Opening Address by Minister Josephine Teo MDDI Family Scholarship Ceremony 2026

MOS Rahayu,

Colleagues and friends,

Scholars and family members,

1. Good afternoon. I am happy to be here and to congratulate all our scholarship recipients.

2. Today is an important milestone for you and your families. Years later, you will look back at the photographs and hopefully feel that it has been a worthwhile journey.

3. For our SG Digital scholars, it is a journey that will take you into tech and media-related roles in the industry.

4. For those who will join the Public Service, it is a journey that will give you the opportunity to contribute to the lives of fellow citizens in ways that most jobs do not.

5. Generations of public officers did just that. They helped to put in place policies and programmes, systems and institutions that all of us have benefited from, such as in education, housing, healthcare and transport. As a result, whenever we celebrate National Day, we can say confidently that our public officers made a difference.

6. Many of our public officers had prior experience in the public or people sectors, bringing much value to our work. Others joined immediately after graduation. These include many scholarship recipients over the years.

7. I was one of them. About 35 years ago, I was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Economic Development Board, whose leaders created many opportunities for its officers to learn and grow.

8. In the mid-1990s, I was assigned to work on the Suzhou Industrial Park project, the first of several bilateral flagship projects between Singapore and China. Through this project, I grew a deep respect for public officers whose work is sometimes unseen and unheard of.

9. There, in a yet-to-be-developed part of China, I learnt firsthand about the “Singapore Software” — the policies and administrative capabilities that made Singapore a liveable and lovable home. I began to realise that there were many things I had taken for granted.

10. For example, I never stopped to wonder how our sewage management system is designed or how our rubbish chutes were carefully thought through. These efforts meant that the HDB estates I grew up in or regularly visited were not smelly, unlike many places I had visited in other countries. But this was only because our engineers had applied their minds to keep our environment largely odour-free.

11. That was one side of the “Singapore Software” — the operational discipline that makes daily life manageable. In Suzhou, I also learnt another side of the “Singapore Software”, that is, the trust that makes long-term policies effective.

12. Once, when explaining Singapore’s approach to retirement planning, an HR person in Suzhou asked me, “Are you sure your CPF savings will be returned to you after 30, 40, 50 years of contributions?”

13. Her question was really about trust: can the Government be trusted to keep its word, not just for a few years, but across decades?

14. You see, a good policy may begin with sound design. But it only works if people trust the system enough to participate in it, and if the system delivers what it promises.

15. Her question was really about trust: can the Government be trusted to keep its word, not just for a few years, but across decades? Effective government therefore requires us to build institutions that people can rely on, and build up public officers to keep the institutions working well.

16. As we all know, software needs regular updating. Similarly, our “Singapore Software” cannot remain static. It needs to be maintained, debugged and upgraded. Every now and then, parts of it may even need to be rewritten.

17. Literally and figuratively, the MDDI Family is also in the business of software development.

    1. Colleagues in GovTech build safe and reliable government digital products and services, such as Singpass.

    2. CSA colleagues identify and patch vulnerabilities, and protect us against bad actors such as UNC3886.

18. Other colleagues are developing different kinds of “software” as we speak — new rules, new institutions, and new ways to strengthen trust in our digital society.

    1. For example, we passed a law and set up an Online Safety Commission, both of which are among the first in the world dedicated to supporting victims of online harms.

    2. IMDA is developing ways to help our SMEs and workers become more AI-ready, and to make AI applications safer for everyone.

    3. Our Information Officers are moving from search-engine optimisation to generative-engine and AI-engine optimisation, so that we can continue to reach Singaporeans effectively.

    4. NLB helps Singaporeans learn how to deal with misinformation, and is making a big push to keep us reading at a time when reading rates are falling worldwide.

19. Every one of these efforts helps update Singapore’s operating system for a more digital, complex and contested world.

20. In developing such “software”, our teams have no ready playbooks to copy, and no easy formulas to apply. Most of the time, we operate at the frontier. We have to figure things out.

21. This year, 72 new scholars will join the MDDI Family and our quest to be worthy architects of Singapore’s digital future.

22. Your scholarships will expose you to diverse fields, but they all support MDDI’s mission of engaging hearts and minds, and helping fellow citizens thrive in the age of AI.

23. Some of you, our SG Digital scholars, will contribute through industry — in startups, SMEs, MNCs or other tech and media-related roles.

24. How best can you prepare yourselves to make meaningful contributions upon graduation?

25. My suggestion to you is to learn to be comfortable with ambiguity. My most effective colleagues are those who are humble enough to say, “We really do not know,” yet tenacious enough to ask, “How about this instead?”

26. They often inspire me by having the courage and conviction to try, even when the rewards are far from sight. Above all, they remain steadfast in the belief that our work helps Singapore and Singaporeans get better.

27. These are the qualities that we need — people who push boundaries and pursue excellence not just for themselves, but for other Singaporeans; and who see technology not merely as tools and systems, but as a way to improve lives and strengthen trust.

28. There is so much useful work ahead of us. Frankly, we can’t wait for you to start and become a part of our team.

29. I want to thank your parents, family members, teachers and mentors for supporting your choice.

30. I also thank our industry partners, agencies and colleagues across the MDDI Family for helping us develop the next generation of leaders for our information and digital domains.

31. Congratulations once again, and I wish all of you every success in the years ahead. Thank you.