Speech by Prof Ho Teck Hua, President and Distinguished University Professor, at NTU Convocation 2024

Opening Address by

 

Professor Ho Teck Hua

President and Distinguished University Professor 

NTU CONVOCATION 2024

23 July 2024

Nanyang Auditorium

Chancellor of NTU and President of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam,

 Pro-Chancellors,

 Board Chair, Ms Goh Swee Chen,

 Members of the Board of Trustees,

 Honorary Doctorate Recipient, Professor Alexander Zehnder,

 Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni, and friends,

 Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Good morning. 

 

Congratulations to the Class of 2024!

 

Graduates – today, marks a major milestone in your lives.

 

Over the years, you have spent hours attending lectures, tutorials, and lab sessions, having fun in a club activity, or volunteering at a charity.

 

Along the way, you have forged many lifelong friendships.

 

Some of you may be even more fortunate and will have met your life partners here.  

 

Now, you are entering a new phase of your lives, filled with exciting career opportunities.

 

And you are doing this as graduates of NTU, the best young university in the world.

 

As you enter this new phase, I urge you to carry with you and to practise an important value – empathy.

 

You may ask – What is empathy?

 

It is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes, to understand their experience, and then act to help them.

 

Empathy can serve as a beacon of understanding and compassion.

 

This is important in our increasingly digital world, where people spend more time with technology than with other human beings.

 

By understanding the needs of our family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, and our environment, we can create a more inclusive and sustainable future.

 

I have two pieces of advice for you, inspired by empathy shown by two outstanding individuals in the NTU community.

 

The first piece of advice is to empathise with the environment so that our planet is sustainable for future generations.

 

I would like to highlight the work of environmental biotechnologist Professor Zehnder, whom we call Sascha.

 

We are conferring an honorary doctorate upon Sascha in recognition of his significant contributions to NTU and to sustainability around the world.

 

I would like to focus on three of his contributions.

 

First, Sascha served as chair of the NTU Academic Affairs Committee, where he helped raise the bar for recruiting faculty, bringing many top professors to NTU.

 

Second, Sascha laid the groundwork for NTU’s long term sustainability efforts, making the university one of the most eco-friendly campuses in the world.

 

In fact, we have 8 out of the 21 net zero buildings in Singapore.

 

Third, Sascha has long been an international advocate for more efficient and sustainable energy use.

 

He is one of the founding fathers of the 2000-Watt Society, which advocates each person to aspire to use only 2,000 watts of power.

 

Sascha suggests that if we empathise with the environment, we must take up the challenge and reduce our energy use.

 

Let us accept his challenge and see how we can do this!

 

The second piece of advice is to empathise with people who have had difficult life experiences.

 

Haikal Afiq Bin Mohd Rizal is a graduate who has consistently shown empathy by helping others.

 

Let me share two examples.

First, he volunteered to help residents living in rental flats at Merpati Road.

Many of these residents had lived there since the 1960s and were very anxious about relocating to new homes.

 

Haikal listened to them, addressed their concerns about the relocation, and linked them with people who could help them.

 

Second, Haikal mentored and advised his peers and many young students during his time volunteering with Yayasan Mendaki and NTU’s Career and Attachment Office.

 

I am pleased to note that Haikal will continue with his community work after graduation by joining the People’s Association.

 

I have given two examples of people who have practised empathy, one for the environment, and one for our community members.

 

Next, I would like to give an example of what can be achieved through the power of empathy by sharing the story of our graduating student Randy Tan.

 

At an early age, Randy suffered a high fever, which caused him to lose 50 per cent of his hearing in both ears.

           

To better understand people, Randy reads their lips.

 

This became challenging during Covid when people wore masks and lessons were conducted through Zoom.

 

NTU colleagues arranged a note-taking service for Randy so that he wouldn’t miss out on anything during classes.

 

This year, Randy is graduating with honours with distinction.

 

In fact, he plans to continue his studies in astrophysics.

 

I am proud that our NTU colleagues were able to play a small part in helping Randy succeed.

 

In conclusion, I urge everyone to practise empathy, let it guide our choices and actions.

 

Together, let us build a world with greater compassion and respect for all.

 

Thank you, and congratulations once again to the Class of 2024!