Speech by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the President’s Scholarship Award Ceremony on 14 August 2026 at The Istana Lawn

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence, Mr Goh Pei Ming, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr Anjani Sinha, U.S. Ambassador, Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Public Service Commission, Ms Lucy Hughes, Acting British High Commissioner, Members of the Public Service Commission Distinguished Guests

1. My warmest congratulations to this year’s President’s Scholarship recipients – Ms Charlene Tan Rui Xian and Mr Samuel Poh Yisheng. I am glad that your parents, family members, school principals, and teachers are here with you today – this achievement belongs to them too.

2. The Public Service has been and remains one of Singapore’s defining strengths. Yet the demands on the Service will keep evolving, and in many respects be more complex in the years to come.

3. It is a truism that we have entered a period of deep global uncertainty.

   • The old verities – open markets, the international rule of law, and faith in multilateralism – are under strain.

   • AI and other technological upheavals pose both opportunities and risks that are radically different from before.

   • Climate change is escalating, and will spare no country.

   • And the loss of a sense of shared purpose domestically within many societies is itself adding to a diminishing belief in global cooperation.

4. Singapore has to live with the changes in the world around us, hold together as a people, and keep renewing the conviction that has guided us over six decades: we are all better when we can uplift each other and move forward together.

5. But that conviction only holds when people can see it play out in their own lives – when people have good jobs and feel secure in their futures, and when they sense that they are each respected for what they contribute, with none being superior to the other.

6. The Public Service is central to building and sustaining that lived reality. How the Service anticipates challenges, how it responds, and whether it does so with empathy, fairness and competence is critical to upholding trust in our social compact.

7. The responsibility falls on every public officer, and an added responsibility falls on those receiving our public sector scholarships. Remember, the scholarships are not a privilege, but a responsibility.

8. The President’s Scholarship is our pinnacle award. Being awarded the scholarship reflects your exceptional potential as a young Singaporean. But it does not set you up for life at the pinnacle, or even for a career that assures that you reach the pinnacles of the public service. It instead reflects the trust that you will be a role model of both humility and excellence, and will work tirelessly with others to improve the lives of all Singaporeans.

9. I am pleased to award this year’s President’s Scholarship to Charlene Tan and Samuel Poh. You will hear in their citations later that what distinguishes them is not simply what they have achieved, but how they have chosen to give their time and commitment. From supporting children with chronic illnesses or facing social or family challenges, to contributing to environmental sustainability or engaging migrant workers through community football. That instinct to connect with others, act on what you see, and make a tangible difference, exemplifies what we seek to cultivate in all our public officers.

10. To Charlene and Samuel, your undergraduate studies will be an opportunity for you to think deeply, and expand your horizons. Some of the most important things you will learn will happen outside the lecture halls or tutorials – in conversations with people whose lives are very different from yours, in volunteer work that humbles you, or in internships that expose you to different cultures and environments. These experiences in your university years are formative, and will give you a texture of understanding that no curriculum can provide.

11. I congratulate you both and wish you the very best, as you develop your fullest self, and work for the betterment of Singapore and Singaporeans.

12. Finally, to the parents, family members, principals, and teachers in this room – thank you for your belief in them, and the years you have spent in shaping who they are. I thank you all.