Meet the President’s new aides

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Ranger and avid mountaineer. A National Day Parade (NDP) contingent commander who was inspired by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam during her undergraduate days.

These two Army officers are among 18 new faces appointed as Honorary Aides-de-Camp (HADCs) to Mr Tharman this year.

A total of 113 HADCs – from the SAF, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, as well as the Singapore Prison Service for the first time – took on this role.

Along with four full-time Aides-de-Camp, they assist the President and accompany him or her at various State functions or ceremonies. They also coordinate, plan, and carry out the President’s events both locally and overseas.

Inspired to become the President’s aide

For Captain (CPT) Siow Jing Yi, becoming a HADC serving under Mr Tharman is a particularly rewarding moment – she was inspired by his contributions to Singapore while studying at Peking University in 2017.

“As an International Relations major, I had a strong interest in studying political systems and his contributions as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister really stuck to me.

“(While studying aboard,) I could see that Singapore is very well-respected because of politicians like him, and that further deepened my respect for him.”

She learnt about the HADC role during her time as an NDP contingent commander in 2022, where she forged friendships with servicemen and women from other Services – two of them were HADCs and encouraged her to give the role a shot.

“Even after NDP 2022, we still met up for weekly runs on Sunday mornings. During those meetings, they would share their experiences being a HADC.

“I found their experiences interesting and when they asked me if I was interested, I decided to give it a try.”

A higher cause

Currently serving as Officer Commanding (OC) of 128 Squadron (128 SQN), CPT Siow leads a company of about 45 men in delivering small Unmanned Aerial Systems capabilities to support Army operations.

As 128 SQN is a joint unit, the 29-year-old Army officer had to go out of her comfort zone and accustom herself to the different work culture of the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Drawing parallels on how this has helped to prepare her in being a HADC, she noted: “Serving in a different Service on my current tour has taught me to be comfortable with uncertainty.

“Likewise, being a HADC is outside of my usual operating environment (in the Army). It requires me to be more comfortable with uncertainty as well as get used to new expectations and responsibilities.”

Asked what she hopes to achieve from her time as a HADC, she said: “I want to broaden my horizons and serve a higher cause – which, in this case, is in the office of the President.

“In doing so, I also hope to meet new people and experience a different way of serving.”

Scaling new heights

Another new HADC appointee is CPT Ahmad Hafizuddin bin Abdul Hamid, who serves as OC of 1st Battalion, Singapore Guards (1 GDS) Support Company.

During his free time, the 30-year-old can be found in the great outdoors, either taking time to climb new peaks (literally!) or taking part in adventure racing (an endurance team sport that involves kayaking, trekking and mountain biking).

His passion shines through as he shared how taking part in these extreme sports have instilled values that influenced his leadership approach: “It shaped me to always try to overcome challenges, that I can always put in a bit more and that nothing is too tough for me.

“Whatever challenges that arose in my time with the Army, I took that mental model to always tell myself that I can do it.”

He is definitely no stranger to overcoming tough challenges – in 2022, CPT Ahmad Hafizuddin successfully completed the Ranger Course, which is famed for being one of the most gruelling courses in the SAF.

“Going through the course really instilled me with a sense of resilience, discipline and an ability to lead under pressure.

“Being a HADC, there might be times when plans fall through and things go wrong (but) I am confident that I have the experience to keep calm under pressure and make things right.”

Growing in his new role

CPT Ahmad Hafizuddin admitted that he did not know much about the HADC role at first, but became intrigued as he found out more about the responsibilities it entailed.

“The idea of serving in another capacity was interesting to me,” he said.

“Also, my dad was heavily involved in community service and being a HADC is me trying to emulate his footsteps and give more where I can.”

In his new journey as a HADC, CPT Ahmad Hafizuddin hopes to learn and grow, as well as get to know more people from other Services.

“Being new to this role, I hope to first learn to do my job well, and then contribute above and beyond.

“I’m also looking forward to getting to work together with people from other Services and learn from them as best I can.”