25 Jul 2018
From a record 1,300 applications this year, 84 defence scholarships
were awarded to students from a diverse range of educational
institutions and backgrounds at the Defence Scholarship Awards Ceremony
on 20 July 2018.
Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen gave out 6 Public Service
Commission (PSC) Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and Security and 30
DSTA Scholarships. In addition, he awarded 9 SAF Scholarships, 16 SAF
Merit Scholarships, 5 SAF Engineering Scholarships, 10 Defence Merit
Scholarships, 7 SAF Medicine Scholarships and 1 SAF Local Dentistry
Scholarship. The latter two scholarships were presented for the first
time at the combined ceremony.
Recipients of the PSC Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and
Security and DSTA Scholarship with the guests-of-honour, including
Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen (front row, fifth from right), Senior
Minister of State for Defence Mr Heng Chee How (front row, fifth from
left), Public Service Commission Chairman Mr Eddie Teo (front row,
fourth from right) and DSTA Chief Executive Mr Tan Peng Yam (front row,
right).
Citing how the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings rapid
technological breakthroughs in the areas of digitisation, Artificial
Intelligence, robotics and autonomous vehicles, Dr Ng stressed that
MINDEF and the SAF would “need the best engineering and science talents
to harness such technological opportunities to ensure the SAF can
maintain its fighting edge against potential aggressors.”
As such, the defence community would continue to broaden its search
to ensure that it invests in the right people to lead, protect and serve
Singaporeans for future generations. This included facilitating support
for students from poorer families or those living in one- to three-room
HDB flats to apply for scholarships, Dr Ng added.
One example is DSTA Scholarship recipient Goh Hao Wei, 21, who comes
from a single-income family. During National Service, he saw how the SAF
used technology to improve its warfighting capabilities and enhance the
soldiering experience, and realised he could apply his strength and
interest in science and math to become a defence engineer. “I thought
that this was an area that suited my abilities well and allowed me to
play my part for defence,” said Hao Wei, who will be heading to the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US to study electrical
engineering.
To join him at DSTA after their studies is Adriel Tan, 19, who
received the PSC (Engineering) Scholarship – Defence and Security. A
budding developer that created his own Android apps while in school, he
looks forward to applying his passion for computer engineering to
develop hardware and software solutions for defence applications after
completing his degree in electrical engineering and computer science at
the University of California, Berkeley.
Hao Wei (left) and Adriel receiving their scholarship certificates from Dr Ng.