Mr Lucien Wong, Chairman, MPA (if present)
Mr Michael Chia, Chairman, Singapore Maritime Foundation
Mr Patrick Phoon, President, Singapore Shipping Association
Distinguished guests,
Award recipients and parents,
Good evening and a very warm welcome.

I am pleased to join you today to witness 51[1]young promising individuals receiving their MaritimeONE Scholarships and Tripartite Maritime Scholarship Scheme (or TMSS) awards. I would like to thank the industry sponsors for their support in making the foray into the maritime industry possible for these young talents.

Significance of Maritime Singapore

To the 51 recipients, I congratulate and welcome you to the maritime family. Maritime Singapore is supported by four key sectors namely shipping, port, maritime services and, marine and offshore engineering. Maritime Singapore also comprises more than 5,000 maritime establishments with a 170,000-strong workforce and contributes about seven percent to Singapore's GDP, or about $20 billion in 2013.

Maritime Singapore is also a global leader in several areas. The Port of Singapore is one of the leading container transhipment hub ports and continues to be the top bunkering port in the world. The Singapore Registry of Ships is amongst the top five registries in the world and Singapore is the largest maker of jack-up rigs.

Building a Future-ready Maritime Singapore

Although these indicators are testament to the success that Maritime Singapore has achieved, we cannot rest on our laurels and be complacent. We need to build a future-ready Maritime Singapore as global competition intensifies.

An example is our investment in future port capacity and capabilities, such as the consolidation of our container port at Tuas. When completed, Tuas Terminal will be a state-of-the-art automated terminal with a capacity of about 65 million TEUs, about twice the current container throughput handled by the port of Singapore. We are also attracting more maritime companies to diversify and grow the range of maritime services in Singapore. This will enhance Singapore's proposition as a comprehensive one-stop shop for all maritime companies.

A key component to a future-ready Maritime Singapore is to ensure a growing pipeline of local manpower to join the industry and to strengthen our maritime manpower capabilities. To this end, the Maritime Outreach Network (MaritimeONE) has increased efforts to generate greater awareness amongst Singaporeans of the wealth of maritime career opportunities.

One such effort under MaritimeONE was the recent inaugural Singapore Maritime Dialogue. The event saw Mrs Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, and industry leaders engaging some 200 Polytechnic and Junior College students to share on the prospects of a maritime career. And indeed, maritime careers today are different from the past. For seafarers, vessels are now built to higher standards and working conditions on board vessels are much improved. For shore-based jobs too, there are now more opportunities for overseas attachments, upgrading and development, as well as cross-deployment across the different sectors.

As the agency helping to drive Maritime Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is committed to growing the maritime industry and strengthening our maritime manpower development efforts. Recent initiatives, such as establishing Maritime Youth Clubs in our schools and the MPA Global Internship Award, aim to heighten awareness of the diverse career opportunities and attract more local talent to the maritime industry. I would like to urge those present today to encourage your friends and family to attend MPA's inaugural Maritime Career Fair on 26 and 27 September at Suntec City.

For the award recipients tonight, you may be pleased to learn that MPA's support would continue even after you join the industry. All maritime employees can tap on MPA's Maritime Cluster Fund (MCF) - Manpower Development programme for training grants to upgrade skills and knowledge.

Diverse Maritime Career Opportunities

As we continue to provide a pro-business environment for incumbent and prospective companies, we hope that more maritime firms would set up and grow their businesses in Singapore. This will create more employment opportunities for shore-based and seafaring jobs. The MaritimeONE and TMSS award recipients, past and present, clearly reflect the diverse career opportunities in the maritime industry. Allow me to cite some examples of individuals who have decided to pursue a maritime career despite their different academic interests and aspirations.

A Seafaring Career

Seated amongst the TMSS recipients today is Mr Edsel Koh. He is currently studying the Diploma in Nautical Studies at the Singapore Maritime Academy and would be sailing with APL Co Pte Ltd upon his graduation. When asked what his future career aspiration is, his reply was, "I aspire to sail as a Ship Captain before coming onshore to nurture the next batch of young officers".

I am also aware that one of your seniors, Mr Terence Ng, who was awarded the TMSS award in 2003, has recently attained his Certificate of Competency Class 1, the highest professional qualification a seafarer could achieve. He is currently serving as a second Engineer with Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd, and with continued good performance, Terence stands a good chance to move up as Chief Engineer. Terence cannot be with us tonight as he is sailing. I hope his achievements will inspire the TMSS scholars to work hard to reach your goals and find success.

Shore-based careers with diverse opportunities

Another MaritimeONE scholarship recipient tonight, Mr Tamilarasan Teyagarajan (pronounced as "Tah-mil-la-rah-sern Thia-ger-rah-jern"), was inspired to enter the maritime industry by his father who sailed and became a surveyor before his retirement. Listening to his father's interesting stories, he decided to take up the Haider Nawaz - MaritimeONE Scholarship this year to pursue the Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with specialisation in Offshore Oil and Gas Technology at National University of Singapore.

The last example that I would like to cite is Ms Guan Yifei who was offered the MaritimeONE Scholarship in 2009 to pursue the Bachelor of Science in Maritime Studies at Nanyang Technological University. She feels that being in the maritime industry allows her the chance to develop a management-focus career in an industry with strong growth prospects. Today, Yifei is working in the Marine Personnel Department of Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd (PIL) and, coincidentally, is happily married to a fellow MaritimeONE scholarship recipient whom she met after she was awarded the scholarship. Thanks, Yifei, for joining us in the ceremony this evening.

I am heartened by these young people and am confident that they will contribute well to the industry. I hope that they have, likewise, motivated or inspired you in some ways to achieve your maritime career aspirations, be it in seafaring or the shore-based sector.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank our valued maritime partners - sponsoring maritime companies, institutes of higher learning and the unions. Together, we have pledged over S$1.4 million tonight for the 51 awards given out. With your continued support towards developing the future of Singapore maritime manpower, we hope to attract the best talent to build a future-ready Maritime Singapore.

To all the scholarship recipients, there could not be a better time to join our maritime family as Maritime Singapore positions itself for the future. On behalf of our MaritimeONE partners - Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF), Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) and Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI) - I would like to once again congratulate all of you and wish you great success in your undertakings as you embark on your maritime journey.

Thank you.

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[1]Total of 11 TMSS award recipients and 40 MaritimeONE award recipients.