Speech at Masyarakat Gemilang Conference

Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development & Second Minister for Health, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs and Chairman of Yayasan MENDAKI

 

Dr Maliki Osman, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs

 

Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Manpower & Ministry of Defence and Deputy Chairman of Yayasan MENDAKI

 

Mdm Zuraidah Abdullah, CEO of Yayasan MENDAKI

 

Participants of the third Masyarakat Gemilang Conference

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Good morning! Today’s event is all about embracing a future filled with limitless possibilities towards building a Community of Success.

 

2 Before coming on stage, I had the great opportunity to visit the three pavilions set up for this morning’s conference.

 

•The Limitlessness Pavilion which explores the future of work;

•The Leadership Pavilion where we can learn about different leadership styles; and

•The Lifting Lives Pavilion where we o understand what it means to be Singaporean, how we can support one another.

 

3 The experiences this morning really inspired me. The activities are fun, creative and there are plenty of learning opportunities. They really captured the spirit of Raikan Ilmu or Celebrating Knowledge. There is so much to look forward to and even more we can do together – whether it is for ourselves or the community. Before I came here I met up with a group of youths. I told them that looking at them, you have a great responsibility. Our lives, our futures are going to be in your hands. We look forward to you.

 

4 First, let’s talk about the future of work. When I meet with students, someone from the audience will always ask, “what will the future of work look like?” Because all of you are aware, technology is advancing so rapidly. As we see in the Limitlessness Pavilion, people are connected, and they can work from anywhere in the world. We have here with us a ex-MOMer who’s now working for Google, and she told me how they are training people online. You could attend the training at any time, at your convenience. Artificial intelligence is more developed and user-friendly. Our young people are competing with workers all around the world. The world is very globalised and as long they have an internet access, that is potentially going to be your competition. And then there’s robots making their presence at workplaces!

 

5 So, I can understand each and every one of our youth’s anxieties about the future because the world that you are now evolving, and developing in is vastly different from the one I grew up in. When I was a student = this was in the sixties and seventies – it was a lot simpler.

 

6 When I was young, if you asked many of my classmates what the ultimate dream job was, most people would probably say I want to be a teacher, lawyer, engineer, doctor. When I was growing up, I was captivated by fire engines and the walkie-talkie. So I wanted to be a fireman, because in the seventies, the most popular television serial was an American drama series called Emergency!. These are all good jobs but I think if I asked the same question today, I would get a significantly wider range of answers. You have data scientist, UX designer, e-sport player, YouTuber, climate change engineers and so on. These are just some examples of the new opportunities for all of us, for our young Singaporeans.

 

7 I want to tell you that no matter what your career aspirations may be, the Government will be with you every single step of the way. Not just at the point of your graduation from formal education, but every stage throughout the seasons of life, throughout your career. One big initiative by the Ministry of Manpower is Career Health. The idea is, just like how we take care of your ownr physical health by eating well and exercising, you build resilience, we have to take on the motivation, encouragement, inspiration to take care of our career health. Because the disruptions are very real, and the pace of change is accelerating so rapidly, it empowers you to be more aware of what your individual career prospects will be, keeping your skillsets relevant, abreast of the latest developments and ahead of times, and therefore putting you in the optimal position to seize new opportunities. We have launched the beta version of an AI tool called CareersFinder. This uses data to suggest what are the most optimal pathways for Singaporeans to get new skills and reach and hopefully exceed your career goals. You can check it out on Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFuture portal. At the same time, we will support you through continuous training so you can have the skills and knowledge to thrive in this evolving world.

 

8 We in the Government will do our level best to build a vibrant and productive economy that continues to fuel growth and give you a lot more new and exciting job opportunities. Our promise to you is that Singapore will be a land of opportunities, brimming with limitless hope and optimism.

 

9 Now of course, what is a society if we have limitless possibilities, limitless optimism, if we cannot share that hope and use that to inspire our lesser-endowed members in the community? So I want to talk about giving back to the community. In 2023, over 1,200 volunteers supported MENDAKI’s programmes, with nearly 50 cross-deployed across various Self-Help Groups. In line with the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Year of Celebrating Volunteers, MENDAKI is working with the National Council of Social Service to enhance its volunteer management capabilities. They are reviewing the volunteer recruitment process, training and the development of volunteers and implementing best practices to measure the impact of these programmes. This is in line with MENDAKI’s aim to groom the next generation of community and industry leaders, which all of you today are a part of.

 

10 I am heartened by the strong support for MENDAKI.

Many of us at different points in our life, would have encountered moments where a helping hand, a listening ear, or simply someone there to stand by us made all the difference. That’s the power of our community, and we hope you will bring it to the next level.

 

11 Over at Marine Parade, we do have quite a number of charity initiatives. One such fantastic charity organisation called The Hut based on this idea of community help.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am the patron of The Hut. This charity helps lower resourced children and youths from underserved and needy families who live in the area. They can come by and there are programmes, many run by volunteers, to constructively engage them, connect them to support and build that sense of belonging, and anchor them to the community in which they live. The Hut is an acronym: H-U-T, stands for Honouring Dreams, because all youths have dreams, how do we honour these dreams, help them realise and fulfil their dreams and ambitions. U - Unleashing Potential. Every single kid has potential – how do we help them unleash their potential; and how do we Transform Lives. How do we move them out of the social strata they are in, and bring them to a different level.

 

12 Our volunteers at The Hut do very meaningful work which are very much aligned to the themes of today’s conference. Last year, we even managed to put together an incentive trip for 8 of the centre members who showed the most progress in school and personal performance.

Together with their caregivers, I managed to secure from a generous donor funds for them to go on all expense paid trip to Manchester and got to watch Manchester United play a game at Old Trafford! Before they left, I spoke to these children, and it has had a significant impact on their lives, because many of them told me the closest they had come to travelling was a bus ride to our neighbouring country. So that was really life-transforming for them. It showed them what the possibilities could be. They got to see that the world is their oyster, and it is possible for them to achieve if they set their minds to it.

 

13 Since we have so many passionate and like-minded youths and volunteers here today, let me just do a quick shout out.

We are always looking for more people to get involved. If you can amplify, augment these efforts, that would be fantastic. You can sign up as a volunteer or a collaborator on The Hut’s website! Giving back strengthens our social fabric and creates a much wider ripple effect of support and uplifting one another. You can also check out the MENDAKI volunteer booth at the reception area to find out more about various volunteering opportunities.

 

 

14 In conclusion today, to all of our youth here at MGC today, it’s all about you – and you are the driving force behind our future. Beyond MGC, I urge you to explore, learn, connect. buildand inspire a much better society. I hope you will leverage, make full use of this opportunity to redefine success on your own terms, develop your leadership skills, and discover how you can uplift others. Embrace and live out your limitless potential. Because together, when all of us think limitlessly, we can build a forever brighter future for all of our fellow Singaporeans and for our successive generations to come.

 

15 Thank you.