Award History

The best of our young people have come a long way from 1975, the year the National Youth Service Award was instituted.  There were no awards then that acknowledged young men and women with the drive and commitment to look beyond themselves, to strive for personal excellence and who by doing so, added immensely to the quality of life in Singapore.  These young people were opening new horizons for all young Singaporeans and they deserved commendation.

The founding panel of the National Youth Service Award (NYSA) involved the widest spectrum of organisations having anything to do with young people: the Singapore Armed Forces, People's Association, National Trades Union Congress, Singapore Sports Council, Singapore Council of Social Service and Ministry of Education.  Heading the panel was the Public Service Commission to give the Award national prestige.

Three individual awards and three team awards in five categories were recommended.  These categories were community development and youth services, science and technology, arts and culture, sports and any other field of human endeavour and lastly, deeds of bravery.  The seven panel members met, discussed and even argued to reach definitions of youth, service and achievement.

What the panel wanted especially was to recognise the motivators - young people whose actions had a multiplier effect.  While the element of service to the community was the key criterion, what should set the outstanding ones apart from other nominees would be those with the ability to reach out to other young people.

In 1976, one young man and three teams became the first to receive the NYSA. In 1993, the name of the Award was changed from National Youth Service Award to Singapore Youth Award (SYA), and a new category was added - Entrepreneurship.  This category acknowledges the importance of young people with enterprise and drive to capitalise on their good ideas.

What has changed since 1975 is the vision of young people. Today, they look beyond our tiny island to the world around.  What has changed is the opening up of numerous global opportunities and the ability of Singapore's young people to see and seize these opportunities.  Increasingly, Singapore Youth Award winners are out there meeting these global challenges.  They made their mark on Singapore and many are now making their mark on the world stage. They continue to contribute at higher levels.

Such young people with the universal values, mindset and skills to thrive and succeed in a global environment and yet maintain strong ties with their family, community and Singapore are what we call "world-ready youth".  These are young people who have vision, a “can-do” attitude towards challenges, a “never-say-die” spirit in the face of adversity, the courage to "walk the talk", and the passion to “serve by doing”.  These are the young men and women whom we have recognised with the Singapore Youth Award and will continue to commend.