Archbishop Dr John Chew, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, Mr. Tan Soo Kiang Chairman of the Board of Management, eminent members of the BOG, Ms Lee Bee Yann, Principal SAJC, distinguished alumni and parents, students , ladies and gentlemen.

Principal, thank you for the very warm introduction.

I am honoured to be part of the SAJC College Day, and grateful for this opportunity to speak to you. Such an occasion comes rarely and I thank God in Jesus name for this moment.

I have been asked to share within the next 10-15 mins some relevant thoughts on this very special day in the life of the School. I am impressed and very encouraged by the several pole achievements of the students named by the Principal and of the School.

I will focus on the challenges of the School in the 21 st century. Given the limited time I will focus on one niche area which I think SAJC is eminently positioned to play within the community of schools in our country. By community of schools I mean not only the Anglican Schools but the wider community of schools.

Broad Overview OF Education and SAJC’S Place

Allow me to sketch very quickly the broad role of education and SAJC’s place in this.

The cultural level of a country, like Singapore, is often judged by the measure of education of its population. This means the value and the emphasis placed on education. This also means that the more holistic the education the better for the country. This means that access and opportunities to schools are available from a diversity of social backgrounds. SAJC has a tremendous respect for the measure of education.

Human education is a form of tradition. Its purpose is to pass on the experiences of the earlier generation, their conviction of what is necessary to life, their conception of values and standards, their habits and practices, their contemporary and cutting-edge technical knowledge, and to train those who come after in all these with established pedagogical skills.  People learn from a variety of stories, practices and relationships. SAJC is rich with such a tradition and the memories are embedded in SAJC’s personality.

The subject of education is primarily the community: in the first place the individual, the family, but also the society and the economic, technological and social and social cohesion needs of the society. SAJC’s School hymn and Song reflect this.

Singapore’s education can be considered a merit good; that is with a good with positive externalities or external benefits. Singapore’s experience reflects the central role of education in promoting economic and social development.  Broad –based education for all Singaporeans has led to a dramatic improvement in the living standards of the population since the country’s independence PM Lee’s recent National Day Rally Speech reiterated this point. SAJC’s history is evident in this aspect.

The student of our Singapore education becomes a living, motivated and contributing member of the community.  PM Lee is right when he says in his Rally Speech that schools in Singapore must remain common spaces for students of all religions.  21 Aug 2009 ST Insight’s Lynn Kan is correct in saying that schools are among the first social spaces that children encounter. It is where they learn morals and the values that entwine Singapore together from a young age. The student is confident that he can make a difference. He serves a purpose beyond himself and his family.

These essentials in education remain as we in the SAJC and the Anglican Diocese of Singapore navigate the 21st century.

What are the challenges?

The 21st century social challenges for our nation are : growing social diversity  in inter-race and religious relationships; role of religion in our common spaces;  made more complex with “new citizens” and foreigners ; changing aspirations of the young; pressures on the family; an ageing population; higher rate of divorces; changing profile of juvenile delinquency. These are additional to our environment and climate change. The need to be eco-friendly for example. Government has recently issued a paper on the environment. Then there are biomedical issues; recently of kidney organ donation and the compensation that goes with that.

The role of SAJC

As I see it SAJC is specially positioned to take the lead, within the community of schools in Singapore’s education in the 21st century. Institutionally, SAJC, like the student she graduates, has the prerequisites  and the motivation to lead and build confidence in our multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural  community.

SAJC is a faith school, a mission School. It is widely acknowledged that missions schools are among the top institutions in our country because of the quality of their education, the values taught and the network of contacts students develop over the years. SAJC, as a mission School, is  familiar with transcendent values and have reflected these values in its school life. Like prayers during morning assembly or before a School game, chapel services.

I am sure that SAJC has accentuated familiarity with widely held and inherited moral and ethical values and their application in the context of our society. Madam Serena Bahari, in today’s ST said that “Mission schools have a strong culture of respect so that children pick up good moral values from a tender age.” She was nonplussed about her older son studying at St Andrew’s Sec School . She said “I thought it was good. My impression was that Christian schools are tougher on discipline.” She recalled this from her days at catholic mission schools; hence the point I just made about the passing on of traditions in education.

These values are merit good and have gone beyond the boundaries of the School and contributed a cohesiveness and meaning throughout the challenging constitutional, political challenges and social diversity of our country in over the last 100 years.

SAJC has eschewed divisiveness, exclusivity and bigotry. This is the School’s inherited framework and its extraordinary identity. SAJC has earned the community’s trust which goes beyond scholastic achievements. It has proven its ability to reach out across faith boundaries and helped to build confidence in the community. I note one of our principals, Dr Zoe Boon, at the Anglican High School restating that having a “spiritual layer: does not mean that the School is engaged in evangelism: “ It doesn’t mean we are proselytizing because it is not our responsibility to convert others.”

In modern terms SAJC has special social capital and knowledge as well as a long tradition of passing on life experiences. SAJC and her students can provide: 1.essential social public leadership; a servant leader as its motto shows: “Every saint a servant leader.” 2. Lead the development of a principled accountability framework within the community of schools, like truth, love, integrity and respecting the personhood of the individual and his relationship with his Creator 3 standards of relationship in common spaces in our diverse community and 4. the language of social discourse to the development of a strong and integrated student and community.

The Anglican Diocese of Singapore, with its rich learning and its ‘middle way”, via media, traditions born out of ideological and social and political diversities will come alongside and lend her experience to the SAJC and her students in this journey.  

How to begin this journey?

SAJC  and its students can exercise social and thought leadership in these areas. The vision to do this has to be owned and shared and the details worked out.  I am pleased to learn of the intention to establish a Student Leadership Centre for St Andrew's Village and the Anglican Schools. This is a commendable start.

Let me see if I can open up some educational possibilities in this process of leadership..

The SACS provides a laboratory of sorts for the student to be interned to imbibe the social context and to hone their involvement and their leadership skills. The SACS provides a community hospital environment with the Changi General Hospital, the care and reintegration of challenged members of our society at different levels of intensity. The SACS and the Diocese has various community centres reaching out to neighbourhoods and schools.

Next year the Diocese is planning a Biblical Civilisation Conference which explores the civilization influences of Christianity and by implication other faith influences. SAJC students may want to attend this Conference and learn from some of the thought leaders in the world.   I have noticed students from other Colleges attending other public talks of interest to our society.

I am sure that the School can link up with our public Ministries or agencies and organisations like the SIF to expose our students to social community work in other countries. SAJC in its CIP and overseas visits programmes are already along this trend. I was impressed to learn that students from other Colleges attend the MPS where they are exposed to the realities on the ground. The Diocese itself has a  group in readiness comprising doctors and other volunteers to provide assistance in disaster areas.

I have just returned from a study visit to Macau. It is a decadent society; what a Singapore society should not be. There are no limits to the building of casinos; now 32 casinos in that city. Triads hold invisible power in society. Corruption is an accepted lifestyle. I suspect corruption and police agencies are in place to preserve the power of certain individuals or groups. 99% of the city’s revenue comes from gaming tax. Governance is laissez faire. Monies are not invested in the health, social, infrastructural development. Young girls prostitute openly. Police officers who don’t play ball are murdered. The city was not without church influence. In 1562 the Catholic Church from Portugal was established and missionaries had a open hand in transforming the city. The values became corrupted. Macau is a hollow city. We must be committed to make the difference for Singapore.

Is this role of leadership too much to ask of SAJC and her students?