Introduction

First of all, very good afternoon and thank you so much to all our ACCORD Council members. To the term that has ended, as well as those who are joining us for the new term of service, thank you very much for making time for this get-together at this appreciation, as well as appointment ceremony.

We have not been able to do this the last round. We did the last one about four years ago. Obviously the reason why we could not do it the last round was because of our common friend, COVID-19. But nonetheless, we are happy that after this two years of fighting, we are now in a position where we have not really entirely gone out of it, but in a much better position to deal with it and thus allowing us to gather in such a setting with necessary precautions.

First of all, the purpose of ACCORD, as a platform is to bring together folks from different sectors and different parts of our society and our industries to come together for the common purpose of defending this land; to provide support for National Service (NS) specifically and to jointly commit to the defence of Singapore.

I think, the fact that you will have served, are serving, or will serve on ACCORD means to say that I am actually preaching to the choir. Nonetheless, the choir understands that why Singapore is defendable is not a given, has not always been the case. Therefore, it takes continuous effort on all our part and all parts of society in order to continue to be in a position to safeguard our sovereignty and to provide that security for our country's progress.

Appreciation of ACCORD members for their contributions

Now, I move on to a few words of appreciation to members of our three councils who have served with great dedication and distinction, notwithstanding this last two years of COVID. There was no slowdown in terms of the commitment, the efforts, the ideas, and the initiatives, in order to make sure that we continue to get our job done. I have been provided with some examples, so do allow me to quickly share.

For example, we all know about the downsides of COVID, the health risks and so on, but there are also certain upsides and one of them was the much greater adoption and willingness to adopt digital approaches. We, as ACCORD, has certainly leveraged on that angle. For example, under the Employers and Business (E&B) Council, the Council members designed the e-guide for employers and businesses, to rally stronger support for NS, and within the guide, resources and best practices for employers and businesses to adopt in order to support their national servicemen employees better.

Moving on to the ACCORD Family and Community (F&C) Council, that council introduced pre-NS talks and "Supporting NS as a community" engagement. F&C Council members worked with youth and women from grassroots organisations to conduct online NS community engagement sessions, for pre-NS talks and supporting NS as a community.

The Educational Institutions (EI) Council had continued the "Singapore, imagining the next 50 years" module, and also piloted the joint university webinar on security related issues to reach out to more undergraduates outside the module, and altogether 791 undergraduates attended the most recent webinar which touched on regional development opportunities as well as threats to Singapore.

Other key achievements, aside from the digital domain, was from the E&B Council, who launched a Community of Practice (COP) of NS advocates in 2021 to sustain NS advocacy efforts in the employer and business community – to generate and discuss ideas for potential projects or initiatives to strengthen support for NS. This includes a career transformation education and support programme for NSmen, a fitness app to encourage NSmen to keep fit, and a mentorship programme for NSmen by NSmen.

On the part of the ACCORD F&C council, the members dovetailed the "We Support NS" campaign with the NS55 campaign to rally the community to show appreciation for NSmen and reinforce the importance of NS in commitment to defence. Besides the display of heart-warming notes of appreciation from various communities, the campaign has also garnered discounts and benefits for NSmen – so a very practical and heartfelt campaign.

On the EI Council, the members piloted the joint-ITE and joint-poly NS info sharing sessions in 2021 to help NS eligible students prepare for NS through an online sharing session.

And altogether, those efforts and sessions garnered participation from 1150 participants, and that is very good, and also received positive feedback with more than 90% of those participating agreeing that they felt better prepare for NS after having attended the engagement sessions.

Recognising the Support of ACCORD members

We have been busy. These are sampling examples of the efforts through the years and very positive outcomes. None of which would have happened automatically; all of which had only happened because of the commitment of the members of the three councils. Not only in coming up with the ideas, but also working very tightly together to see to the implementation to secure those results. So thank you again very, very much.

On this note, I want to thank the outgoing board members who have served so very well. As I roughly remember, I had said so in the 2018 ceremony as well, in case you think that that is the end, it is not. I am happy to announce that with your stepping down from the councils, you are warmly welcome to the ACCORD alumni. You will continue to be strong advocates and help rally support for NS and national defence within our communities. Really, from all of us, our heartfelt thanks. Thank you very much.

We welcome on board on new ACCORD members, 17 of them joining us at this juncture, as key influencers in your own communities and leaders within your own domains. We will certainly encourage you to participate very, very actively and make your every contribution into the respective councils and roles and areas in which you may choose to contribute your perspectives and also to, again, help rally the support and to their implementation and to secure those very important outcomes.

In summary, we want to thank all ACCORD members, the past, present and future for your dedication to this country's defence and so on behalf of MINDEF and the SAF, thank you very much. I thank you also, on the behalf of Singapore, thank you very much.