Dear Students of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy:
At this time of year, usually, my colleagues and I would be getting ready to send off our graduating student cohorts. We would look on with pride as these wonderful, talented individuals – our students – go on to build careers, advancing the well-being of their communities through public service all around the world. These farewells are joyful celebrations tinged with bittersweet feelings for the parting of friends, remembering friendships forged in the crucible of hard work and shared triumph. Our international students return home; our Singaporean students return to refreshed work and life here.
All of us close this chapter of our lives, and move on to the next.
This year, of course, things are different. We find ourselves in the last week of the academic year, without the traditional markers in time. Some students have already returned home abroad. Over the last couple of months, our classes and examinations hopped online. The traditional Valedictory Dinners, an important milestone in our program of study, will next month morph into online Valedictory Celebrations, bringing together participants dispersed across the entire world.
To the students about to graduate, and to those who have just completed their first year, I say congratulations – you did it! Yours has been a unique experience. You have completed the academic year, in the process surviving the world’s worst pandemic in over a century! Everyone will mark this Class of 2020 for having gotten through the semester with grace and resilience. You looked anxiety and uncertainty in the eye, and you showed those two scoundrels you are better than them.
As you enter a challenging job market, remember you will always remain one of us, a member of the LKYSPP community. Should you find yourself taking a misstep, or just want some help or advice or friendly conversation, reach out to LKYSPP Career Services, to your professors, to your classmates and fellow alumni. We are here to support you, just as, in turn, you are our backbone and foundation in the wider world. We stand with you in adversity just as we cheer on and celebrate your successes.
This crisis has reminded the world of the importance of good government, good governance, international cooperation, and evidence-based policy-making. Your LKYSPP training has prepared you to contribute in all these areas. Seek out opportunities in your communities that need your insight, skills, and preparation. Leverage the lessons from your time here at the School so that you will keep your people safe, serve the greater good, shape the new normal, and help build a better world.
The mission of the Lee Kuan Yew School has always been about training future leaders. Today, more than ever, your talents, your energy, your fierce intelligence are needed in public service everywhere – in government or civil service; and in non-profits, NGOs, and community organizations.
The world we live in is one with pace of change feverishly accelerating. Societies everywhere are trying to work out the new normal, adjust to it, create new patterns of economic and political life, and reshape and refresh social norms. Your time at the School has honed your skills and instincts to be agile and constantly to adapt to fresh challenge.
The time ahead is yours in which to shine. This newly emerging world stands waiting for you to make your mark. I wish you all the very best for this exciting journey that now lies ahead of you.
