Address by SUSS President Professor Tan Tai Yong at the SUSS Convocation 2025

1. Welcome to the SUSS Convocation 2025. 

2. Today, we gather to celebrate the accomplishments of our 3,400 graduands – once again, our largest cohort to date. SUSS has been growing.

3. SUSS has been growing. Over the past year, the university has achieved several significant milestones. The site for our new campus has been finalised, and we anticipate establishing our presence in the Bugis-Rochor area in due course. Additionally, this year we committed to ensuring that all Singaporean students who qualify based on per capita income will be exempt from tuition fees at SUSS. Last month, we were also pleased to launch our newest school, the School of Social Work and Social Development.

4. Today, I want to focus my speech on the milestone that all of you have reached. This milestone reflects the many individual journeys that have converged on this stage, each marked by dedication, resilience, and growth. 

5. This year is significant as Singapore celebrates SG60 under the overarching theme “Building Our Singapore Together.” Your graduation coincides with this noteworthy occasion, and our convocation theme, “Shaping Our Tomorrow,” reflects a similar aspiration.

6. You now step into the future as graduates.  Your achievement is the outcome of consistent effort and lessons learned.  With that achievement now comes a responsibility - to help shape a world changing faster than ever before. 

7. As technology progresses and societies develop, forthcoming challenges require not only intellectual capability but, very importantly, a strong sense of purpose.

8. Purpose keeps you steady during challenges, empowers perseverance after setbacks, and motivates you through fatigue.

9. Purpose transforms tasks into missions. It turns a career into a calling. But purpose is not something you learn in the classroom. It is something you discover, shape, and live out. 

10. And this is where Dream, Dare, Do, the ethos that defines our university, comes alive. It is not simply a phrase on our walls, but a way of living and leading. It challenges you to dream with clarity of purpose, to dare with courage in the face of uncertainty, and to do with commitment so that your actions leave a lasting impact.

11. Do not only dream of success; dream of making a difference. Purpose gives your dreams clarity, helping you not just lead the life you hope to live, but the world you hope to shape. 

12. The most meaningful dreams are not about possessions or titles. These do not last. 

13. Dream instead of making meaningful change, creating positive impact, improving lives, and leaving a legacy.

14. In our latest study with over 1,000 youths and 250 employers, we found that while many young workers are open to new opportunities, they all value stability. Both groups place different emphasis on skills and learning. So, turn purposeful dreams into bold action —  bridge gaps, communicate clearly, think critically, solve problems that create real impact.

15. Pursuing dreams requires courage to face the unknown, challenge conventions, and take risks. Purpose drives this courage, motivating you to act boldly for a cause greater than yourself. Stand for what is right, create what is needed, and lead even in uncertainty.

16. Actions matter most when driven by purpose, turning effort into outcomes. Every contribution builds the larger story, and even small deeds—done with integrity and compassion— will help shape the future.

17. Take Khairul Anwar’s journey, for instance. His childhood dream was to become a lawyer, but life’s responsibilities, building a career, starting a family, providing for loved ones meant setting that dream aside. Yet purpose has a way of calling us back.

18. Years later, Khairul dared to pursue that dream again. Balancing full-time work, a demanding law programme, and family commitments was no easy feat, a challenge that many of our part-time students know well. But with courage anchored in purpose, he kept going.

19. At SUSS, he found a learning model that allowed him to balance work, family, and study, while deepening his commitment to community law. What truly sustained him was his family, the late-night “jiayou” messages, the small celebrations, and the constant reminders of why the journey mattered.

20. Khairul’s story brings to life the spirit of Dream, Dare, Do with purpose. He dared to reignite a dream, he pursued it with conviction, and he did it with the support of those who stood beside him. His success reminds us that purpose is not carried alone. It is strengthened by the community we journey with.

21. We see this as well in the experience of Lee Hui Yi. In her third year, she found herself stretched thin, juggling a heavy course load, long work hours, and personal struggles that left her drained. What kept her going was the support she received: counselling through C-three at SUSS, the encouragement of her parents, and the steady guidance of her Work Attachment supervisor, Jerry. Their belief in her gave her the confidence to press on and step into the future with courage.

22. Hui Yi’s story reminds us that Dream, Dare, Do with purpose is never a solo journey. Purpose is strengthened by the people who walk beside us; families, mentors, and communities who lift us up when the road is hard.

23. And just as Khairul and Hui Yi found strength in those around them, so too will you. The friendships you have built here, the guidance of your lecturers, and the support of your loved ones are reminders that none of us shapes tomorrow alone. Together, we find the courage to dream bigger, to dare further, and to do with greater impact.

24. Dear Graduands, as you walk across the stage, remember this: “the heart of education is not knowledge alone, but the wisdom to live with purpose”. Let your purpose be the compass that shows you the way, guides your dreams, strengthens your daring, and give meaning to all that you do. 

25. So, Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2025.   The future is now yours.  Go shape it with purpose!