Transcript of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's speech at the Mr and Mrs Ernest Lau Memorial Lecture 2026 “Leadership with Purpose: Preparing the Next[...]

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14 August 2026

Transcript of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's speech at the Mr and Mrs Ernest Lau Memorial Lecture 2026 "Leadership with Purpose: Preparing the Next Generation for a Changing World", 14 August 2026

Bishop Philip Lim

Principals past and present of ACS schools,

Educators, Teachers, Old Boys, Old Girls, Members of the ACS Family

Thank you for this opportunity to be here, and particularly the honour of delivering the Mr & Mrs Ernest Lau Memorial Lecture.

This has special significance for me. I had the privilege of having Mrs Lau as my Principal when I was in ACJS (Anglo-Chinese Junior School). Later on, when Mr Ernest Lau became Principal of ACS, I was still in secondary school. It is with some trepidation and a sense of an imposter syndrome that I stand here in their honour.

Mr Lau was one of those people who did not need to say very much to command respect and awe. The way he stood, the way he delivered the few words he needed to, and the fact that you knew there was a first-class intellect; but more than just the words and the brains - the principles, the heart and the values. This morning, Dr. Wong Chiang Yin sent me an anecdote of his interaction with Mr Lau when he was 15 years old. Chiang Yin had got some wealthy donors to support air-conditioners in ACS. Dr. Wong went to Mr Lau's office and presented this idea; according to Chiang Yin, Mr Lau looked at him, looked up at the fan, and asked him, "Do you see an air-conditioner in my office?" Needless to say, Dr. Wong Chiang Yin beat a hasty retreat. Now, I am not here to debate the utility or necessity of air conditioning. But, this episode speaks volumes about the man, that in a day and age of social media leadership, it is worth remembering that real leaders do not put, or expect, or demand from others what they themselves have not gone through or are willing to do. This is not to say that Mr Lau was an easy taskmaster, he demanded high standards; but you knew that this was based on high standards and values that he that he himself lived up to. This is a clear role model of leadership.

Let me turn to Mrs Lau, or Kwa Geok Lian. The enduring memory I have, was that when I was Primary 5 and I was a prefect. Several of us got into a fistfight in the field. We got summoned to the Principal's office. She admonished us, left us in no doubt that we were wrong. But her kindness also showed through, and in the end, we all heaved a sigh of relief when we left the Principal's office without being sacked as a prefect and without having to undergo any public caning. But she was a kind and wonderful lady. Believe it or not, I was in the choir at that time and she was the choir mistress in ACJS. It was a tragedy that she left prematurely; I think she passed away just before Mr Lau was appointed Principal. So, these are two luminaries, and it is worth remembering again, that in all the hustle and bustle of teaching people, what you remember for a lifetime is not the technicalities of the lessons or the subject matter; what you remember are the role models, the values, the norms, the behaviour, the expectations and a life well-lived. I think all of us who had the privilege of knowing them, our lives having been indelibly touched by this wonderful couple, we thank God for their presence in our lives and the leadership that they exemplify.

Today we live in an age of great seismic change.

There are three simultaneous revolutions confronting us in the world today. The first is a geopolitical revolution: the age of a single superpower is ending, we are transiting to a new multipolar world. That new world order has not yet resolved itself, and so questions of war and peace come to the fore. So that's the first question mark.

The second revolution is a technological revolution. Digital technologies, in particular, the advances in artificial intelligence, the simultaneous breakthroughs in biotechnology, in effect also turbocharged by AI and digital technologies, and also the transformation that's going on in energy and energy systems, and to deal with climate change. So, the technology is changing at an unprecedented rate.

The third revolution is a social revolution, meaning the way identity is formed, values divide, the way we relate to one another, the way we communicate, organise, mobilise our societies is changing profoundly. So, we live in an age in which geopolitics, technology, and social dimensions are all undergoing a revolution.

So, let's deal with the first, the geopolitical revolution. I've already mentioned rivalry between the great powers, but it's not just great powers, but middle powers and everyone else using interdependence and geographic chokepoints to exercise leverage and to weaponise these systems. Multilateral institutions, the UN, we talk about international law- all of these are on the retreat, and this is particularly challenging for Singapore because we've only been independent for 61 years, and for 61 years, Singapore has benefited from a world, which generally for us in Southeast Asia has been stable, peaceful, a world with a superpower. Generally, it stood for rules, it stood for openness, it stood for global supply chains, the growth of multinational corporations, the dissemination of technology, the opening of global markets. Singapore's economic success in the last 61 years, a significant extent was due to Pax Americana. And the other turbocharge for Singapore was the reform and opening of China by Deng Xiaoping since 1978. And I'm here to tell you, this age is over. And therefore, if anyone thinks we can just conduct business as usual, that somehow, we can just muddle through or hope that the good old days will come back, I'm here to tell you that's not going to be the case.

The second area is technological revolution. Actually, this is not the first time a general-purpose technology has reached the world. Remember, we're all speaking English today because the Industrial Revolution began in the UK, spread to Europe, and the ultimate heir of the Industrial Revolution was the United States of America. And these last few centuries, the ascent of the West, based on the Industrial Revolution, took place at the same time that China made a mistake of turning inwards, and India too missed the Industrial Revolution, and hence we were colonised, or in the case of China, a century plus of humiliation.

Today, there's a new revolution, and the question then is: If we're in a new industrial revolution, who are going to be the winners and the losers? How are the profits going to be distributed? How will the asymmetry in power be distributed? And how will opportunities be distributed in societies? And AI now is different, because you are not just substituting human and animal labour for machines. The technology has now reached where many so-called higher cognitive functions can now be emulated, perhaps even surpassed by technology. So, it is a profound challenge to be human, and as I said, to the distribution of the means of production and the fruits of the harvest.

The third on the social revolution, we see it amongst our children. When we were growing up, there were very few television channels to watch, very few newspapers. Everyone more or less watched or read the same thing. Today, you ask your children. I don't think they watch television. I don't think they read the newspapers. And everybody's phone has a unique combination of apps that only you have listed. The views and the sources of news that you imbibe are unique to you. We are not one happy global village sharing knowledge and wisdom. In fact, we are a fractured, fractious set of echo chambers. We can't even agree on a set of facts, much less perspectives. And this is affecting our children. You don't need to be a doctor or a teacher to know that what our children are exposed to and how they are stimulated affects their brain development, which in turn affects their emotional and personality development. And simple things like who are you, what do you believe in, what is good, what is bad, what is right? What is wrong? Who do you feel an affiliation, an allegiance to? What do you believe? What faith do you have? All these are now facing unprecedented pressures. So, we now live in a time when these simultaneous changes are exerting simultaneous pressures, and the pressures are going to be felt differently in different parts of society- different groups will experience this change differently. Some will seize new opportunities and do gloriously well. Others will feel left behind, or cut off, or isolated, and there will be new fault lines, whether it is on the basis of wealth, generational fault lines, identity fault lines, and when people feel that change is occurring at an accelerating pace, and that the change is occurring to them and not with them, and they are not in control of the situation, it leads to a significant sense of dislocation personally. It can very easily spin into insecurity and division and distrust as a society. The social compact which held previous generations has to evolve, or we would not be able to cope with this challenge, and so we're left with the foundational question: Who am I? What do I believe in? Who do I belong to? What is the purpose of my life? In fact, I think there's an even deeper spiritual hunger today than there was in more settled times of the past.

So these three strands are interlinked: geopolitical competition will shape the development and diffusion of technology, which will reshape economies and societies, and our social response to these changes will have impact on domestic political development, and it is domestic politics and the dysfunction in domestic politics everywhere, which actually is creating greater problems on the global stage. But the reverse can also be true, because if we can navigate these revolutions well, we can enlarge the realm of possibilities for our people, and especially for the next generation.

So, given this backdrop, the question then is: What is the duty as leaders, as educators, as parents? We cannot shield our children from the change and the competition and the pressure. Building walls, insulation is not an answer. Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, we have to equip our children to see the world clearly, realistically, and yet not lose optimism, not lose hope, not lose that sense of idealism, and not to lose that sense of imagination that life can be better. The 15-year-old Dr. Wong Chiang Yin must still be able to go to the Principal and come up with an idea, even if his idea is premature. Our youth need to understand the world as it is. This is something Mr Lee Kuan Yew used to say: we have to accept the world as it is, not as the way we wish it to be. And the real world is complex, has got real constraints. Trade-offs need to be made when we choose something, and we have to deal with the realities. At the same time, our young people must not be browbeaten into a sense of resignation and accepting the world, this is just the way it is, you can't change it. It's holding these two simultaneous instincts in our minds: On one hand, it's being realistic. On the other hand, it's also having this concept called divine discontent, which you look up the dictionary, it is a helpful impulse, not to accept the way things are, but to believe that they can be better. Getting realism and divine discontent in an appropriate balance is essential.

To do this, I believe, in the schools, we need to nurture three fundamental capacities: to be rooted in an understanding of the past, and that's why I believe in honouring our pioneer leaders, people Mr and Mrs Lau, is part of getting us rooted into the past. How did we get here? What was the fundamental beliefs and values and the organisation of the past that led to our current situation? The benefits and the disadvantages of the present, but also to be open to change and open to the world in an inclusive way. So, we need to ensure that future generations can grow up in a Singapore where we can count our blessings, but also say we want to make it better. And the worst thing we can do will be quench that enthusiasm, that imagination, by saying, "We've done it, seen it, and it can't be done. Don't bother." We must not take that kind of attitude. We have to remain open to new technologies, despite the fact that we know they can disrupt our societies and our personal lives. And we need, at a social level, to remain open to diversity, and that also means the diversity of the human condition. You know, in the past, it's very binary, right? "You're normal", "You're disabled". You look for neat categories of people, but in fact, we need a broader recognition that every human being has strengths. Every human being is sacred, worth loving, investing, and uplifting. So, point here is rooted in the past and appreciating the human condition.

The second thing we need to imbue in our young is to be fluent in the tools of the future. Like the study of history, it's not just a fixation with the past, but understanding what lessons from the past there are that we need to discern in order to improve our current decision making and to project into the future. Our young people must be able to use the latest technologies, but to use it safely, to use it constructively. We must be aware that the technology can shape them, and we need to inoculate them where need be. But nevertheless, they must be fluent, and they must be digital natives in a way that the older generation can perhaps never be. And we want our young people to be builders, to be masters of the new technologies, not slaves and addicts to these new technologies. And we have to teach our young people to ask the right questions, and not just settle for old, tired answers. And ultimately, what that means is judgment, giving them the ability to discern right from wrong, good from bad, what is constructive and what is destructive. So, if we can do that, then we will always stay ahead of the machines, regardless of how much faster AI progresses. There is still something sacred and valuable in the human condition, and that can only come from teaching and transmitting values.

The third thing is to remain open to change and to the world at large. We cannot know today what set of skills are needed for the jobs of tomorrow. Even five years from now, you can't predict what new jobs will be, what the new demands will be, and therefore, it also means the skills and the inherent capacities of our current students; and I don't just mean ACS (Academy) or ACS (Independent) or ACS (International); every one of them has something that they are good at. Our job is to identify, sharpen, and to empower them. And it also means cultivating an attitude of intellectual openness and inclusivity which goes beyond just saying "come and be part of the gang". Inclusivity also means respect for people who are different, who think differently, who behave differently, and yet we still want them to be part of a cohesive team. We reflect on the identity of the ACS: we are a very motley crew, a very diverse batch, but nevertheless, the secret sauce of an ACS education is to foster a strong sense of identity amidst that great diversity, and affinity and allegiance to one another, and to believe that we're working for a higher purpose, a higher mission, a more sacred mission. We need the humility to recognise that whatever we know today will be obsolete sooner than we think. Even our position today, the ranking order in a new economy and a new world can be quite different, and that requires an attitude of openness, humility, and respect. And I would add resilience, because there will be challenges, there will be setbacks. But it's how we cope with the setbacks, like how Mr Lau coped with setbacks in his own life, that in the end, in the fullness of time, still commands respect. We need to help our younger generation face such an uncertain world. We need to help them cross technological, cultural and social revolutions. We need to impart to them the appropriate values for them to survive and thrive.

So, in sum, we need and we want to foster a generation that is confident in our identity and therefore able to engage the world; capable enough to master new technologies rather than being shaped or addicted by new technologies; and curious enough to keep learning, keep adapting, and to learn from others, no matter how different they are from us.

This is not just about teaching, but a larger social project of nurturing and bringing up the next generation. This is really about 'heart-work'- not technical, not a mental exercise, but about nurturing the character and ethos of the next generation, anchoring values and principles, and that's why again I come back to Mr and Mrs Lau and what we remember is their ethos, their character, their behaviour under pressure, in coping with the vicissitudes and sometimes unfairness of life. That's what inspires us.

So, for those of you who are leading this school, those of you who have planted ACS schools on a variety of hills and banks, and again for the Methodist Church, remember the missionaries who planted Methodism in Singapore: the first thing they would build is the church, and within a year they would plant a school, and keep that spirit of growth, and I want to say this especially to Tan Wah Thong, whom I have known for a long time as well. This attitude of always being willing to plant new things, and in the case of Richard Seow, I know this has been a labour of love, and you've probably had so many "no"s over decades, but it is a special moment that we're out here, and that's why I'm really, really honoured and pleased to be able to say that I've participated in a small way in the commemorative launch of ACS (Academy). It is the next step of our shared and long journey as the Methodist Church and as members of the ACS family.

You know, all of us as individuals have a life cycle. We are young once, but we grow old and at an appropriate time, we will move off this stage. But the difference is, as institutions, whether it is a church or a school, it has to remain perpetual, and it has to be able to bring up the next generation and seed the next generation with leaders who will keep this perpetual machine in motion. That's institutional building. So may ACS (Academy) flourish, fulfil the hopes and dreams of its founders, and I want to encourage Esther Kwan and the team of intrepid travellers of this new mission and vision. Lead with purpose. Live by the values that we seek to pass on. Imbue the next generation with the character and the capabilities to face the future with clear eyes and confidence and optimism in their hearts. This is your life's work, and if we get this right, then young people, regardless of background, regardless of the neural and mental state that we are born with to be able to fulfil our potential, and able to fulfil the power of each and every individual's God-given purpose. If we do all this, then we can conclude with confidence that "The Best is Yet to Be".

Thank you all very much.