Hospice volunteer, table tennis player among 75 PSC scholarship recipients
PSC scholarship 2015 recipients Lee Kay Howe, Heng Yi Xin and Isabelle Li pose for a photo at the scholarship award ceremony. Photo: Jason Quah
SINGAPORE — Ms Heng Yi Xin’s team had “naively” gone to China to teach English to primary schoolchildren, but ended up teaching them how to clean toilets instead.
When she and other Nanyang Girls’ High School students realised that their five-day stint in China was too short for them to make an impact teaching English, they switched to promoting hygiene awareness, said Ms Heng, a 19-year-old Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship recipient.
The trip in 2011 taught her the importance of being sensitive to the needs of others when serving, added Ms Heng, who volunteers regularly at a hospice and does consulting work for non-profit organisations.
Apart from being one of the 75 recipients of the PSC scholarship this year, Ms Heng, who is from Hwa Chong Institution, is also the first PSC scholar heading to New Zealand in 20 years.
This year’s cohort also features the first PSC scholar from Republic Polytechnic, national table-tennis player Isabelle Li.
The PSC scholars, who come from 13 schools and were selected from more than 2,400 applicants, received their awards from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean tonight.
Crediting public officers for their part in Singapore’s development in the last 50 years, Mr Teo noted that the Public Service will continue to play a key role in the next phase of the Republic’s nation-building journey.
“Whether we can continue to have a good Public Service for the next 50 years and beyond depends very much on whether we can continue to attract, develop and retain good people in the service,” said Mr Teo, the Minister in Charge of the Civil Service.
The scholarship recipients, he added, “have a responsibility to make Singapore better than what it is today, so that we can progress towards SG100 with hope and optimism”.
In his speech, PSC chairman Mr Eddie Teo said the Public Service requires officers with different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and talent, given Singapore’s more diverse population and a more complex world.
“I am encouraged to see the increase in the number of scholarship recipients embarking on uncharted paths to pursue their undergraduate studies in non-traditional destinations,” he added, citing countries such as New Zealand, Germany and China.
The PSC chairman also encouraged the recipients to broaden their perspectives and listen to different viewpoints at university.
“The exposure to different views and values will give you good practice to serve Singaporeans in future years,” he added.
For Ms Heng, studying social work at the University of Auckland will offer her a chance to learn from New Zealand’s environmental and social welfare policies. She plans to remain in touch with the community throughout her career through operational postings and volunteer work.
“That’s how you know what the public needs, whether policies have been communicated effectively or whether they are relevant,” said Ms Heng.
