SPEECH BY MR TAN KIAT HOW, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION, AND MINISTRY OF HEALTH, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF SLEC COMMCARE ACADEMY AT DEVAN NAIR INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYABILITY ON 29 JUNE 2026

Professor Ho Yew Kee, Chairman, St Luke’s ElderCare (SLEC) 

Mr Foong Daw Ching, Vice-Chairman, SLEC 

Dr Kenny Tan, CEO, SLEC 

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

Very good afternoon, everyone. I am pleased to join you today to celebrate the official opening of the SLEC CommCare Academy at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.  

Building a Future-Ready Care Workforce 

2.      As you all know, Singapore is a super-aged society. And demand for healthcare services and the complexity of our care needs will continue to grow.  

3.      Beyond growing the workforce to deal with these challenges, we must continue to invest in our people, to equip our healthcare workers with the knowledge, confidence and capabilities to deliver quality care in increasingly diverse settings.  

4.      So I am glad that SLEC is opening this facility. With experience serving more than 28,000 seniors islandwide, SLEC has developed deep expertise in the community care space. SLEC has served as an appointed learning institute under the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) since 2018, training more than 5,000 healthcare workers in areas such as dementia care, rehabilitation care, wound care and active ageing. 

5.      The SLEC CommCare Academy which is launching today, is a next step in this journey. So I am delighted to hear that this new facility is expected to train over 3,000 individuals in the next three years.  

Strengthening Community Care on the Ground  

6.      One example is the support that the Academy has provided for the Integrated Community Care Provider Model, or ICCP. The Academy has played a pivotal role in providing training to community care workers on how to use the international Resident Assessment tool (interRAI). InterRAI helps care teams identify seniors' needs early, develop coordinated care plans and support better information-sharing across providers. This enables more integrated, person-centred care in the community. And equipping our workers with such capabilities will be increasingly important as care becomes more integrated and multidisciplinary. 

7.      The Academy is a key training provider in supporting MOH’s sector-wide Job Redesign initiative. The Academy conducts a WSQ Advanced Certificate in Healthcare (Community Care) to equip support care staff with the new skills needed to take on redesigned roles in the community care sector. And through such WSQ programmes, support care staff are equipped to step into redesigned roles safely and confidently, strengthening both the quality-of-care delivery and the sustainability of the community care workforce. 

Building the Next Generation of Healthcare Workers 

8.      But as pointed out by Professor Ho and Dr Kenny Tan earlier, skills are important, but it is not everything. While skills are important, quality care is ultimately delivered by people who bring compassion, empathy and a strong sense of purpose to their work. And that matters, to their clients, your clients' family, and people can tell whether you have a heart for it or not. It is very clear. 

9.      And importantly, early exposure can help young people better understand the realities of ageing and appreciate the meaningful role that healthcare workers play in supporting seniors and their families. 

10.      So I am very heartened by efforts to provide such opportunities through interactive learning facilities like LifeLab™ @ SLEC. Using geriatric simulation suits and virtual reality tools, students gain firsthand insight into the physical, emotional and social challenges of ageing. These experiences nurture empathy and deepen their understanding of seniors' needs. 

11.      Beyond awareness, practical exposure is equally important. Through student placements and internships, young people can experience firsthand the satisfactions and challenges of working in community care. Such opportunities not only reinforce learning but also help build a pipeline of future healthcare workers for the sector. Very glad that SLEC is bringing young people into your team, investing in them, and actually as a next generation of leaders and community care workers in our sector, and that’s so important. 

12.      Looking ahead, collaborations with Institutes of Higher Learning will create even more opportunities for students to learn in real-world care settings. Initiatives like the upcoming senior care centre at Temasek Polytechnic, established in collaboration with SLEC, will help bridge classroom learning and practice, while fostering greater interest in community care careers among the next generation. 

13.      Together, these efforts reflect a broader commitment to strengthening both current and future generations of healthcare workers, ensuring that Singapore's care workforce remains skilled, resilient and ready for the future. 

Closing  

14.      The opening of this Academy is more than the launch of a new training facility. It is an investment in our people to meet the needs of Singapore now and into the future. By strengthening skills and supporting lifelong learning, I am confident the Academy will contribute to a stronger and more future-ready community care workforce in Singapore. 

15.      On that note, I would like to thank SLEC, the management, the Board, the staff, volunteers, and all of you who have contributed to making this vision a reality. Together, we can continue to build a sector that delivers high-quality, person-centric care for generations to come.  

16.      It is now my pleasure to declare the SLEC CommCare Academy at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability officially open. Congratulations.