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SPEECH BY MAJOR-GENERAL LIM CHUAN POH CHIEF OF DEFENCE FORCE AT THE 1ST DTSC GRADUATION CEREMONY HELD ON THURSDAY 19 APRIL 2001 AT 1600 HRS AT THE NUS CULTURAL CENTRE
CDS, Service Chiefs, 1. I am very happy and honoured to be here this afternoon to officiate at the 1st DTSC Graduation. Let me first congratulate all the graduands. It has been a very demanding and intensive 6 months, but you all survived. Well done. 2. Let me begin by sharing my personal story. When I was a young officer and I asked to attend the Weapon Staff Course at Shrivenham, I was told that it was not necessary for my development. I did the next best thing. I borrowed notes from someone attended the course. I don't know whether CIO still remembers this. I also bought several volumes of Jane's weapons. 3. They were excellent reference for me especially during my first staff officer appointment. I also tried to read the different military technology magazines that floated from office to office. In those days, we had quite a tight budget on magazines. Somehow, I was also not sent for the three-month Operational Research Course in London and yet I was working with our MINDEF OA people on modelling the Army 2000 Battalion. I remember, Poh Kim Leng, when he was still with us, used to run the simulation overnight on our most powerful computer then "VAX" computer. Unfortunately, we don't always get the results that we want the next morning. In my military CV, should there be a category for military technology education, I will be considered as - "no formal education". 4. But, I have always felt the need for a proper military technology education for our people. As mentioned by Minister of State for Defence, Mr David Lim, at the DTSC Opening Ceremony, technology has enabled us to overcome Singapore's inherent resource constraints. We have a small population and a small Armed Forces. The only way to overcome our limits to growth is to capitalise, and at the same time, to develop our people so that they can derive far more than the book value of the capital investment. 5. In a recent briefing by Mckinsey, it was observed that the top 150 companies in the US have an average market value that is 6 times their book value. In other words, the people in these companies with their accumulated knowledge are worth five times the capital investment. 6. In the context of the SAF, as technology becomes more advanced and sophisticated, we have to see capability not just as weapons or platforms, instead, we should see it as systems. At another level of sophistication, it is not enough to just focus on component capability system, instead, we have to start looking at the overall SAF capabilities as a system of systems. This ability to conceptualise and realise a system of systems approach requires not only a good appreciation of technology, but also that of possessing deep operational understanding. What is clear is that our current and future SAF leaders must be equally conversant with military technology as they are with military concepts and doctrines. This way, the SAF will be far more capable than the value of our capital acquisitions. Borrowing notes is no longer enough. 7. Putting in place a comprehensive technology education system for our people is therefore our goal. DTSC is a very important part of this system. It is intended to provide a general uplifting of military technology knowledge at the Staff Course level. 8. At the urging of CDS, instead of outsourcing the entire program, the SAF took the more difficult route of developing our own curriculum for the DTSC. And we did not have much time to do that. A task force, with participation from all 3 Services and JOD, with Chief Defence Scientist as the principal advisor, was formed to work out the specific course requirements, identify local and foreign institutions for collaboration, formulate the course syllabi and develop the course content. 9. There were a few main considerations in the design of the course. The first was that the course should be accessible to as many people as possible who can successfully benefit from the program. Remember the aim of uplifting the military technology knowledge at the staff course level. 10. The second was the concept behind the course design. To guide the working committee in developing the syllabi and the curriculum, the concept of the course was articulated. It was to give as much understanding on the science and technology behind the weapon, platform or system that the officer have to work with now or in the future in the SAF. The scope and depth of coverage for each of the key areas of military technology was then balanced out based on the constraint of 6 months that MINDEF was prepared to invest in the course. This way, the officer's appreciation of his operating environment will be in context and be enriched. 11. The third main consideration was to outsource the conduct of the whole course to experts in the various areas. Fortunately, through CDS, both NUS and NPS came on board. DSTA and ST also came in to localize the course focus. NUS, NPS, DSTA and ST worked tirelessly round the clock to ensure that the DTSC curriculum met the course objectives as established by the SAF. I mean literally round the clock as NPS is really on a completely opposite sleep cycle from us. The contributions of these partners in the areas of academic content, military applications and industrial experience were instrumental to the success of this course. 12. Given the aim of DTSC, it was inevitable that the students of the DTSC were of varied educational qualifications - degree holders from various disciplines, diploma holders and 'A'-level holders. This diversity in educational background posed a big challenge to the DTSC instructors. As it turned out, all the instructors rose to the occasion and showed adaptability and patience in teaching this diverse group of students. They also managed to strike a balance between the academic content and the many examples of military applications to make the lessons more relevant and interesting. 13. As this is the first course, naturally, there were many lessons learnt on how to improve the course. But overall, the course has achieved its objectives. Indeed, the good news is that, all the 37 SAF officers and 4 engineers from the ST group, all of you, have completed the course successfully. For your outstanding effort, despite your diverse background, the NUS Senate has decided to award the DTSC Graduate Diploma to all 41 of you. On this, the graduands should really thank the Vice-chancellor and his colleagues for persuading the NUS Senate in granting the Graduate Diploma. 14. There is further good news from NUS! Accreditation will be given for the DTSC programme. The NUS' Faculty of Engineering has approved exempting holders of the Graduate Diploma up to two modules in the Master of Science in Engineering Programme. 15. The DTSC programme would not have been successfully implemented without our partners. On behalf of the SAF, I will like to acknowledge their contributions. I like to thank the National University of Singapore, Naval Post Graduate School, Singapore Technologies, Defence Science and Technology Agency, DSO National Laboratories, Institute of High Powered Computing and Tropical Marine Science Institute for committing their long-term participation in rendering teaching services to the course. Each of these institutions had sent highly qualified and experienced professionals to teach in the DTSC. The students had no doubt benefited much from the expertise and experience of your people. I also like to thank the Graduate Studies Office of the Faculty of Engineering, NUS for their role as the main course administrator and also for organising this Ceremony. 16. Finally, let me conclude by once again, offering my heartiest congratulations to all the graduands of the 1st Defence Technology and Systems Course. For many of you, I know this course has been gruelling. I heard it from when I met you last year, and also from your wives at the opening of your staff course. But, I am confident that after your staff course and many years down the road, you will be thankful that you got to attend this course instead of borrowing notes. Thank you. |
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