Brief Remarks by Minister S Iswaran at the Launch of Central Singapore CDC's ‘My Digital Bootcamp’

‘Working Together to Uplift Each Other in Singapore’s Digital Future’

Ms Denise Phua, Mayor, Central Singapore District, and district councilors

Mr Eric Tham, Ms Nicolette Rappa, Ms Lilian Chong, from UOB

Mr Victor Tan, Principal, Townsville Primary School

Mrs Linda Kho, Principal, Pathlight School

Students, friends and all our recruits and astronauts from Townsville Primary School and Pathlight School

1. Good morning to all of you.

2. Are you all very excited about going on a mission to Mars? Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story always says, “To Infinity and Beyond”. You are not going to Infinity but you all are going to Mars and back. I hope all of you have a lot of fun in the next few days.

3. First of all, before we go further and enjoy the camp and learn all the skills, I think we should thank the people who put the camp together for you. Please join me in thanking the Mayor of Central Singapore District, the representatives from United Overseas Bank (UOB), your teachers and Principals from Townsville Primary School and Pathlight School, who have all worked very hard to put this together. I think you are going to have a very exciting time, and the only things I want to say to you, as you are doing this are these.

4. First, when you are learning all the digital skills, just remember that as you are playing games on your phones, you can also use these digital skills and your phones for a lot of very useful things, to make a difference in other people’s lives. You can help people learn better, live better, and help people talk to one another more easily. I think this will be an important thing for you to remember.

5. The other thing for you to remember is, when you are doing this, learn to work together. We are not doing this on our own, we are also doing this together with all our friends and our partners, so that all of us can learn and benefit from this. I hope when you are on your mission to Mars and coming back, please make sure you work with your teammates, because if you are on your own it will be very hard to successfully complete the mission.

6. Finally, remember also to thank your parents and your teachers who are all helping you on this journey to learn and to grow.

7. On a more serious note, I want to congratulate the Central Singapore CDC, as well as our partners from UOB, Townsville Primary School and Pathlight School. I think this is an excellent initiative. Nationally, we are emphasising digital readiness – It is an important part of our overall mission towards a Smart Nation, which comprises a Digital Government, Digital Economy and a Digital Society. And we want all our children in every segment of our society, to be active participants in this digital future to derive its full benefits.

8. That means investing in efforts like these. So I think this is a truly collaborative effort because it brings the community to the CDC, through the schools with corporate support from the UOB. It is also truly integrating when we bring together Pathlight School and Townsville Primary School. This is the message we want to send to everyone – we do not want anyone to be left behind. Everyone can benefit from, and has a role to play in Singapore’s digital future.

9. Thank you everyone for putting this together. To the boys and girls here today, To Infinity and Beyond!

10. Thank you very much.