Welcome Remarks by Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Executive Deputy Chairman of RSIS, at the 13th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)

08 April 2019

8 April 2019
Marina Mandarin Singapore

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan
Minister for Foreign Affairs

Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers, or APPSNO in short. APPSNO is organised by the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), with the support of the National Security Coordination Secretariat in the Prime Minister’s Office.

APPSNO has convened every year since 2007. It brings together senior national security practitioners, policymakers and academics from various countries for a rigorous exchange of ideas and networking.

The theme for this year’s APPSNO is “National Security in the Age of Disruption”.

Disruption can be understood as an unsettling of the customary manner a system, process or event works – a radical change of the status quo, resulting in complexity and uncertainty. We know disruption can come in many forms – and is often a confluence of many factors. However, disruption also has the potential to drive opportunities and innovation to give us more positives than negatives for society.

In the face of rapid global change, the impact of such disruptions to national security are wide and varied. We need to understand disruption from a multi-disciplinary perspective. To confidently face challenges to national security, governments and institutions need to explore and develop tools to channel disruptions into opportunities for innovative, adaptive – and above all, responsive – policymaking.

The five panels we bring you this year encourage wide engagement with issues of national security and disruption. They include disrupting violent extremism, the future of disinformation, emerging risks in climate change, the global economic order and the relationship between new technologies and society.

The speakers gathered here are highly accomplished in their respective domains and have arrived from around the globe to share their expertise. I thank all the speakers for finding time out of their busy schedules to join us at APPSNO 2019.

With regard to the participants of APPSNO, we note you have also travelled far to be here. Given the spread of issues that will be discussed, not all of us will be experts in every field. APPSNO though is an excellent opportunity for you to appreciate and consider other aspects of national security from the perspective each participant and speaker.

Owing to the challenges we face as a global community, the sharing of ideas, experiences, and solutions is vital among national security practitioners. I have no doubt some of your most meaningful encounters and exchanges will take place during your informal exchanges or even during the external excursions planned for you.

In closing, thank you for making the commitment to come here to contribute to the discussion and expand your understanding of the issues facing the national security of our respective countries. I hope you all have a very productive week ahead.

It is my pleasure now to invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, to address us. Minister, please.

–END–

Related Content