Singapore Government Press Release

Mr Low Wong Fook

Principal

Singapore Polytechnic

Mrs Doreen Tan

Vice Chairman

Very Special Arts Singapore

Mr Ong Cheng Sng

Assistant General Manager, Services

Maybank Singapore

Special Guest Artists, Campers

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon

I am very happy to join you here at the Launch of Bridging Dreams Youth Camp, jointly organised by a Voluntary Organisation (namely Very Special Arts Singapore), an Institute of Higher Learning (namely Singapore Polytechnic), and a Commercial Company (namely Maybank Singapore). Each of the organisation is different, but they work together because all of them share a will and desire in community service. I wish you have a good and satisfying time working with each other, knowing your effort and co-operation have produced synergy that benefited our youths. All of us hope it is so good that you want to make this a more permanent feature. I also hope there will be more of such co-operation for civic conscious organisations in the various sectors for worthy projects helping the less fortunate in our community. This will strengthen our civil society.

I find your theme "Bridging Dreams" most meaningful. All young people have dreams. Yet there is always a gulf between dreams and realities. To realise our dreams, we will have to find a way to cross that gulf. With opportunities and luck, some can fly over the gulf and realise the dreams. There are stories of pop-singers, film stars, and sports personalities who started as very obscure young persons in poor inner city neighbourhoods, dreaming of becoming famous one day. They believe in their luck, seize the opportunities, move decisively, work diligently, and they take off.

Most of us are not as lucky. But in Singapore, there are opportunities. We can still build bridges to cross the gulf to pursue our dreams. As we build bridges, we understand better what we are really dreaming of. We may become more realistic. We may have new dreams. We may meet good and helpful people that give us encouragement, opportunities, and hence help us in building our bridges. We may run out of luck, and some parts of our bridges may collapse in bad weather. On the other hand, we may be in luck, and fly part of our journey. So long as we believe in our dreams and work at them with commitment and conviction, we will get there one day.

When I was young, my parents brought me to visit my aunt in the then Nanyang University. Her husband was then a lecturer there. As a small boy who stayed in a small HDB flat in Queenstown, the serene and dignified surrounding of Nanyang University campus was really inspiring. So I dreamed of becoming a university professor. The gulf from reality was of course very wide. I needed to build at least three flights of bridges: First, I had to do well in my studies. Second, I had to brush up my English as I was Chinese educated. Third, I had to find a way to go overseas for studies since those days there were few post-graduate courses available locally. None of these were easy, but through hard work and good fortune I managed to achieve the first two flights. I was very lucky that the government gave me a scholarship. So I flew over the third flight, and found myself studying mathematics in Oxford.

Then a minor storm came. After knowing the academic world better, I found being a professor was not really what I wanted. Also the very challenging academic atmosphere in the Mathematics Institute of Oxford University convinced me that I was not as good a mathematician I thought I was. I could pass and do quite well, but then I would never be in the top league – important if I was aiming for professorship. After months of, at times painful, soul-searching, I found my real dream was to be a good public servant. There was a strong feeling deep inside me that since I became what I was because of the gift of scholarship by the people and government, I must reciprocate by serving them well. I have been a public servant since, though I have not realised my dream since I am still trying to be a good public servant.

So the effort to bridge my dream continues, and I feel it will never end. We must continue to have dreams, and continue to see bridging our dreams, our challenges and meanings in life. The day we feel we have realised our dreams is the day life becomes meaningless.

Disabled youths have dreams too. Fellow campers will find this out through interactions during the Camp. However, the gulf between them and their dream is wider, the water deeper, the wave more severe, and the weather choppier. Earlier this year, the Disabled Services Department of National Council of Social Service conducted a telephone survey amongst some voluntary organisations working with youths with disabilities. They found the public’s feeling towards these youths was a mix of ignorance, fear and sympathy. They also found that youths with disabilities faced the same hormonal changes and pains of growing up as any other able-bodied youths. They wanted and needed acceptance by their peers and the society. They were also concerned about their appearance and attractiveness, and were worried about their employment prospects, mobility needs and social relationships.

The special emotional and physical needs on top of the usual turbulent adolescence made the gulf for youths with disabilities more challenging to bridge. However, like all others, with luck, with opportunities, and with commitment and conviction, they will get there one day too. The society can significantly improve their self-esteem by accepting them. We can all communicate our acceptance to them by showing that we care, by having more social interaction and emotional support, by helping them to broaden their social circle. Assurance of societal acceptance would push them towards greater self-esteem and self-confidence, giving them a more levelled playing field towards bridging their dreams. This is most meaningful, as there is nothing more satisfying than the feeling that you have helped to give another person a chance in life.

I hope this Youth Camp helps to promote mutual understanding, and helps all to bridge your dreams. Learning will be both ways, as able-bodied persons can learn much from the disabled persons’ experience and outlook in life. Through such two-way learning comes friendship. Friendships between young people are most genuine. I also hope all our participants discover new friendship through this new experience. Friendship is a great way to level social inequality and injustice. Friendship allows us to see ourselves, using each other as mirrors. We will all learn more about ourselves and about each other through the activities in the Youth Camp.

So have an enjoyable, rewarding, and enriching time at the Camp.

Thank you.

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