SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND COORDINATING MINISTER FOR SOCIAL POLICIES, AT THE 2025 HEALTHCARE SCHOLARSHIPS AWARD CEREMONY

Scholarship recipients

Parents and loved ones

Ladies and gentlemen

1. I am pleased to join you today to present 132 scholarships to our recipients joining the public healthcare sector.

2. Our recipients this year, like in previous years, come from a wide range of disciplines, reflecting the diverse talent base that we have and we need. So let me list them. We have two in Medicine, 17 in Pharmacy, 18 in Clinical Psychology, 19 in Nursing, 23 in Physiotherapy, and over 40 in other Allied Health fields such as Speech Therapy, Diagnostic Radiography, Occupational Therapy and Dietetics. We also have four recipients in Medical Social Work, and a handful in business, accountancy, IT, engineering and social science.

3. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is competing with many sectors for talent but we have our fair share. We are confident that public healthcare continues to be an attractive option because we offer a very strong value proposition to young talent. I want to assure our recipients and your loved ones that you have made a good choice. With the right attitude and mindset, there is an exciting and fulfilling career ahead of you. Let me share with you three reasons why.

Exciting Transformations Within Healthcare

4. First, you will be entering a healthcare sector that is undergoing a very exciting, once in a generation transformation because of ageing. Ageing is not a distant challenge for us. It is right before us, and it will be the biggest social challenge of our time. It requires us to change the way we deliver care within hospitals and in the community.

5. To do so, we are investing in our people and infrastructure. We have also implemented pivotal programmes to promote healthier living and preventive care, such as Healthier SG and Age Well SG, so that more residents can enjoy good quality of life. You visited an Active Ageing Centre; we have 250 of them now. Each of them is doing more, reaching deep into the community, affecting the lives of citizens.

6. We are leveraging technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and precision medicine. One promising use case is to predict the risk of patients developing serious illnesses well ahead of time and intervene early through Healthier SG to prevent them.

7. These efforts will usher in a fundamental shift in delivering healthcare — from treating illness to sustaining wellness; from delivering healthcare in clinics and hospitals to doing so in communities and our homes. You will be part of this transformation.

Growing Our Talent

8. Second reason, healthcare is a career full of opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

9. You will work in multidisciplinary environments, with clinical and non-clinical professionals complementing your strengths and talents to deliver the best care for patients. There is a range of settings – from laboratories, hospitals, polyclinics, to the community and social organisations.

10. You will get the chance to learn from your seniors and peers, and forge meaningful collaborations. The person sitting next to you might well become a trusted friend if they are not already one, a colleague or collaborator for the future. You will also have the opportunity to enhance your skills through training and upgrading, and attain higher qualifications through further studies.

11. In public healthcare, we will always do our best to support you in your personal and career development.

A Calling and Purpose

12. Finally, and probably the one that resonates with most with many of our healthcare professionals, is the strong sense of public mission.

13. From time to time, we get a glimpse of this powerful ethos of selflessness and dedication displayed by healthcare workers – during SARS, during COVID-19 pandemic, and when there was an earthquake in Myanmar, our emergency medical team stepped up. Today, we have another crisis. Etomidate has entered vapes. MOH has stepped forward. We say we must be part of this mission. That is the ethos of MOH.

14. This strong sense of public mission is exemplified by our alumni scholars. Being good performers, I am sure the lure of joining the private sector is ever present, but they chose to stay with public healthcare for its mission and purpose. Let me share with you the journeys of three past recipients who, like you, sat in this ceremony years ago. I am not picking the one in 1,000 or 10,000 high-flyers. I am taking very three typical scholarship recipients on how their careers have progressed over the last 10 years or so.

15. First, Ms Charlynne Nerva. She worked as an Enrolled Nurse at Changi General Hospital in 2009, where she developed her clinical foundation and discovered her passion for nursing. She went on to obtain a Diploma in a polytechnic. That was in 2015, before securing the Healthcare Merit Scholarship in the same year to pursue a Degree in Nursing at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).

16. Charlynne is now an Assistant Nurse Clinician with KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. There, she discovered many opportunities to learn and grow. For example, she is part of the Implementation Team which drives quality improvement initiatives across the hospital. This includes the developing a pictorial guide manual for medical devices, which helped many new nurses and nursing students.

17. Second example, Ms Celine Tham, was awarded the Healthcare Merit Award to study Social Work at the National University of Singapore in 2014. After graduation, she joined Ng Teng Fong General Hospital as a Medical Social Worker where she provided psychosocial support such as counselling to patients and their families.

18. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Celine played a key role, piloting the use of teleconsultation for patients. Remember, at the time, we could not see each other face to face very much, so teleconsultation became important. She was at the frontline implementing this, and delivered that service to many migrant workers unfamiliar with the Singapore healthcare system. She worked with translators to produce a self-care information kit for migrant workers. She is now a Senior Medical Social Worker and continues to find joy and fulfilment in her work.

19. Finally, Ms Vinita Sheri was awarded the Healthcare Merit Award to study Physiotherapy at SIT in 2016. She is currently a Senior Physiotherapist with Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

20. One of her memorable achievements was spearheading a method for hospitals to better identify hospital patients at risk of diabetes and obesity, for more specialised and targeted care even after they are discharged from the hospital. Beyond clinical practice, Vinita is also involved in organising events such as the World Physiotherapy Day to encourage thousands of members of the public to adopt active lifestyles.

21. I hope the journeys of Charlynne, Celine and Vinita will help inspire you to give of your best and make a difference in Singapore’s public healthcare system.

Closing

22. In my and earlier generations, most young people were just eager to secure a job, feed ourselves and support our families. We did not think so much about our options and there were not that many. Today, many more young people benefit from a good education, you go to universities, and you have many career opportunities before you. However, that does not make life a breeze, because for you, there is intense competition in the job market, and when faced with many options, it is not easy to make choices.

23. I understand that because when I surf Netflix, I end up not watching any because I keep trying to make a choice until the time is up so I did not watch anything. My advice has always been – spend less time worrying about a future when you might realise you made the wrong choice. Instead, devote energy to make the best of what is before you at present. Often, the best choice is the one that we decide to cherish most, that we decide to work on the most. Passion is not a pot of gold waiting for you to discover. Passion is a seed that blossoms with your own effort and time.

24. Public healthcare, because of the reasons I have given, is a great choice. It is that seed that can bloom into a passion for life. You can make it the best ever career choice. Healthcare is ultimately about people and the human touch – a kind word, a listening ear, a consistent presence – remains irreplaceable regardless how advanced AI technology is.

25. On that note, congratulations on receiving the scholarship. All the best as you begin this new chapter in life. Thank you.