INSPIRED TO SERVE

Despite knowing little about the military before enlisting for National Service (NS), Lieutenant (LTA) Brandon Tan signed on as a Regular after his stint at the Officer Cadet School (OCS) simply because he was inspired by the many leaders he met and trained under.

"The commanders who trained me always led by example and (that) gave me purpose in serving NS and I wanted to do the same," said LTA Tan, a Combat Engineer officer.

On 16 Aug, he received the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Merit Scholarship from Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Towers together with 18 others. LTA Tan will be reading Natural Science at the University of Cambridge.

Said Dr Ng: "We are looking forward to making sure that we give them a very good career, a meaningful career and continue to attract good quality into the SAF."

For fellow scholarship recipient Officer Cadet (OCT) Julie Lim, the influence to join the SAF came from a closer source. She remembered visiting almost all the Air Force open houses as a child with her father, a pilot with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

Following in her father's footsteps, she is currently training to be an RSAF pilot and hoped to help the men and women she will eventually lead develop to their fullest potentials.

She will be reading Engineering Aeronautics at the same university as LTA Tan. On her choice of study, OCT Lim said: "I will gain deep technical knowledge and better understanding of the aircraft systems which I will fly. The softer skills such as analysis will be useful when I (eventually) join the operational squadrons."

For another recipient, 2nd Lieutenant (2LT) Yeo Shang Xuan, the opportunity to lead at a young age was something that only the SAF could offer.

"A career with the SAF also provides challenges in many other areas," added 2LT Yeo who will read Psychology at the Claremont McKenna College in the United States.

Twelve Defence Merit Scholarships (DMSes) were also given out at the ceremony. One of the recipients, Mr Tan Keng Meng, was awarded the scholarship midway through his studies at the National University of Singapore. This was the first year that such mid-term scholarships were awarded.

Currently a fourth-year Political Science undergraduate, Mr Tan's interest in public service was piqued after a six-month internship stint at the Defence Policy Office (DPO) of the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Tan will head to the US to pursue a Masters in Security Studies.

"I hope to represent Singapore at international (security) conferences and contribute to world peace."

With a total of 31 recipients, this year marked the largest cohort of SMS and DMS scholars since the scholarships were introduced in 1983 and 2002, respectively.