Committee of Supply – Head J (Ministry of Defence)

Mr Speaker, I want to assure the Members of the House I will not need that time.

My time was Dempsey, right? Now, it is occupied by swanky restaurants. I am not sure who else; some of us in that vintage, we were none the wiser 18-year-olds. You go to Dempsey, and after that you go to General Equipment Base (GEB). Some of you grew up in the era of Depot Road. That is your memory. Well, the new CMPB is opposite Cashew MRT. I think this will be probably the permanent home. In the picture that you see, Phase 1 will be opening from 2025, and Senior Minister of State Heng will speak on this in more detail.

At the outset, I posed this question: what can Singapore do to secure our future in a turbulent world? The answer is mundane but never simple – build a strong SAF for deterrence, but even that is not enough. To survive, Singapore needs Total Defence. We commemorate the 40th anniversary of Total Defence. Deputy Prime Minister Wong launched the Exercise SG Ready. It is an apt reminder. Members may have participated and Senior Minister of State Zaqy will speak more on this.

I also said that we must not expect another country to come to rescue us like Kuwait. But that certainly does not mean we do not work with like-minded countries. This is what Members are talking about, to deal with transnational issues, Mr Alex Yam and Ms Sylvia Lim. I agree completely with Ms Lim that we have critical underwater infrastructure, subsea cables and pipelines. In law, it sounds protected, right? Because in 2019, ASEAN developed guidelines for strengthening the resilience and repair of telecommunications submarine cables. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets an international legal framework to govern underwater critical infrastructure.

Singapore works with partners to protect this infrastructure because we are either the intermediary or the tail end, and we are a hub for fibre optics subsea cables, including more subsea cables. But, in truth, it is thousands and thousands of miles of, whether it is gas pipelines, subsea cables. And they can be sabotaged. We cannot run away from it. We should not give false assurance. If they are sabotaged, there will be disruption.

Certain militaries have now commissioned ships to map the entire universe, meaning subsea cables all around the world. You can map it. But all you need is to disrupt one point far away, and the whole so-called supply chain is disrupted.

We have some redundancy because we have more than one fibre optic subsea cable. The natural gas pipelines of Singapore are designed and built to international standards. So, within our waters, they are protected with rock armour and laid in no-anchor zones. But of course, they move elsewhere. For redundancy, we have the capacity to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet our electricity needs. Terrorism is another prime example, and I think Mr Alex Yam talked about the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence (ACICE).

This is to deal with cyber disinformation and information threats. We opened it. And we held our inaugural Digital Defence Symposium and ASEAN Roundtable. We have to work with other partners. That does not mean all problems can be solved, but we have to build credibility and partnerships.

And lastly, for humanitarian efforts, Mr Zhulkarnain Rahim talked about this – our Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre was set up in 2014 to better coordinate our efforts with local and international agenices.

Mr Chairman, I want to close, and Senior Minister of State Zaqy and Senior Minister of State Heng will deal with other issues that Members have raised. But let me again reiterate my deep thanks to the Members of this House. We have not had difficulty passing MINDEF's Budget. Your questions have not been too hard or too spiky.

And I think it reflects: one, the understanding that we are so vulnerable. So many examples and, honestly, for the last five years, it has not been difficult to sell defence. We see a turbulent world, but we must remember even in peaceful times; I gave the example of a PG that underwent 60 years of turbulence versus this generation of 30 years of peace – which is the norm. We may very well revert to the PG – 60 years of turbulence.

We do not know what the future will bring but as long as we have a strong SAF, we have some deterrence, protection, and we can determine our own future if our people are united and with a strong SAF and various other agencies. Thank you for your support.

It is a sobering yet assuring message. Minister for Defence, Dr Ng.