SPEECH BY MR TAN KIAT HOW, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION & MINISTRY OF HEALTH, AT HMI INSTITUTE GRADUATION CEREMONY ON 16 OCTOBER 2026

Ms Chin Wei Jia, Group CEO, HMI Medical

Graduates, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

1.    Good afternoon, and congratulations to the Class of 2026!

2.    Today, you receive certificates recognising what you have learnt. But we are celebrating something bigger too: the courage to take a new step, and the determination to keep growing.

3.    Some of you are entering healthcare for the first time. Others are returning to the classroom after years at work. Many have balanced your studies with jobs, family and other responsibilities. You should be proud of what you have achieved.

Healthcare is changing — and so must we

4.    Your graduation comes at an important time. Singapore is now a super-aged society. By 2030, about one in four Singapore citizens will be aged 65 and above. More people will need help to manage chronic conditions, stay healthy and age with dignity.

5.    Our response is not simply to build more hospitals. Through Healthier SG and Age Well SG, we are strengthening prevention, supporting seniors in their communities and bringing care closer to home.

6.    That changes healthcare work too. More care will take place outside hospitals. AI and automation will change some tasks and workflows. New responsibilities will emerge. But technology alone cannot deliver this transformation. People must be equipped and confident to work differently.

7.    Healthcare transformation is therefore also workforce transformation — one person, one skill and one career at a time.

Two journeys, one shared spirit

8.    HMI Institute has played an important role in creating these pathways. Since 2002, it has trained more than 400,000 individuals and supported more than 6,000 graduates in healthcare and community care roles.

9.    Two graduates here today show us why having different pathways matters.

10. Ms Jacqueline Koh spent much of her career in training and development in retail. Later in life, she decided she wanted to contribute more directly to others. She returned to the classroom, completed the SCTP WSQ Higher Certificate in Healthcare (Operations), and at 64 began a new career as a Patient Service Assistant at Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital. At an age when many people might think of slowing down, Jacqueline chose to begin again.

11. Ms Shanthi took a different path. She has worked at Tan Tock Seng Hospital since 2011 in patient service operations. Rather than stand still, she continued upgrading her skills — completing the WSQ Higher Certificate in Healthcare (Operations) in 2025 and the WSQ Advanced Certificate in Healthcare (Operations) this year. Today, as a Senior Patient Service Associate Executive at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, she has taken on greater responsibilities in supervision, training, onboarding and process improvement.

12. Jacqueline shows us that it is never too late to begin a new career. Shanthi shows us that there is always room to grow in the career we already have. We have many journeys worth celebrating among the more than 1,000 graduates in this cohort.

Keep learning as the work changes

13. The jobs you enter today will not remain exactly the same. Some routine tasks may become easier with AI. Other responsibilities will become more complex. New care models will require better coordination across hospitals, primary care and community services.

14. This is why the most valuable thing you take away from HMI Institute is not only what you know today. It is the confidence to keep learning tomorrow.

15. And to employers, this means making room for learning at work — giving staff opportunities to try new responsibilities, develop their judgement and grow into new roles. A future-ready healthcare workforce cannot be built in classrooms alone.

16. Yet even how care is delivered changes, something essential remains. Healthcare is about people caring for people.

17. Technology can help us retrieve information, coordinate appointments and reduce paperwork. But it cannot replace the reassurance you offer an anxious patient, the patience you show someone who is struggling, or the trust you earn by treating each person with dignity.

18. Your skills will help you do your job well. Your humanity will help you make a difference.

A shared achievement

19. I thank HMI Institute, healthcare employers, the Agency for Integrated Care, the Skills and Workforce Development Agency, and our training and workforce partners for opening up practical pathways into healthcare and community care.

20. To the trainers, families and friends of our graduates: thank you for your encouragement and support. Behind every certificate is also someone who made time, offered help or believed in the person receiving it.

21. And to our graduates: today is not the finish line. It is a milestone in a much longer journey. Some of you are starting afresh. Others are taking the next step in a familiar profession. Wherever your path leads, keep learning, keep adapting and keep caring.

22. Singapore’s healthcare future will be shaped not only by new hospitals and new technologies, but by people like you — people willing to grow, and ready to use what they learn to care for others.

23. Congratulations once again to the Class of 2026. I wish you every success in the journeys ahead.

24. Thank you.