A very good afternoon. Let me begin first and foremost by congratulating all 402 of our scholarship and sponsorship recipients. Being awarded a scholarship or a sponsorship is an achievement. You have done yourselves and your families proud. You are taking the first step in what promises to be an exciting and meaningful career, especially in a time of industry transformation and change.

 

The distinctive skyline that we see around us in Singapore is the collective effort of generations of different professionals in the built environment (BE) sector. We will continue to build upon these strong foundations and you will be a crucial part of this journey. You are also entering a sector that is at the crossroads, where the way we build is fundamentally being transformed by new technologies.

 

One new cutting edge methodology is Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), and that essentially borrows the best practices from the manufacturing industry – automation, quality control and technology – and bring in to the construction sector. DfMA allows us to construct entire buildings, for example, by stacking pre-fabricated components together like Lego blocks. In fact, just a few days ago, together with some of our BCA Young Leaders, scholars, and some representatives from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), we visited one of the PPVC construction sites which is already up and ahead of schedule. We were able to see a whole living room that was built in a factory, shipped in and placed on top of a building. These components can be made in bulk in a factory-like environment, which is highly automated. This ensures quicker production, better quality, and considerably less noise and dust at worksites. It also means that we can build our infrastructure faster and with less foreign manpower at each site.

 

High tech digital tools like Building Information Modelling (BIM) will be the transformative technology that enables DfMA. BIM facilitates collaboration from all stakeholders right from the design stage and it allows us to design the building in detail and resolve conflicts and issues upfront. It also allows us to visualise the building in 3D even before construction starts. This means we can identify and fix problems before actual construction. Think of the amount of abortive work that can be avoided with the consequent impact on productivity. But BIM models are not only valuable for the construction process to be more equipped, more efficient and more effective; it can also be used for facilities management. The construction of a building can take a few years, but the lifespan of the building is many decades.  As the building design is captured in digital format, we can now tag and store information of individual building components. This will help us track things like replacement and maintenance schedules. 

 

This industry transformation is not trivial; it is a major end-to-end transformation. This needs to be supported by a strong pipeline of talented professionals with relevant skills and a mindset to always innovate and learn continuously. We have partnered industry stakeholders to offer scholarships and sponsorships to develop this pipeline. You are a big part of this transformation and we are happy to see so many talented young people here. In fact, let me highlight some who are in the audience.

 

Alvin Fong Yew Chung is an assistant BIM manager at Kimly Construction Pte Ltd. Alvin has been awarded the BCA-Kimly Built Environment Diploma Sponsorship.  This will allow him to upgrade himself in BIM and Virtual Design and Construction to better handle these types of projects.  He shared about his experiences at work, and how this sponsorship will allow him to pick up skills to do even better on the job and help his firm, consultants and players downstream to strengthen the whole ecosystem.

 

Mohammad Fadell is a BIM coordinator at LC&T Builder Pte Ltd.  He is the recipient of a BCA-LC&T Built Environment Diploma Sponsorship. He is fascinated by the potential of BIM to improve productivity and integration. The sponsorship will give him the opportunity to upgrade his skills in BIM.

 

Ronald He Rongqin was a BCA-Arup Built Environment Undergraduate Scholar who joined Arup Singapore Private Limited in 2014 as an engineer. Ronald has had the opportunity to work on complex underground projects which require the use of BIM. He will share more about his experience in his speech later. He is a recipient of the BCA-Arup Built Environment Postgraduate Sponsorship, with Arup co-funding it to deepen his civil engineering knowledge.

 

Beyond scholarships and sponsorships, we will extend support to new entrants into the built environment sector in other ways. 

 

First, the Built Environment SkillsFuture Tripartite (BEST) Taskforce, led by BCA, Institutes of Higher Learning and industry stakeholders, will be developing a comprehensive training pathway to help our students level up in transformation areas such as DfMA, Integrated digital delivery (IDD) and green building technology. 

 

For students, the curriculum will be updated to equip you with relevant knowledge in built environment transformation areas. Certainly, we want you to learn all the core skills such as BIM in order to enter an industry that is transforming rapidly. There will also be more inter-disciplinary projects to help you build up experience in such collaborative work, ideally even before you start work. So when you join the others at your workplace, you already have the mindset that your job involves collaboration both at the strategic design level and also on the ground in implementing the projects. You can also look forward to more structured internships that will train you in professional skills and provide first-hand experience in understanding the construction value chain before you join the workforce. For graduates who have joined the workforce, the current Continuing Education & Training (CET) framework will be even more enhanced with more specialised training in transformation areas.

 

Second, we will continue to keep in close touch with all of you through a network of BE young leaders established by BCA. There will be networking activities, as well as learning journeys and site visits to increase your awareness and understanding about the latest developments in the sector. Not only do you have insight into your workplace and the kind of work your firm engages in in the whole ecosystem and value chain, we also hope that as our scholarship and sponsorship recipients, you will get to see the industry end-to-end from a high vantage point. You will also have the chance to meet many seasoned professionals who can share with you their vast experiences and knowledge.  We hope that this informal sharing and mentorship will help you in your careers, help you do well, and help us build a strong core of BE specialists in Singapore. The network will form the pipeline of potential Young Leaders (YLs) to lead and anchor the BE sector.

 

Recently, some of our industry scholars, together with more established young leaders already in the industry, collaborated with Delta Senior School students to construct a green gallery by interlocking triangular cardboards together, and their efforts led to a new record set in the Singapore Book of Records for the “Largest Single Cardboard Structure”. The industry scholars and Young Leaders came up with the design and lent their technical expertise, and also provided manpower support on the actual day of construction. This certainly sounds like an interesting and meaningful way to put your knowledge into practice for a good cause.

 

Let me end by congratulating all the award recipients once again. I hope to meet you and your parents after the event, and share with you how the BE sector has exciting and fulfilling careers for young Singaporeans. I wish all of you success and meaning in your life journey ahead. Thank you.