don't want that situation ever to arise in Singapore where someone (who) comes from a poorer family says, 'I wouldn't apply for the scholarship because I don't stand a chance’.”

Dr Ng added that even as meritocracy has served the Republic well, how it is applied has to be updated as Singapore changes.

The military is not spared from changing circumstances, he said, noting that the cyber sphere is also an "entirely new battlefront that can have devastating consequences if not properly defended".

Citing Friday's announcement by the Ministry of Health about the "massive cyber attack", Dr Ng said: "Not only can sensitive information be taken or physical resources stolen, even the choice of a country’s leaders can be manipulated and social compact destroyed.”

"Even as recent five years ago, this was not envisaged, or at any rate, seriously planned against by even developed countries, even us."

The scholarship, thus, is a vital piece of the strategy in defending Singapore for the next generation – through investment in the next generation of “servant-leaders”, said Dr Ng.

"The scholarships we award today are the country’s long-term investment, on a twenty-year time-frame, to ensure that we have the right leaders, both in values and aptitude to lead Mindef, SAF, DSTA (Defence Science and Technology Agency) DSO (National Laboratories) and other government organisations," said Dr Ng.

Citing how the scholarship ceremony has evolved as an example of change, Dr Ng noted that the event, which used to be organised just for SAF Scholarship recipients, it now includes scholars from the wider defence community, such as those from the engineering and medical fields.

He added: “I am also glad that our scholars (this year) come from a wide number of schools and Polytechnics – not two, not three, (but) 17 different institutions. Some come from humble backgrounds – living in HDB 3-room flats or smaller."

Altogether, 84 scholarships in eight categories were awarded this year, out of over 1,300 applications, which Dr Ng said was a new high. Applications have been increasing yearly, and this year's applicants were 60 per cent more than 2014's.

"This is a good sign for Singapore. Despite increasing affluence, young Singaporeans still value public service," he said.

Of the 84 scholars, nine recipients were awarded the SAF Scholarship. This year's cohort also includes 22 females – double from a decade ago.

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