Speech by Minister Indranee Rajah at NUS High School of Mathematics and Science 20th Speech Day

Ms Magdalen Soh, Principal, NUS High School

Mr Seah Moon Ming, Chairman, Board of Governors, NUS High School

Parents and Students

Good morning. Thank you very much for inviting me to join you here on this 20^th Speech Day.

NUS High School was founded almost 20 years ago in 2005. At that time, it was a bold step into the unknown, a new kind of school focused on developing deep capabilities in math and science. It was an experiment. We did not know exactly how it would turn out, but we had high hopes for it.

Now 20 years on, we are happy and proud to be able to say that it has been a great success. As you could see just now from the slides, NUS High School students are highly sought after, both in Singapore and abroad. This is testament to the hard work and dedication of the school leaders, past and present, teachers and staff and of course all the students, who have personified the outcomes of the NUS High School pedagogy, approach and values.

Congratulations to the 165 who are receiving prizes. As you all continue to learn and grow, I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you some things that might help as you start your next chapter in life.

Making Choices

From this point on, when you leave NUS High School, there will be many times that you have to make personal choices. For example, you will have to decide your next course of education – which university to go to, which course to take. After that you will have to decide your career path, which industry sector to join, which companies to apply to, which job offer to accept. You will have many decision points in your life.

Some choices will be easy to make, and some less so. My advice when it comes to making personal choices is to try and work out what works best for you. Always try to make informed decisions. Get as much information as you can. When unsure, get advice and input from people who you trust or whose opinions you value.

But at the end of the day, remember, it must be your decision. Don’t do something just because someone else says so. This may seem self-evident, but you will be surprised at the number of people who have chosen a career path that they did not really want to because they felt pressured to do so for various reasons.

Decisions have consequences. It is important for you to know that in life not all the decisions you make will be the right ones. There will be times when you get it wrong. In those situations, there is no point beating yourself up about it. Accept it, own it, and then work out the best way to change things or to put them right.

I just want to share a story of a decision point in my life and how initially I made one choice and realised it probably wasn’t the right one, and then had to put it right. This was deciding what course to take in university.

When I finished A levels, I really had no idea what course I wanted to take up. I came from the Arts stream, so the Sciences were out. I looked at the range of options and I couldn’t quite figure out what I wanted to do, because unlike some of my friends, I didn’t have a very clear idea of exactly what life path I wanted to take. In the end, I decided on Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE), and applied to FASS, and that was primarily because it seemed to give me options.

After putting in my application, I went back home and we had family friends over for dinner. One of them was a lawyer, and he asked what I applied for. I told him and he said, “Why don’t you consider law?”. I said I never considered that, and he said “Well, why don’t you try that because with a law degree, you can do all of the things that you could have done with PPE, but it gives you one additional option, which is the choice of a professional career”. And simply because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I thought having one more additional option would make a lot of sense. Besides, he was a family friend and I trusted his advice.

So the next day, I had to go back and retrieve my application form. There was a lot of trouble trying to deal with the registrar’s office, and they said I could not submit it anymore but had to go directly to the Law Faculty and find the sub-dean in charge of admissions. I duly did all of that and submitted my application and went for my interview and ended up in law. And I discovered, much to my amazement, that I actually enjoyed it, and it set me on the path to becoming a lawyer, a senior counsel, and eventually finding my way into Government.

The point that I wanted to make here was that sometimes you don’t always know what is the right choice to make, but please ask and find out. If you’ve made a choice and it’s the right one, that’s great. If you’ve made a choice and it’s the wrong one, try to find a way to get back onto the right track.

The World Beyond School

School is a protected environment – as it should be in your formative years when you are learning and growing. But this will change as you go out into the world. As you progress to further studies and into the workplace, you will encounter all kinds of people. Some will be nice and kind. Others not so. Yet others will be even less so. You will have to learn to deal with people as you find them; not as you wish they were but as they are.

At NUS High School the specialisation is math and science which are founded on logic and structure. But human beings are not just about logic and reason. They are also about emotion and feelings. You will have to learn how to deal with people, many of whom will not react in ways you expect. This will require a certain sense of personal equilibrium, clear sightedness, empathy and on occasion firmness because you will have to learn how to push back.

This is not a subject taught in school. Mostly you will have to acquire these skills through self-learning and experience, some of which may be unexpected and painful. But there are many sources of wisdom from those who have travelled the path of life before you that can shine a light and help you along the way if you look for them. One of my personal favourites is the Desiderata, a poem by Max Ehrmann, an Americanpoet who also happens to be a lawyer.

My first encounter with the Desiderata was when I was a very young girl, because my mother had a habit of printing out or writing out either poems or sayings, or things which she found interesting or useful life lessons. So, she had the Desiderata written out and put up as a poster in my bedroom, and every night before I went to sleep, I would see the Desiderata staring at me, and I suppose subliminally one way or another, you kind of absorb what’s in there. I just want to share with you some of my favourite lines from the Desiderata.

It was written in 1927, but the themes it covers are still very contemporary. One of the lines that has always stayed with me is this: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” This observation stayed with me through the years and helped give me a sense of balance and perspective throughout my school years, through my years as a lawyer and litigator and even now. We can’t always expect to be the best at everything, every time, all the time. But we can all do our very best and at the end of the day, that has to be enough. So, remember, it should be giving you a source of confidence. Confidence, because you will always be better than some others, but it should also be a source of humility, because there will always be others who are better than you. And what you have to do is accept this balance and find your own equilibrium.

Another of my favourite lines is this: “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.” At times of self-doubt and low confidence, these words were extraordinarily comforting. And of course, when we work in very high-pressured and competitive environments, it’s good to have something like that to hold on to. Just remember, be gentle with yourself.

And I loved the concluding lines, which read as follows: “With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” Right now, you are on the brink of a bright future. There are exciting prospects and adventures ahead of you and that is exactly how it should be. But along the way you will encounter challenges and difficulties. And there will be times when you wonder why you are doing what you are doing and what is the point of it all?

When that happens – and it will, because that’s life – it is important to remember that it is still a beautiful world and there is much to be thankful and happy about. The last line sounds very familiar, rather like Pharrell Williams and his song “Happy”. And I think that’s the point. A poem and a song, written almost a century apart by two people of vastly different backgrounds but having the same message, which is that happiness is not a passive state of being. You are not a mere recipient, dependent on the state of affairs around you. Happiness requires us to look for the good, to seek out the things that bring true joy and find contentment in what we have, without giving up on hope for better.

Balance

The third point I wanted to touch on is balance. Another thing you need to help you through life is balance. All around us things are speeding up. We are often called upon to work harder, faster, better. The pace of change is picking up – technology is making work cycles shorter, you will need to acquire new knowledge and new skills at shorter and shorter intervals. Even the universe is expanding faster with cosmic acceleration!

On top of that, along the way you will have to navigate new work situations, make new relationships and at the same time much further down along the road, have new responsibilities such as marriage, raising children and one day looking after your parents.

Human beings are very adaptable. We have evolved to handle change. But too much too fast too long can take a toll and sometimes we hit a limit. When that happens, it will manifest in stress, and mental and physical health issues.

So my other piece of advice to all of you is to always have a sense of balance. By all means strive for excellence, aim for the top and push yourself as far as you can go. But also know your limits. Learn to know when you are pushing past the point that you can manage. Learn to take time outs, and how to get back on track. Know when to ramp up and when to relax and ramp down. You need an inner sensor of your mental and physical well-being. You should also know that the balance levels are different for different individuals. So learn to know your own. Learn to carve out time for yourself and your family and find the balance that works for you.

Living with Meaning and Purpose

Your last eight to 12 years in school have been about acquiring academic knowledge and foundational life skills. You will add to that as you go for higher education and enter the working world. These are important things.

But for life to be truly fulfilling it must also be lived with meaning and purpose. Hence as you go forward, do also look out for the things which you find meaningful and purposeful that you can pursue to make a difference. Every individual is unique, so you don’t always have to follow the crowd. Find the things that you are passionate about and pursue them.

I am happy to learn that many of you have already started doing this. One of your peers, Nallapuraju Ananya, volunteers with GenLab Collective, a non-profit aiming to bridge the generation gap within the community. Through her efforts to design and deliver intergenerational programmes, seniors and youth have more opportunities to care for and understand one another in ways that they might not have had before.

Trinh Hieu Thy (Sophia) volunteers with the Reading Odyssey volunteer initiative which pairs students herself with children from the local community to improve their literacy, comprehension, and communication skills in a one-on-one setting.

Myat Know Htut who is receiving the “Outstanding Contribution Awards for Leadership and Service” today, exemplifies this as well. She has contributed her time and efforts in projects like the Pasir Ris mangrove cleanup, and fundraising for Project I’mPAC (an overseas community project for rural children in Cambodia). She has also led Fleming House and the Track and Field team as Captain and Vice-Captain respectively.

There are many areas in which you can contribute. As you may know, DPM Lawrence Wong and the 4G Ministers launched the Forward Singapore Report in Oct 2023. The Report sets out our refreshed social compact and the roles and responsibilities that we have towards each other and society. The Forward Singapore Report identifies many areas in which you can make a difference, now and in the years to come.

Do take time to find out how you can be part of the Forward SG endeavour. For example, you can volunteer your time, through established organisations, or by taking the initiative to get something going. You can also participate in programmes that bring together diverse communities, like the National Youth Council’s Leadership Programme or Our Singapore Leadership Programme.

And as you journey on be it in National Service or university, find opportunities not only to step up and lead, but also to step back and listen.

The World Beyond

We must also remember that the world extends beyond Singapore’s borders. What happens outside of Singapore has an impact on us. We must work together with others to navigate the challenges we face. Issues like climate change and social polarisation from conflicts taking place thousands of kilometres away all have global spillovers.

Closer to home, you need to become more familiar with our region. Southeast Asia is projected to grow more quickly than the global economy over the next five years. ASEAN as a grouping is also strengthening external relations with our partners. Our future is intertwined with Southeast Asia. If you want to do well going forward, you must know our neighbourhood.

This could mean learning an ASEAN language. Or going on exchange in a Southeast Asian country when you have the opportunity. And at some point in the future considering internships or job opportunities in ASEAN countries. This will enable you to build understanding and networks. So just remember, going regional is a stepping stone to going global.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me just say that I hope that I have given you some food for thought and that what I have shared today will come in useful.

I have no doubt you all will do well and I wish you all the very best for the future!