valedictory speech by mdm mary wong yee min at the leaders in ...

VALEDICTORY SPEECH BY MDM MARY WONG YEE MIN AT THELEADERS IN EDUCATION PROGRAMME GRADUATION DINNER 2009ON FRIDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2009, 7.30PM AT THE REGENT SINGAPOREHOTELDr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education and Second Minister for DefenceMrs Tan Ching Yee, Chairperson, NIE Council & Permanent Secretary, MOEMs Yeoh Chee Yan, Second Permanent Secretary, MOEMs Ho Peng, Director-General of Education, MOEMr Wong Siew Hoong, Director of Schools, MOE,Professor Lee Sing Kong, Director, NIENIE Council membersFriends and ColleaguesGraduands of the Leaders in Education ProgrammeA very good evening!It is with great honour and joy that I stand here before you,representing the graduands of the Leaders in Education Programme 2009. Ithas been a great journey of discovery accompanied not just by much joy andexhilaration, but also in PS Mrs Tan Ching Yee’s words the ‘necessarystruggles and frustration’. Tonight, join me as I retrace some of the significantsteps we took in this 6-month journey and reflect upon their bearing on ourleadership beyond the LEP.LEP 2009 - A cohort of many ‘firsts’2. We have been told many a times by the NIE lecturers that we were aunique cohort, for better or worse, ‘one of a kind’.3. We were the first batch in recent years to have to do assignments. Likean amoeba having to deal with a strange attractor, we quickly rallied our mostpersuasive (and I shall add loudest) voices to reason, haggle and cajole theNIE lecturers to render this strange attractor harmless. Despite the credibledefence we put up, we could not fully eliminate this strange attractor, butbeing the adaptive organisms that Dr Ng Pak Tee has taught us to be, weadapted ourselves accordingly and eventually came to appreciate and evenreap the benefits of this new directive.4. Next came the threat of having our International Visits cancelled due tothe H1N1 epidemic. This forced some of the groups to take roads lesstravelled and that brought some of us to places like Russia, Hungary andIreland. The more entrepreneurial amongst us, particularly the syndicate thathad in the process, planned trips to no fewer than 3 destinations, joked that1

we had acquired the capability of providing consultancy services to futurecohorts of LEP, at a ‘nominal’ fee, of course.5 If there were a best practice award for Class OrganisationalExcellence, I am sure the LEP batch of 2009 would have been the first to bagit. Miss Pamela Yoong, a highly-able, charismatic towering figure emerged asa natural class monitress. She was the one who made sure we were kept onour toes with developments in MOE by writing to PED to retain our LotusNotes accounts. Together with a committee of equally able individuals, theynot only created a conducive environment for learning but also brought acrossthe value of professional camaraderie. The work of these individuals and theircommittees deserves special mention tonight:• The Social and Welfare Committee headed by Mdm Maria Sitwas instrumental in bonding the class through countlessintellectually-stimulating and gastronomically-satisfying lunches;• The Sports Committee, led by Mrs Tan- Lim Kim Gek togetherwith a group of like-minded people, was instrumental in setting agood example of healthy pursuits and in organising theinaugural LEP Family Day;• The Industrial Visit Committee headed by Miss Sandra Gweeorganised no fewer than 11 learning journeys and dialoguesessions, including one with our first female Minister, MinisterLim Hwee Hwa;• Mdm Eugenie Sia who heads the Graduation Dinner Committeeand, working with others, has been responsible for making thisGraduation Dinner a significant and memorable event.6. Last but not least, the CIP committee headed by Mr Tham Kine Thongand fellow LEP participants deserves special mention. True to our mission ofbeing leaders, we wanted to leave a legacy and that we did with the babyTembusu tree we planted in the NIE compound. Together with the donation toSingapore Children’s Society, we hope to have left our imprints on thecommunity but also an indelible imprint on our leadership journey. Like thetree, may we anchor ourselves down so as to build ourselves up and as weprosper, may we provide shade and shelter for those who come under ourcare and stewardship. This underscores the very purpose of the work wehave been called to do.What is demanded of 21 st century leadership?7. Leaving a Legacy, which had often been exhorted of us by Prof LeeSing Kong, (the theme of tonight’s dinner), need not be about doing thegrandest thing on earth. Instead, it is about doing things in the best interest ofthose you lead, and in the process empowering them to expand their horizonsbeyond the immediate.2

8. As we take up leadership positions in schools and MOE, let us cautionourselves against building Towers of Babel, where selfish ambition andconceit render our leadership efforts in vain. Instead, let us humbly acceptthat the most valuable work is defined not by external benchmarks but by thevery moral compass that we seek to develop and sharpen as an on-goingprocess.9. I recall Professor Lee’s opening address to us at the beginning of theLEP course. He spoke about the importance of developing a listening ear topick out the little cricket in the hustle and bustle of New York’s Times Square.In an increasingly democratic climate, 21 st century leaders are likely to facemany little crickets-- some require a sensitive ear and an acute intuition topick out while others literally block our way. How do we decide which ones areworth stopping in our tracks to have a conversation with and which ones arebest left alone? What about the little cricket inside you? How important is itthat we make it a point to hear what it has to say?10. 21 st century leadership is like rollerblading (yes, I found time to pick thisup with my family). It demands us to constantly maintain centripetal focuswithin, at the same time keeping our heads up to scan and respond to therapidly changing environment. One is constantly in search of that elusivecentripetal focus, which does result in terribly sore limbs and bruised egos,but it is a good exercise in reviewing one’s values and staying true to them inthe midst of a fluid and rapidly changing environment.11. However, if taken to the extreme, tuning inwards exclusively could bedangerous. We must avoid becoming the Emperor who is unaware that he isnot wearing any clothes! In this democratic climate, aided in no small part bytechnological connectivity, the modern day Emperor will face many a brazenchild who will eagerly claim his right to the naked truth! Gone are the dayswhere powerbases were built upon authority. Instead, the modern-dayEmperor must humbly acknowledge the value of the ‘incomplete leader’ andleverage upon others to solve some of 21 st century’s most ‘wicked’ problems!12. James W Sire once said ‘A thinking leader habitually turns ideas insideout’, critiquing and challenging them while he also ‘sits (patiently and) silentlyfor new ideas to pop up’, and when they do, he invites the old and new to‘dine and have a ball’, but always eventually ‘suiting them up for service in aworkaday life’ 1 . While no one has a monopoly on truth (including the bestleaders), present-day leadership does call for decisions (and increasinglydifficult ones) to be made. These two contesting logics of strengthening one’sinner resolve while outwardly seeking others to complete what you are not,have to be invited to ‘dine and have a ball of a time’. The challenge lies in the21 st century leader attempting to do so, without any loss in duality.1 James W Sire (2000), Habits of Mind, quoted by Dr Chong in his module ‘The Thinking Leader’3

Bouquet13. As we further reflect on how we might engage the ‘emperor’ and the‘cricket’ within us, (write a journal entry if you wish), I would like to thank somevery special people who have, through their own special touch, illuminated theway and run the race with us.14. To our syndicate leaders : Dr Benjamin Wong, Miss Betsy Lim , DrDavid Ng, Dr Joy Chew, Dr Jude Chua, Dr Low Guat Tin and all otherlecturers, a big thank you to you for challenging us intellectually beyond ourcomfort zones and in the process, gently but surely sharpening our leadershipbeliefs. To Dr Low, my syndicate leader, thank you for your sense of humourand appreciating each one of us for who we are. To the NIE Administrativestaff- Ros and team, we could not have attained organizational excellencewithout you! Thank you for always being so obliging with our many requests.15. To the Steward Principals - Many of you have allowed us novicefarmers to ‘farm’ on your plots of land. Thank you for your generosity insharing with us your ‘farming’ experience, including warning us of weatherpatterns, and harvest cycles, and for availing fellow workers to co-labour withus! I do hope we have not damaged your crops, but rather enhanced itsquality so that you will reap rich harvest in due course! I would like to take thisopportunity to specially thank my Steward P - Mrs Yue Yoke Mun for being sosupportive of my rather wild ideas and for availing herself whenever I neededher.16. To MOE - Thank you for kindly nominating us to be on the LEP and forso carefully placing us in schools and HQ beyond the course. The learningand exposure on this course will surely stay with us a long time to come anduntil we get our sabbaticals, the learning from the LEP will serve to sustain us.17. To the industry partners - Thank you for so generously hosting us onour visits to your organisations. Your interactions with us have beeninvaluable in opening up new horizons which would serve to ensure that welead in relevant and impactful ways.18. To our Bruneian classmates, we value your friendship and thank youfor adding diversity to the class. We sincerely wish you all the best as youreturn to your homeland to put your learning into practice.19. To all my fellow graduands, I want to say that I have many a timesbeen humbled by your intellect and your many talents for which you have mydeepest respect. I congratulate you on the successful completion of thecourse and I count myself honoured to be standing amongst you tonight! Tomy Syndicate and Future School group, thank you especially for the lovelymemories as we journeyed together these last 6 months. As we go on ourseparate pathways, it is my sincere wish that we will continue to hold oneanother up as critical mirrors.4

20. Returning to the theme of tonight’s dinner - Leaving a Legacy. If toleave a legacy is not about doing the grandest thing on earth, nor buildingone’s Tower of Babel, then what is it? As we step out to take on the mantle ofleadership beyond the LEP, how do we even start? Perhaps the answer lies inthe fundamentals of being the ‘incomplete leader’. Perhaps the legacy is bestleft through people whom you have enabled to scale heights higher than whatthey themselves thought possible. Fellow graduands, I wish you all the bestas you each find your own way. I am confident that you will indeed rise to thechallenge in the work entrusted to you.Thank you.5