Mr Lee Yi Shyan at 14th Firefly Scholarship Ceremony, 14 Aug 09

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND MANPOWER AT THE 14TH FIREFLY SCHOLARSHIP CEREMONY ON 14 AUGUST 2009 AT 3PM, STB AUDITORIUM

Parents and scholars,

Ladies and Gentleman

Colleagues and friends,

Introduction

First let me extend my heartiest congratulations to all the 15 firefly scholars and their parents. Thanks for sharing this proud moment with us.

Life is made up of a series of moments. Soon our scholars will embark on new and exciting journeys into the world, to paint new moments in life. Many will be colorful and some unforgettable. Yet there would be some that would change the world, leaving behind legacies.

Today, we are here to attend the Firefly scholarship ceremony, a scholarship that will open your mind to a whole new world during your studies. Upon your return, it will also empower you to shape the next lap of Singapore’s journey in a brand new world.Just what will the brand new world look like?

Some days ago, I read an interesting story about a lady, Carrie Grimes, 32 in the New York Times. She majored in anthropology and archaeology. (The closest I can find in this room is - Firefly scholar Wan Qian Ling who is studying Sociology and Social Anthropology in the United Kingdom.) She ventured to places like Honduras to study the Mayan settlement patterns by mapping where the artifacts were found.Carrie was quoted saying that “People think of field archaeology as Indiana Jones, but much of what you really do is data analysis”.

Now Carries Grimes does a different kind of digging after she completed her doctorate in statistics from Stanford in 2003. She joined Google last year. Her current role is to use statistical analysis to find meanings in the mounds of data and come up with ways to improve the search engine. She is one of the 250 internet-age statisticians in the company who are finding themselves in increasing demand. The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn up to US$125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a phenomenon from the explosion of digital age.

Traditionally, social sciences tracked people’s behaviors by interviewing or surveying them. A computer scientist and social networking researcher at Cornell was cited as saying that “the web provides this amazing resource for observing how millions of people interact”.This brings me to three observations about our world.

Firstly, we are entering a digital world where everything can be monitored and measured. Those who figure out ways to make sense of the zillion bits of data may be able to glimpse into the future. Secondly, the problems we face are increasingly complex. Problem-solving will involve multi-disciplinary perspectives and skills. In the case of Carrie Grimes, her expertise lies across anthropology, archaeology and statistics. Lastly, information is created in exponential terms. I read that today’s two weeks’ worth of information in the New York Times was all that a person would learn in his whole lifetime in the 18th century.

With this brand new world in mind, it is therefore worthwhile to pause for a moment to think about how you would want to spend the next 3 to 4 years of your varsity lives. What are the subjects you would choose? Do you study what the market demands or do you follow what your hearts want? What do you want to accomplish? How do you envision your graduation day to be? Clearly, these are decisions you would have to make. Your parents could advise you, your seniors might give you tips but you will have to search for your own True North, and decide on the path worth pursuing.

Speaking about worthwhile pursuits, it reminds me of one famous movie, the Dead Poet’s Society which is made in 1989, before many of you were born. Robin Williams who played John Keating pointed to the pictures of the seniors hung on the wall and said in his first introductory lesson on poetry, “They are not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable?” “Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem[1], seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary”.

On the value of being open-minded in learning, Mr John Keating continued saying: “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for”.

To you, our 15 Firefly scholars, I want to wish you the very best in your learning journey. But above all I would like to encourage you to be open-minded in your learning. I hope you will develop a keen interest in the history, the society and the people around you so that you continue to develop yourselves in a well-rounded way.

Above all, I wish that you will bear in mind the responsibility you carry, and mission you are to fulfill for the people who send you in the first place. We have a bright and exciting future ahead. Now, this future is for us to paint and from now on you are given the brush. Carpe Diem.

  [1]Is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace, popularly translated as Size the day.