82 Award Recipients, One Defence Group

Minister for Defence Mr Chan Chun Sing introduced The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholarship to 6 recipients, Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and Security to 2 recipients, SAF Merit Scholarship to 16 recipients, SAF Engineering Scholarship to 4 recipients, Defence Merit Scholarship to 13 recipients, SAF Medicine Scholarship to eight recipients and Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) Scholarship to 33 recipients at a scholarship awards ceremony held on the Temasek Club this night.

Speaking on the ceremony, Mr Chan highlighted the importance of the awards. He stated, “We want our best, our brightest, our most committed – to serve in the armed forces, in the defence establishment, because it is one of the most challenging and yet most vital aspect for our survival and success, and that mission continues.”

Mr Chan additionally spoke about Singapore’s perception in rising defence leaders and constructing a robust SAF since independence. He burdened that the dedication to draw and develop folks to serve in defence has not modified amidst altering exterior atmosphere. He stated, “Just this year alone, we will step up our recruitment, and we will bring in about 3,000 uniformed and non-uniformed personnel into MINDEF/SAF. Out of these 3,000, about 1,000 of them will be non-uniformed service personnel… that is the scale of just one cohort of people whom we bring in.”

In closing, Mr Chan expressed his hopes that the recipients will lead with humility and function. He stated, “Your mission is not just trying to lead people who are like you. Our mission is to lead people from across all walks of life with different capabilities and different challenges and to build them into a cohesive and effective fighting force in service for our nation for us to keep defying the odds of history.”

This 12 months’s 82 scholarship recipients have demonstrated tutorial excellence and excellent management qualities. They will likely be pursuing their undergraduate research at respected native and abroad universities. Upon completion of their tertiary training, recipients of the uniformed scholarships – The SAF Scholarship, the SAF Merit Scholarship, and the SAF Engineering Scholarship – will return to the organisation to imagine a wide range of difficult appointments that may groom them for senior command and management positions in MINDEF and the SAF. Recipients of the SAF Medicine Scholarship will return as Medical Officers and be groomed for senior medical positions within the SAF Medical Corps. The Defence Merit Scholarship recipients will return as Defence Executive Officers and be groomed for senior administration positions in MINDEF by taking up diverse job challenges to hone their expertise in crucial defence areas. The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and Security, and DSTA Scholarship recipients will likely be groomed by way of a number of profession pathways for engineering and technological management positions within the defence know-how group.

Also current on the awards ceremony this night have been Senior Minister of State for Defence Mr Zaqy Mohamad and senior officers from MINDEF and the SAF, DSTA, DSO, CSIT, members of the PSC, college representatives, in addition to the invited friends of the scholarship recipients.

More Resources

Speech by Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, on the Defence Scholarship Awards Ceremony on 13 Aug 2025 at Temasek Club

Fact Sheet: The Defence Scholarships and Profiles of Scholarship Recipients