Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen handed out 21 awards to individuals, groups, and units from the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday morning at SAFRA Toa Payoh. Another 102 awards were given out by Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Ng Chee Meng before the ceremony.
The awardees were recognised for their innovative projects at the Mindef PRIDE (PRoductivity and Innovation in Daily Efforts) Day. Their innovations and work improvement ideas helped Mindef save a record total of $222.9 million in the last financial year, a 36 per cent increase from last year.
These innovations ranged from a new multi-point pressure tester for the Chinook to a new test kit that accurately detects whether the Infra Red Aiming Devices (IR LADs) on SAR-21 rifles are functioning.
At the ceremony, Dr Ng stressed the importance of staying innovative amidst land and manpower constraints: "As Singapore progressively develops and our organisations mature, the next phase of improvements must come more from innovation-led productivity."