14 October 2024
Good morning Senior Minister of State, Mr Zaqy Mohamad, our key-note speaker Mr Peter Ho, fellow ambassadors, APPSMO participants, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to the opening of the Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO). This is the 25th year we are holding APPSMO, and we are also celebrating this accomplishment.
APPSMO has come a long way. We started APPSMO as a kind of Summer Camp for senior military officers. Its key objective, then and now, is to have a place for senior military officers to come together to consider the challenges facing the military leadership and they impact defence and security.
The world has changed since 1999, but the challenges of being a senior military officer remains. RSIS is glad to have the opportunity to create the platform for this mandate of professional development and to maintain the tradition of camaraderie that APPSMO brings.
The theme for APPSMO this year is “Navigating Complexity in Geopolitics Today”. We are privileged to be joined by Mr Peter Ho, a respected leader in public service. His role in helping Singapore understand strategic futures and preparing for complex issues cannot be understated. We are pleased to have him set the stage for the professional development of our APPSMO participants.
Complex issues often defy categorisation. But here in RSIS, we try our best to ‘ponder the improbable’. To set the stage for discussion and solutioning, we have put together 3 panels dealing with questions all of us are trying to address. We are pleased to be able to have so many eminent academics and practitioners to speak on these topics.
The key to dealing with complex challenges is to understand the fundamental issue and discuss solutions. I am sure the speakers will shed light on the challenges we must deal with. The concluding panel to APPSMO would be where we ask the “So what” questions.
With this, I would like to welcome all participants again to APPSMO 2024, and to Singapore. I wish you an enriching and fruitful engagement this week.