National Day Speech by RSN Chief of Navy at ACS (Barker) on 08 August 2006
The following is the transcript of the speech given by RAdm Ronnie Tay at ACS Barker Road for their National Day celebrations where NCC(Sea) was the Guard of Honour.
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Members of ACS Board of Governors, Mr Ng Eng Chin, Principal of ACS(Barker Road), staff, students and distinguished guests:
Good morning. It is a real honour for me to join you here this morning for your National Day Celebrations, and I would like to express my appreciation to your Principal Mr Ng for inviting me. It is also a pleasure for me to come back here to this part of Barker Road, where I had spent some of my most memorable years as a pupil of Anglo-Chinese Secondary School.
Of course, all this was before the re-construction of this beautiful ACS complex four years ago. This set of facilities is indeed most pleasant and conducive for learning and growing as a school student. However, getting a good education is not just about studying in a set of nice and modern buildings. More importantly, it depends on the leadership and teachers that the school has, the curriculum that it offers, the boys that form the student body and the spirit and values which the school fosters in everyone that passes through its gates.
In that respect, all of you here can count yourselves privileged. Having studied here myself, I know the well-rounded education which ACS provides, which focuses not just on the exam curriculum, but also on developing the character and spiritual growth of its boys. I appreciate the opportunity of spending all my 12 years in ACS, and similarly I hope you also value the opportunity of being in this fine institution. Talking about opportunities, someone has said that “God's best gifts are not things but opportunities”. Indeed, God has a reason for putting each of us where we are at each point of our lives, and that includes the school that we find ourselves in. Therefore, I urge you to make the most of your time as a student in this school and take every opportunity to learn and grow. I know that life as a student has its demands, with your classes, homework, exams, CCA and many other responsibilities, and so it is important that we hold fast to our beliefs and values as we navigate the often rough and choppy waters of our secondary school years.
What would some of these values be? Let me share something with you from the Navy. Today, the Republic of Singapore Navy has about 35 ships. The name of each ship is carefully chosen, and given to her at the launching ceremony of the ship. This is the occasion when a new ship is put into the water for the first time after being built. During the ceremony, the lady launching the ship – and it's always a lady by naval tradition – the lady will pronounce “I name this ship such and such, and may God bless her and all who sail on her”. Our naval ships have names that reflect their strong capabilities or the values we expect of the crews that sail on them. If I may, I would just like to suggest the names of three of our ships for for us to think about.
The first is RSS Resolution, one of our four Landing Ship Tanks or LSTs. The LSTs are multi-purpose support ships that the RSN uses to transport equipment or personnel, and we have in fact deployed these to the Arabian Gulf for coalition operations over the past three years. Some of you may have visited her before during our Navy Open House or even sailed on her. The word “resolution” means “determined and bold in purpose”. In naming her as such, we endeavour that RSS Resolution will always be show determination and courage in carrying out her missions in peace or war. Your purpose at this stage of your life as students is to study and develop yourself, so that you may be able to contribute to your family and our nation as adults in later years. That means that you have to set targets for what you want to achieve in school, work hard and strive towards those goals. At the same time, there would be many distractions that will come your way. There will always be something that's more fun and relaxing to do than listening to what's going on in this class or doing that piece of homework. Being determined and bold in purpose means steering towards the goal that you have set for yourself.
The second name I would like to highlight is RSS Steadfast. She is one of the 6 new stealth frigates we are building at the moment. When operational in the next couple of years, these frigates will be the most powerful squadron of ships in the Fleet. To be steadfast means to be firm and unwavering, when faced with any difficulties, and for a warship, that means being strong and not be shaken by the enemy or any adversity. We all know that life has its ups and downs, and each of us has experienced setbacks or failures in our lives. For example, we may not have done as well in some previous exam, or we may not have won a particular race. We must not be discouraged by these setbacks or failures. Instead, we need to put these behind us, be firm and unwavering in our present journey and move confidently towards the future.
The final name I would like to share with you is RSS Victory. This is the proud name of the class of missile corvettes that we have been operating for more than a decade. They are a very capable set of ships, which have performed many missions successfully. Victory is what we want for our ships in battle. Victory is what everyone seeks in what he or she does. However, while you may say that there can only be one victor in any tournament, I see victory in our personal lives as succeeding in what we set out to achieve, and that does not always mean being first. Indeed, as long as we feel that we have put in our best effort, given our best shot, we can say that we have won. And it may not just be about scoring well in exams. It could also be about overcoming some personal weakness like being easily distracted or unkind, or developing a positive character trait such as being a co-operative member of the team.
Resolution, Steadfast, Victory. To me, these are fine names for our warships, as well as important values for us to hold on to as we meet the many challenges that come our way in our lives. Certainly, these are also values which have contributed to our progress as the nation of Singapore, and we are proud to celebrate our 41st National Day this morning.
Finally, thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you. I congratulate you on your many achievements in the past year, both individually and as a school. I wish God's richest blessings on each and everyone of you in all that you do, even as you seek to please and serve Him in your lives. Thank you.
**********************************
**************************************
Members of ACS Board of Governors, Mr Ng Eng Chin, Principal of ACS(Barker Road), staff, students and distinguished guests:
Good morning. It is a real honour for me to join you here this morning for your National Day Celebrations, and I would like to express my appreciation to your Principal Mr Ng for inviting me. It is also a pleasure for me to come back here to this part of Barker Road, where I had spent some of my most memorable years as a pupil of Anglo-Chinese Secondary School.
Of course, all this was before the re-construction of this beautiful ACS complex four years ago. This set of facilities is indeed most pleasant and conducive for learning and growing as a school student. However, getting a good education is not just about studying in a set of nice and modern buildings. More importantly, it depends on the leadership and teachers that the school has, the curriculum that it offers, the boys that form the student body and the spirit and values which the school fosters in everyone that passes through its gates.
In that respect, all of you here can count yourselves privileged. Having studied here myself, I know the well-rounded education which ACS provides, which focuses not just on the exam curriculum, but also on developing the character and spiritual growth of its boys. I appreciate the opportunity of spending all my 12 years in ACS, and similarly I hope you also value the opportunity of being in this fine institution. Talking about opportunities, someone has said that “God's best gifts are not things but opportunities”. Indeed, God has a reason for putting each of us where we are at each point of our lives, and that includes the school that we find ourselves in. Therefore, I urge you to make the most of your time as a student in this school and take every opportunity to learn and grow. I know that life as a student has its demands, with your classes, homework, exams, CCA and many other responsibilities, and so it is important that we hold fast to our beliefs and values as we navigate the often rough and choppy waters of our secondary school years.
What would some of these values be? Let me share something with you from the Navy. Today, the Republic of Singapore Navy has about 35 ships. The name of each ship is carefully chosen, and given to her at the launching ceremony of the ship. This is the occasion when a new ship is put into the water for the first time after being built. During the ceremony, the lady launching the ship – and it's always a lady by naval tradition – the lady will pronounce “I name this ship such and such, and may God bless her and all who sail on her”. Our naval ships have names that reflect their strong capabilities or the values we expect of the crews that sail on them. If I may, I would just like to suggest the names of three of our ships for for us to think about.
The first is RSS Resolution, one of our four Landing Ship Tanks or LSTs. The LSTs are multi-purpose support ships that the RSN uses to transport equipment or personnel, and we have in fact deployed these to the Arabian Gulf for coalition operations over the past three years. Some of you may have visited her before during our Navy Open House or even sailed on her. The word “resolution” means “determined and bold in purpose”. In naming her as such, we endeavour that RSS Resolution will always be show determination and courage in carrying out her missions in peace or war. Your purpose at this stage of your life as students is to study and develop yourself, so that you may be able to contribute to your family and our nation as adults in later years. That means that you have to set targets for what you want to achieve in school, work hard and strive towards those goals. At the same time, there would be many distractions that will come your way. There will always be something that's more fun and relaxing to do than listening to what's going on in this class or doing that piece of homework. Being determined and bold in purpose means steering towards the goal that you have set for yourself.
The second name I would like to highlight is RSS Steadfast. She is one of the 6 new stealth frigates we are building at the moment. When operational in the next couple of years, these frigates will be the most powerful squadron of ships in the Fleet. To be steadfast means to be firm and unwavering, when faced with any difficulties, and for a warship, that means being strong and not be shaken by the enemy or any adversity. We all know that life has its ups and downs, and each of us has experienced setbacks or failures in our lives. For example, we may not have done as well in some previous exam, or we may not have won a particular race. We must not be discouraged by these setbacks or failures. Instead, we need to put these behind us, be firm and unwavering in our present journey and move confidently towards the future.
The final name I would like to share with you is RSS Victory. This is the proud name of the class of missile corvettes that we have been operating for more than a decade. They are a very capable set of ships, which have performed many missions successfully. Victory is what we want for our ships in battle. Victory is what everyone seeks in what he or she does. However, while you may say that there can only be one victor in any tournament, I see victory in our personal lives as succeeding in what we set out to achieve, and that does not always mean being first. Indeed, as long as we feel that we have put in our best effort, given our best shot, we can say that we have won. And it may not just be about scoring well in exams. It could also be about overcoming some personal weakness like being easily distracted or unkind, or developing a positive character trait such as being a co-operative member of the team.
Resolution, Steadfast, Victory. To me, these are fine names for our warships, as well as important values for us to hold on to as we meet the many challenges that come our way in our lives. Certainly, these are also values which have contributed to our progress as the nation of Singapore, and we are proud to celebrate our 41st National Day this morning.
Finally, thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you. I congratulate you on your many achievements in the past year, both individually and as a school. I wish God's richest blessings on each and everyone of you in all that you do, even as you seek to please and serve Him in your lives. Thank you.
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posted by Global Citizen at 2:14 AM
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