Motorola Solutions Singapore 50th Anniversary Golden Gala – Speech by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development

Mr Rajat Gupta, Motorola Solutions Vice President, Asia, Middle East & Africa;

Mr Chang Kar Weng, Singapore Country President for Motorola Solutions;

His Excellency Ambassador of the United States Jonathan Kaplan;

Distinguished guests

Introduction

1. Good evening. It is my pleasure to join you tonight to celebrate this milestone for Motorola Solutions.

Success and Growth in Singapore

2. You have come a long way since your humble beginnings in a small office space at the Mandarin Hotel in the 1970s.

3. Today, Motorola Solutions provides critical communication and security solutions to a wide range of clients from both the government and private sector. Let me provide some examples.

(a) Motorola Solutions supports various Home Team Departments under MHA through its Tetra Two-Way Radio Communication Solution. The Tetra radios provide reliable and secure communications for officers for their day-to-day operations and most importantly, in times of emergency.

(b) Motorola Solutions also supports the transportation, oil and gas, hospitality, logistic, pharmaceutical and tourism sectors. In fact, some of the biggest events we host in Singapore, such as the recent F1 Grand Prix and National Day Parade, also utilise the company’s communications and security solutions.

Continue Efforts in Giving Back to the Community

4. I am happy to note that besides focusing on growing your business, Motorola Solutions also takes its social responsibilities seriously. The company’s employees are actively engaged in social and charitable programmes.

(a) An example is through the Yellow Ribbon Project. You have rallied your employees, along with their family and friends, to support second chances for ex-offenders through participating in the annual Yellow Ribbon Prison Run. The company also makes donations to the Yellow Ribbon Fund through the run. You know, I work very closely with the Singapore Prison Service. As part of my work, I visit the prison very often to speak to the inmates to see how we can help them in their rehabilitation journey. Some weeks, I will go there four times a week. Some days, twice a day. But it is through these connections that I realised how they feel appreciative and the gratitude they have to the people who support their rehabilitation and reintegration journey. Your involvement, your contribution to this cause means a lot to them. So, I sincerely want to thank you for doing this.

(b) Motorola Solutions is also the largest corporate supporter of the National Crime Prevention Council’s CyberCrime Prevention Ambassador programme. Around 20 employees volunteer for the various scam prevention campaigns. These activities include sharing crime prevention tips with senior citizens at community events and conducting talks and exhibitions for children in schools.

A Committed Partner in Advancing the Safety and Security of Singaporeans

5. As part of our mission to keep Singapore safe and secure, the Home Team is committed to advancing and integrating a full range of science and technology capabilities in homeland security. The Home Team Science & Technology Agency, or HTX, innovates and delivers cutting-edge technologies to empower Home Team officers to carry out their daily operations.

(a) HTX’s collaborations with the industry, including Motorola Solutions, play a big part in allowing us to achieve this.

6. I want to share with you that even though it is seen as a partnership and also providing solutions to keep Singapore safe and secure, but from a national as well as global perspective, when we provide or develop an ecosystem that is safe and secure, that  actually not only bring goodness to Singapore, but it also brings goodness to the region and global community. I meet many of my counterparts who really admire us for the safe and secure nation that we have developed. They feel that there are things that they can learn from us to help in keeping the region and global landscape safe. So, this is an important journey, because as we do this, the syndicates, the criminals, they also have their own systems. We have to make sure that normally, we are in an advanced stage compared to them, but in cases where they are ahead of us, we have partners, and we are able to work together. And today with transnational crime, the landscape has changed globally, and some are very complex, so it is important for us to continue to have good partners to make sure we keep the world safe.

Conclusion

7. To conclude, our mission to keep Singapore safe and secure is never completed. There are always changes and challenges to deal with, big and small. We continue to look for new ways to do things more effectively and efficiently. Having partners like you who understand our needs deeply and who can help us innovate and adopt best-in-class solutions, matters greatly. And  I am confident that our partnership will grow from strength to strength.

8. I want to congratulate you again on your 50th anniversary in Singapore, and I wish you another 50 successful years ahead in Singapore.

9. Thank you for having me. Enjoy the rest of the evening.