Keynote Address by Minister for Health Mr Ong Ye Kung At the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year 2024 Awards Presentation, 25 October 2024

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, SPH Media 

Mr Wong Wei Kong, Editor-in-Chief of the English, Malay and Tamil Media Group 

Mr Nazry Mokhtar, Editor, Berita Harian 

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests 

           Good evening. Let me begin with a few words in Malay.

Speech in Malay

2       Saya berbesar hati dapat hadir di majlis malam ini untuk menyampaikan Anugerah Jauhari Berita Harian yang kedua puluh enam. Kita berkumpul pada hari ini untuk meraikan kecemerlangan, untuk memberikan penghormatan kepada mereka yang memberikan inspirasi, dan untuk merenung kesan sumbangan setiap suri teladan dalam masyarakat dan negara kita.

3      Setiap pemenang Anugerah Jauhari Berita Harian telah mencerminkan keberanian untuk merintis perjalanan baru walaupun berhadapan dengan cabaran. Mereka merebut peluang untuk mencapai kejayaan dalam bidang masing-masing.

4        Mereka merupakan tunjang harapan dan wira yang akan mencipta sejarah bagi golongan muda. Walaupun kita boleh merumuskan ciri-ciri ideal seseorang individu melalui buku atau pengajaran formal di sekolah, tidak ada yang lebih berkesan daripada mengenali suri teladan yang nyata. Mereka mencerminkan nilai-nilai murni yang segera difahami oleh kanak-kanak - 'Inilah yang saya ingin tiru dan capai'.

5       Suri teladan ini bukan sahaja menjadi sumber inspirasi, tetapi juga menerangi jalan ke hadapan bagi masyarakat kita. Melalui teladan mereka, kita dapat melihat cara nilai-nilai murni dan cita-cita luhur boleh diamalkan ke dalam realiti kehidupan seharian.

6      Saya berterima kasih kepada Berita Harian kerana menganjurkan Anugerah ini selama dua pulu enam tahun yang lalu sebagai inspirasi kepada masyarakat Melayu/Islam, dan juga kepada semua warga Singapura.

7     Tahniah kepada para pemenang pada tahun ini! Izinkan saya untuk teruskan ucapan saya dalam Bahasa Inggeris.

The Need for Role Models

8      I said in my Malay speech that every society needs role models.

9      Throughout history, figures like Martin Luther King Jr, Yue Fei, Mahatma Gandhi, Leif Erikson and Prince Diponegoro have shaped our world through their vision, conviction, courage, patriotism and dedication to their causes. Their stories, documented in museums and woven into school curricula, remind us of what humanity can achieve, especially when inspired by the extraordinary deeds of individuals.

10       In our modern world, we continue to find inspiration in diverse personalities. They may or may not become historical figures, but when we hear their stories, we feel a sense of awe, admiration and even feel hope for the future.

11      For example, Malala Yousafzai. She was prepared to risk her life to champion education for young girls. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the greatest footballers of our times, work very hard and rose to the pinnacle of the footballing world. What impresses me most is that they exude so much humility. Taylor Swift inspired many young fans, not just because of her creativity and her clever and poetic lyrics, but her courage and acumen to take on big businesses and give the younger generation a voice through her music.  

12     Closer to home, we also have many local role models. They are in public service, business, social, education, and healthcare spheres. I started my career as a public servant and learnt about the legendary deeds, actions and decisions of certain Ministers and Permanent Secretaries that inspire me to continue to be in the Public Service.

13      Most recently, Singaporeans were inspired by our sportsmen and women like Loh Kean Yew, Max Maeder, Yip Pin Xiu and Shanti Pereira, who did our nation proud with composed and excellent performance under extreme pressure.

14      I have named many famous personalities, but role modelling is more than that. The truth is, how many of us really get to meet and know these famous people? I have not met Taylor Swift before, nor Martin Luther King Jr, and we don’t get to see them face to face, much less know them and learn from them first hand.

15      What we need more are everyday role models who may or may not be famous – loving parents, nurturing teachers, good friends, selfless caregivers, exemplary social worker, famous chefs. All of them can be our day-to-day role models. Their contributions often go unseen and unrecognised, but their impact on individual lives and communities is profound.

16      This is why we make the effort to identify and recognise outstanding individuals within our communities, organisations and professions. For example, we have the President’s Award for Nurses and Teachers. We also have the Anugerah Jauhari Berita Harian, which is the reason why we are gathered here tonight.

Akmal and Zulayqha

17      Tonight, we celebrate two remarkable individuals. We have heard about them from the citations earlier but let me talk a little bit more about them.

18      First, Chef Akmal Anuar. From humble beginnings, he worked at his parents' Nasi Padang stall. I reminded him that while he skipped school, he was out there doing things and learning from the university of life. From the video clip that was played just now, I can tell that Akmal is very passionate about what he is good at, and you can see that he talks with a sparkle in his eyes. He has a certain view and conviction about cooking and what it should be about. What is beyond the taste but also the culture that we need to bring across. All his hard work has led him to placing Singapore on the world culinary map. I know a number of chefs, and I have no doubt Chef Akmal is totally passionate about his craft and his skills have become an art. He has transformed himself from a cook, to a chef, to an artisan.

19     Akmal makes time to volunteer at community centres to teach cooking classes. That is something I find amazing about successful people. They are often simultaneously performing at the international level, and contributing at the kampung level. When I read about Cristiano Ronaldo, he is either scoring goals and winning championships or somehow appearing in one of our schools in Singapore. So they are like helicopters – rising to the top and coming to the bottom, constantly moving up and down.

20     Next, Zulayqha Zulkifli, who also overcame significant challenges from a very young age, facing homelessness and taking on the responsibility of caring for her siblings. Zulayqha's burdens were heavy, but she was not alone. With emotional and social support from those around her, she excelled academically. I was very happy that she did her Degree in Social Work at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), because I was the Minister for Education and we started that course. Social workers only had a Diploma course at Nanyang Polytechnic, but we made sure social workers can upgrade to a degree programme at SUSS.

21     Zulayqha's story shows that when we share our burdens, even the heaviest loads can be carried. And people who received help when in difficulty will often pay back to society, as Zulayqha is now doing.

22      It is important that we have come together tonight to honour Akmal and Zulayqha as role models. In identifying and recognising them, we, as a society, collectively decide what success should look like, what achievements are valued, and most importantly, what values we uphold.

From Role Models to Values

23      What values do our awardees uphold and reinforced for us tonight? I would say first and foremost, the most obvious is resilience and hard work. No one is really born with superpowers – we only see that in Marvel movies. Every successful athlete, artist, professional, chef, social worker, became good at what they are doing through constant practice, learning from others, learning through mistakes and gaining experience.

24      Second, success is never fully achieved alone. Every successful person received help, support and care from others to help them overcome the obstacles or lighten their burdens. As the peribahasa goes: 'berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing'. This was taught to me by Mdm Rahayu Mahzam. Whether the burden is heavy or light, we carry them together.

25      The final important value that our awardees remind us to uphold, is to respect every trade and profession, and ensure that there are many pathways to success in Singapore, and many definitions of achievements. If success in the jungle is only defined by how fast an animal climbs a tree, then all the lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and eagles are all failures. The only success is the monkey.

26      That said, to deliver multiple paths to success, our system of education will need to continue to evolve, so that it opens up opportunities for all, and nurtures craftsmen and experts in every field. As another peribahasa goes, which Mdm Rahayu Mahzam also taught me: 'hanya jauhari mengenal manikam' – only a jeweller recognises a gem. I suppose this is where this Award got its name.

27       That is why we have been witnessing a major transformation of our education system into a lifelong learning system. Our schools lay a strong foundation in our young people upon which they develop diverse skills in our institutes of higher learning – ITE, Polytechnics, Arts Colleges and Autonomous Universities – from engineering, cybersecurity, business to healthcare, culinary arts and sports science. There are now so many options.

 Closing

28     I would like to thank Berita Harian for taking on the role of this ‘jeweller’, spotlighting Malay/Muslim role models through the Anugerah Jauhari Berita Harian Awards every year.

29     More broadly, Editor Nazry Mokhtar has spoken about how the newsroom has been transformed. When I visited the newsroom, I was very surprised about the changes that had taken place. Berita Harian has played a crucial role in engaging the Malay/Muslim community. For 67 years, Berita Harian has strived to evolve and stay relevant, even in this really fast-moving world as a trusted source that brings comprehensive coverage of news and issues from home, the region and the world to the community.

30     As we gather here tonight, let us remember that each of us, in our own way, has the potential to be a role model – to embody the values that make our society strong, to support those around us, and to inspire others to reach for their dreams. I think we all know that there are some families in Singapore where the kids grow up without role models, like in broken families. This is unlike the kampung where my father lived and I used to spend a lot of time in. In a kampung, you still see other role models. But today, we all live in our own apartment, sometimes from a broken home, and they really have no role models. We can all be that role model even if it is for one kid. That is a meaningful contribution.

31      Thank you, and congratulations to our deserving Achievers of the Year.