Mr Tan Soo Jin, Chairman, SIM Governing Council,
Dr Richard Eu, Founding Chairman, SIM Governing Council,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good evening. I am delighted to join you on this joyous occasion and to have the honour of opening the second and final development phase of SIM’s campus here in Clementi. But first, let me extend my heartiest congratulations to everyone at SIM on reaching this milestone.
SIM’s 50 years in conjunction with Singapore’s growth
We were once a nascent economy that was dependent on our location as a trading port. In order to grow, we embarked on an industrialisation drive to create good jobs and set the stage for future growth. We also needed good managers and leaders to take Singapore forward. SIM was therefore established to support the development of managerial and leadership capacity in our workforce.
As our economy developed in the direction of higher value-added, knowledge-intensive activities, manpower needs have changed. And while we now have an educated workforce that possesses valuable knowledge and skills, this needs to be reinforced through a concerted and continual training effort – undertaken by individuals, and supported by employers, industry partners, and government.
SIM has played a critical role throughout Singapore’s development by providing flexible and sector-relevant education and training options alongside our autonomous universities and many have benefited from such an experience. Ms Carol Chew Wee Ling is one example. Coming from Human Resource, Carol decided on a mid-career switch to social work, and underwent WDA’s Professional Conversion Programme, where she was put on a Place-and-Train programme while studying for a Bachelor of Social Work at SIM University (UniSIM).
Studying for her degree part-time allowed Carol to gain concurrent on-the-job experience, which helped her understand what was being taught better. Carol also had to juggle full-time work, evening classes, and three young children. But the support from her family, schoolmates, UniSIM faculty, employers, WDA and the National Council of Social Services (NCSS) allowed her to make this career transition successfully. I am pleased to note that Carol graduated top of her class and was awarded the NCSS Gold Award.
The future direction of Singapore’s Economic Development
Singapore is part of the global economy. But we are not immune to shifts and changes, such as disruptive technologies, and increasing competition from other global cities. We also face the challenges of an aging workforce, and rising aspirations of our youth. The government has therefore embarked on several initiatives that will allow us to build up early advantages in new growth areas and continue to create good jobs. One example is A*STAR’s Industrial Additive Manufacturing Programme, which aims to develop Singapore as a hub for advanced manufacturing.
All this translates into good opportunities for Singaporeans. And the government will continue to invest in lifelong education and training to help Singaporeans make the most of these opportunities. For example, two Continuing Education and Training (CET) campuses were set up this year - the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar, and the Devan Nair Institute of Employment and Employability in Jurong. Both campuses aim to train about 50,000 Singaporean workers annually.
SkillsFuture / The future Singaporean workforce
Our people are crucial to Singapore’s development. But we must remain nimble and adaptable. We should build up deep technical and professional skills, complemented by broad-ranging multi-disciplinary knowledge, so as to engender competitive advantages for Singaporeans in the economies of the future.
The recently formed SkillsFuture Council, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is therefore a concerted national effort that aims to build upon our existing PET and CET systems, create good jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, and ensure the relevance and quality of workforce skills.
SkillsFuture also seeks to cultivate a spirit of lifelong learning. This requires ownership and collaboration amongst key stakeholders - government, employers, unions, and education and training providers. But these efforts will come to nothing if we do not take ownership of our own learning and development. We need to stay relevant through continuing education and lifelong learning, and by taking on increased value-added roles in the workplace.
Role of SIM
SIM will continue to play a critical role in supporting SkillsFuture alongside our education institutions. For example, UniSIM’s modular programmes and e-learning courses that enable people to work and study at the same time help meet the needs of different profiles of learners, and provide a platform for Singaporeans to acquire new knowledge and skills on the job.
Going forward, SIM must ensure that its programmes maintain their relevance to industry needs. This is important as our economy restructures, creating new niches and new jobs. I note that SIM is already doing so through industry partnerships such as the MSc in Engineering Business Management, jointly offered by SIM Global Education, the University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group, and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Tech (SIMTech). Also supported by EDB and WDA, this programme is a good example of how lifelong learning is a concerted effort by all parties involved.
Conclusion
Over the past 50 years, graduates of SIM’s programmes have been among the pioneers of Singapore’s industrialisation drive after independence. SIM has indeed grown with Singapore. And looking ahead, I have no doubt that current graduates of SIM will play an important role in the next phase of Singapore’s development. I hope that SIM will continue to do a good job, and wish SIM well as it moves with Singapore into the next 50 years.
Congratulations once again, and have a good evening.