Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at NParks-Peter Lim Scholarship Study Awards Ceremony

Feb 5, 2024

Good afternoon. I am very pleased to join everyone today for the NParks-Peter Lim Scholarship’s Study Awards Ceremony, a joyous occasion where the support of donors and generosity of friends uplift lives and open more options for these young minds to support our vision of City in Nature.

Singapore is one of the greenest cities in the world. The lush urban greenery that we enjoy today is the result of sustained and dedicated efforts to green Singapore over the last 60 years.

As we continue to transform Singapore into a City in Nature, we are conserving and extending our natural capital island-wide. We are also restoring nature into our urban environment. This would not be possible without the involvement of the community, who play important roles as stewards of nature and the environment.

To this end, NParks had announced plans in 2019 to encourage environmental stewardship among our local youths, as part of our broader plans to rally the community to play an active part in our City in Nature efforts and to strengthen ecological and climate resilience. As part of these plans, NParks provided youths with resources to develop capabilities in sectors such as landscaping, vet science, greenery, and biodiversity.

NParks-Peter Lim Scholarship

Recognising the importance of this, Mr Peter Lim generously pledged ten million dollars to the Garden City Fund to set up a scholarship. This would enable more youths to pursue meaningful careers in fields such as landscaping, horticulture, ecology, vet science, and animal science, where they can contribute positively to our environment. 

Since the NParks-Peter Lim Scholarship started in 2020, almost two million dollars-worth of awards have been given out to over 750 students in Singapore.

I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Lim, for his strong support and contributions to the development of our youths, and to our City in Nature vision.

Scholarship Awards

I am happy that over 220 students from our Institutes of Higher Learning - local universities, polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) – will be receiving their scholarship awards today. My heartiest congratulations to all of you and your parents. Well done!

Every award recipient has a unique and inspiring story that is the result of your own hard work and efforts. I would like to take this opportunity to share the achievements of two of our award recipients, Damien Loo Yi Heng and Nur Mohammad Bin Abdullah.

Damien was the top Normal Technical student in his secondary school, and later went on to pursue a two-year National ITE Certificates (“NITEC”) programme at ITE, graduating with a perfect GPA. With a passion for agriculture that was instilled in him by his grandmother, he then successfully applied to Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology. Currently, Damien is a second-year student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and he is excelling in his academic pursuits, and has been placed on the Director’s List.

Mohammad is another student with an inspiring story. Despite facing financial constraints growing up, he remains very positive, and is now pursuing a NITEC programme at ITE, in Urban Greenery and Landscape. With the study award, Mohammad has been able to set aside money for school and to help support his aging grandparents. I am pleased to hear that he is looking forward to his upcoming internship with NParks, and wish him all the best!

Conclusion

I am sure that each of you here today have your own story, your own journey, and many things to share with us, as we go forward in this journey. Congratulations to Damien, Mohammad and all our exceptional award recipients gathered here today! I am confident that your dedication and achievements will serve as a powerful inspiration to your peers. Keep up the outstanding work, and wishing you success in your pursuit to reach greater heights of excellence. I look forward to meeting many of you later today, and hearing more about your stories.

With that, congratulations again. Wishing you every success in your journey ahead. Thank you.