DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Inaugural ITE-4PM Awards Ceremony

Mr Nassar Mohamad Zain, President of the Malay Youth Literary Association or 4PM,

Mr Zainal Abidin Rasheed, Advisor to 4PM,
Ms Low Khah Gek, Chief Executive Officer of ITE,
Educators, award recipients, parents and mentors,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon and a warm welcome to our students and your families, as well as partners from different agencies and organisations to this inaugural ITE- 4PM Awards Ceremony.

My first role after I entered politics was as Minister for Education.

It was a very special and meaningful four years. Together with my colleagues at MOE, including Khah Gek, we worked on nurturing our students to learn and develop their full potential.

So being here today with our students, teachers, mentors and parents brings back many warm memories.

I am happy to join you in celebrating your hard work, resilience and achievements, and in recognising and thanking those who have supported and enabled you in your journeys so far.

4PM has been engaged in serving the community for more than 75 years – long before Singapore’s independence.

Over the years, you have evolved new ways to make greater impact to the community and the wider Singapore society.

For example, in January, 4PM launched a Family and Youth Development Fund, to enhance your services and programmes for youths and families.

This year, 4PM engaged around 1,300 youth and supported more than 1,000 families. Well done!

Looking at the exhibition earlier reminded me of a famous Malay peribahasa – “bulat air kerana pembetung, bulat manusia kerana muafakat”.

Translated literally, it means “Water is round because of its container, and humans are unified by consensus.”

This proverb emphasises the importance of teamwork and consensus.

Everyone can and should play a role in helping our youths reach their full potential and expand their horizons.

Every youth empowered is a life transformed and a family uplifted.

Together, we can build a Community of Success – Masyarakat Gemilang.

And our successful youths will shape a successful Singapore in the future.

I commend 4PM for undertaking a range of activities to support our youth over the years.

You have done good work benefitting youth across the island, including in my constituency, East Coast.

This year, for the first time, 4PM is bringing together two of your flagship initiatives, the FRENZ Mentoring Programme and the Bestari Awards, to recognise our youth who have overcome challenges and excelled in school.

Both platforms have been around for over 10 years - the FRENZ Mentoring Programme started in 2010 and the Bestari Awards in 2002.

By bringing the two together, I hope that we can enhance our mentoring efforts and motivate more youth in the community to achieve excellence, and to give back.

I thank all the different partners who have been supporting 4PM over the years.

Education is critical to the future of our youth – in Singapore, and around the world.

Since independence, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and our founding leaders have placed great emphasis on education. Even when our resources were limited then, the nation devoted a large percentage of resources to education, and recruited some of our best students to be teachers. I have often said this since my days as Education Minister – ‘every school is a good school’. That is because every school produces students and helps students to achieve their full potential.

Parents, and our wider society, also invested their time and effort in educating our young. Happy to see so many parents here today.

The succeeding generations of leaders have maintained this focus on education.

Today, under Forward Singapore, we are committed to continue to evolve our education system.

We will do this by giving every child a strong start, building skills beyond academics, inculcating a love for learning throughout life, and developing more diverse pathways for every individual to realise their full potential.

For example, ITE has expanded its range of programmes and offerings over the years.

This year’s 45 Bestari Award recipients are pursuing programmes in a wide range of areas including in automotive technology, IT systems and networks, landscape management and design, and games programming and development.

These are all interesting areas to study as you step into a rapidly changing world.

I am glad to see that all of you have worked hard and embraced your chosen courses to build a future for yourselves. Many of you have showed great resilience in overcoming challenges and not only performing well in your studies, but also representing ITE in programmes outside school and even internationally.

I am happy that many of our award recipients are also serving in leadership roles in student groups and CCAs across the ITE colleges as well as volunteering with the different community groups. This is important as learning is not just about technical or book knowledge. Learning to build relationships and to work with others is just as important.

Many Bestari Award alumni have gone to pursue further learning after graduating from ITE, whether it is in another institution or on-the-job. They serve as as good role models.

It is important to continue learning, as knowledge has no limit.

Keep an open mind, learn anytime, anywhere and from everyone.

But learning can be difficult at times. To learn, we have to overcome our inertia, and to stretch ourselves. Sometimes, we are tempted to give up. So having someone who believes in us can make all the difference.

The FRENZ Mentoring Programme run by 4PM engages youths in their journey of self-discovery, and to work hard to achieve their potential.

To the students graduating from the programme this year, I commend your tenacity and determination.

Over the years, students have benefitted from the support of committed and inspiring mentors.

40 mentors are engaged with the FRENZ Mentoring Programme this year.

Some are fellow students and others are working adults who volunteer their time to help nurture our youth. I am heartened to hear that we also have mentors from other communities involved in this effort.

This represents the best of the Singapore spirit – to have people from different backgrounds and races come together and work with common cause in ways that benefit our people.

Let us thank all our mentors for making an impact on our students!

The FRENZ Mentoring programme also unlocks a virtuous cycle of support and mentorship.

Some seniors who have benefitted from being mentored now serve as peer mentors for their juniors.

This programme’s service-learning model also enables students to practice the skills and values they have acquired to contribute to others.

This moulds our youths to give back to the community – this is an important value for us to build a more cohesive society in Singapore.

Let me conclude.

To our students – my heartiest congratulations once again!

I hope the awards that you are receiving today spur you on to even greater heights in your schooling journeys. Believe in your potential and strive confidently towards your dreams.

Do keep learning, and learn anytime, anywhere and from everyone. This will enable you to cope with the many changes that will happen at work, and in our lives. Indeed with the progress of technology, AI, automation and robotics, these changes will happen even faster.

Remember also to thank your families, mentors, teachers and principals for the support they have shown you over the years.

I also encourage you to find ways that you can give back to the community.

To all the educators and partners here, thank you for your dedication and support for our youth to reach their fullest potential.

Let me also recognise our award panellists who have invested their time in supporting this meaningful effort.

Let us all continue to work together to shape a better future for our youth, and for Singapore.

Congratulations once again to 4PM and all award recipients! Thank you.