PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED BY SINGAPOREANS

PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED BY SINGAPOREANS

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(Recognition): **

44.

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) whether the Government recognises the prestigious international awards received by Singaporeans, the most recent being the place on ten Most Outstanding Young Persons list, awarded to Dr Fatimah Bte Abdul Lateef in 2006; (b) what form does this recognition take; (c) whether the Government is taking steps to showcase the achievements by international award winners in the last 42 years so as to encourage more young Singaporeans to aspire towards such achievements.

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Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The Government is happy that young Singaporeans like Dr Fatimah are being recognised internationally for their achievements in various fields. We are proud of them, and hope that our efforts to develop our youth will lead to many more such winners.

There is a plethora of international awards administered by many agencies and organisations worldwide. Such awards have varying reputations and different objectives and criteria.

Awards, particularly the established ones, already have their own ways of publicising their award recipients and missions in local and international media. In Dr Fatimah Lateef's case, her winning of the Most Outstanding Young Persons award was featured on 6th December 2006 in the Straits Times . The information was passed to the media by the Singapore Chapter of Junior Chambers International. Junior Chambers International is the organisation which gives out the annual Most Outstanding Young Persons award. This is an example of how prestigious international awards generate their own publicity for their award-winners.

While the Government does not recognise in any formal way the international awards won by Singaporeans, from time to time, our political leaders do highlight and refer to their inspirational stories and achievements in speeches where appropriate, thereby giving them some form of recognition.

However, any international award and the recognition it bestows on its winners, cannot be an end in itself. On the contrary, it should whet the winners' desire to strive for even higher levels of achievement in serving the community.

In this, success is ultimately measured, not by how many awards or how much recognition one has garnered, but by how much one has contributed towards making our community, our nation and our world a better place. It should also be measured by how much one's achievement has inspired the next generation of youth into action, and into achieving great things for the common good. Of course, when appropriate opportunities arise, we will work with award-winners to motivate and inspire other youth.