60 get PSC scholarships, including one bound for China's Tsinghua University

Straits Times

4 days ago

SINGAPORE – While most Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship holders still favour US or British universities, 19-year-old Sarah Tan Si Yu set her sights on Beijing's Tsinghua University, keen to challenge herself on a path less travelled.
The Raffles Institution alumna has picked its Global Talents in Science and Engineering Programme, which will get its first intake in 2025.
The English-taught interdisciplinary engineering programme will expose students to multiple fields, including architecture, civil engineering and mechanical engineering.
Ms Tan's choice was made in recognition of the fact that China is quickly emerging as a strong force in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) arena.
'I really want to understand their technological landscape – what their priorities are, what their capabilities are, what they are focusing on – and how Singapore can value-add, or how I can bring these back into our public service so I can value-add here,' she said.
Ms Tan is among 2025 's 60 PSC scholarship holders who attended an awards ceremony at InterContinental Singapore on July 25.
The recipients will serve a bond of four to six years in the public service after they complete their studies.
Of the 60, 52 are headed overseas – 28 to Britain, 19 to the US, and five to varsities outside the US or Britain, namely in China, Hong Kong, Germany and France. Four are mid-term university students.
In 2024, eight of the 54 PSC scholarship recipients were bound for varsities outside the US or Britain. Three headed to Japan, three to France and two to Germany – while 31 gunned for British or American schools.
Presenting the awards, Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing said the public service sends its scholarship holders overseas not for academic rigour or content – given that universities here are already among the best in the world – but for them to appreciate the diversity and complexity of the world.
'You will build the ties that will perhaps help us one day, that will perhaps one day come in useful for us to work with others,' said Mr Chan, who is also Minister-in-charge of the Public Service.
'You will also gather fresh perspectives that challenge our own assumptions, keep ourselves on our toes, and always remind ourselves that (Singapore's) last 60 years (of existence) – if we are not careful – can easily be an aberration in the history of mankind.'
Mr Chan urged the recipients to 'dig deep' in asking themselves how they can work to serve Singapore and ensure that it can be in a better place in 40 years when it hits the SG100 milestone.
Speaking at the event, PSC chairman Lee Tzu Yang said 2025's recipients come from a wide range of backgrounds, and will pursue studies in different environments.
'This reflects the diversity of strengths that we seek in our public service,' he added. He noted that the 2025 cohort marks the highest percentage of recipients bound for overseas studies in recent years, at 87 per cent.
Mr Lee said the range of institutions and disciplines – from computational analysis and public policy at the University of Chicago, to physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and engineering at Tsinghua University – reflects the complexity of the world today.
Raffles Institution alumnus Arman Ibrahim Mustaffa, 18, is among three recipients of the PSC Sustainability Scholarships – introduced in 2023 to help Singapore cope with climate change.
Having developed a keen interest in city planning from collecting model trains as a child, he will be reading geography at University College London. He hopes to work in the National Climate Change Secretariat in the Prime Minister's Office to help steer the country's climate trajectory.
Articulating his belief that good city planning minimises the impact on natural environments and teaches people living in these environments about the importance of sustainability, he said: 'I really want to help cultivate a culture of sustainability, not just within the public service, but also beyond that, among the greater community.'
As for Ms Tan, she said she enjoyed her recent four-month stint as an AI governance and safety intern at the Infocomm Media Development Authority, where she was exposed to policymaking. She hopes to return to work in similar scopes that allow her to chart the future of technology.
'My intention with this (Tsinghua) degree is to explore more first of the other types of technology out there as I think I shouldn't just focus on AI too early and miss out on the other opportunities,' she added.