'We must be quietly confident to handle emerging threats': Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing on SAF's operational readiness, Singapore News
Chan, 55, was speaking to the media during a visit to a mobilisation exercise conducted by the Singapore Army at Selarang Camp on Saturday (April 19), and shared that he had been visiting various units in SAF for the past two months.
Chan, who succeeded Dr Ng Eng Hen as Minister of Defence in May, said: "I can see that SAF is continuously trying to improve what it has. It has certainly improved from when I was in the SAF, and I'm sure they will continue to improve going forward. This spirit of unceasing desire to improve is what keeps SAF at the forefront."
He also highlighted the need for SAF to constantly "look at the lessons learnt and lessons to be learnt" from the world, including the crisis in the Middle East, and to reflect, anticipate and prepare for emerging threats.
Chan also pointed to the cyberattack on Singapore's critical infrastructure by a threat actor named UNC3886, which was first revealed on Friday by Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam, as an example of the type of emerging threats that SAF has had to handle.
"We don't necessarily have to show everyone what we have and what we do, but we must be quietly confident that we are able to handle the emerging threats," he said.
During his visit to Selarang Camp today, Chan witnessed a mobilisation exercise where more than 2,000 operationally ready national serviceman (NSmen) from the 23rd Singapore Infantry Brigade were present.
AsiaOne observed that he spoke to SAF personnel and observed them going through equipment inspections and refresher training, including weapons technical handling and combat medical aid.
He was also briefed on advancements and developments to SAF's mobilisation systems, including the digitalisation of the mobilisation process through the OneNS platform, known as SmartMob, where soldiers can take their attendance and scan QR codes from the app every time they have completed one of the three stations required during mobilisation.
SmartMob was introduced in April and will be progressively rolled out by SAF till the end of 2025.
On the digitalising of the Army's mobilisation process, Chan said that with the new function, NSmen, who usually required about three to four hours to complete the whole process previously, would be able to complete the stations within two hours.
He added: "In terms of the design of how the entire experience is, it's much more efficient. And of course, from the SAF perspective, we're also very happy to see improvement in the operational readiness and how we can shorten the line."
Chan also expressed his appreciation towards NSmen for their dedication.
He said: "The most critical component of our defence is the fighting spirit of our men. And to see the men being prepared to spend time and effort to maintain their fitness, to maintain their operational currency. That, to us, is the greatest deterrence that we can have.
"We are constantly looking at ways to see how we can continue to strengthen deterrence, but most importantly, strengthen operational readiness."
Among the NSmen present at the exercise was Captain Jeremy Ang, who shared the benefits of the digitalised mobilisation process.
The 46-year-old, who is a secondary school principal, said: "I think with the new technologies, what we have is real-time information... What are some of the challenges that we can try to fix ahead of time? I think it made things a lot smoother and better for us as well, and also for the men, it's faster in and faster out."
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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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