Singapore Water Association Southeast Asia Symposium on Coastal Protection - Mr Zaqy Mohamad

Introduction

1. Good morning. Let me begin with a number: 30 percent.

2. That is the share of Singapore's land that could be chronically flooded or submerged if we do not act on sea level rise. Not in some distant hypothetical future - but within the lifetimes of our children who are in school today.

3. To understand what that means, I want to take you to two cities that many of us have visited, or seen in photographs. Their stories matter to us because in many ways, they are our story too.

4. Venice, Amsterdam, and Singapore are all coastal cities, built on and around water - water that was not just a geographical feature but the very source of our prosperity, our connectivity, our identity. All three understood early that the sea was both their greatest asset and their most enduring vulnerability. I am not about to give a history lesson. I am showing you a mirror of our circumstances.

5. Venice is one of the most beautiful and ancient cities in the world - a republic of merchants and navigators whose canals and palazzos have captivated visitors for centuries. But Venice is sinking, and the sea has been rising to meet it. The flooding locals call acqua alta has grown from an occasional nuisance into a recurring crisis. In 2019, floods reached their highest levels in fifty years, submerging the Basilica of San Marco and damaging heritage that no amount of money can restore. A flood barrier was first proposed in the 1980s. It was completed in 2020 - four decades later. The cost of that delay, in heritage lost and a city slowly diminished, is incalculable.

6. Amsterdam tells a different story. The Netherlands is a small, densely populated nation that engineered its way through living below sea level - reclaiming land, building dykes, developing a mastery of water management that became a source of national pride. In that sense, the Dutch spirit is one Singaporeans will recognise. But in February 1953, a single storm surge struck overnight, submerging over 9 percent of the country's agricultural land and killing more than 1,800 people. What followed was a national reckoning of extraordinary resolve. The Dutch committed to the Delta Works - one of the most ambitious coastal engineering programmes ever undertaken. It took decades, cost billions, and worked. Today, the Netherlands is the world's foremost authority on coastal protection, and its expertise is sought by governments across the globe - including our own.

7. Two cities. One acted after the disaster. One is still living with the consequences of acting too late.

8. Singapore is determined to write a different story — and we are writing it now, before the waters rise.

Policy – Building a shared responsibility

9. Earlier this year, Singapore’s Parliament passed the Coastal Protection Bill. This new legislation sets out clear responsibilities of landowners for coastal protection and ensures compliance with PUB’s coastal protection standards.

   1. Supporting this legal framework is the Code of Practice on Coastal Protection, which was launched yesterday. This is a key document that spells out the planning, design, operations and maintenance requirements for coastal protection measures in Singapore.

10. These efforts have put Singapore in a good position to adapt to sea level rise. However, achieving flood resilience more broadly requires everyone’s involvement. It also depends on industry capability to meet policy requirements.

11. To this end, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Flood-Resilient Developments (FRD) Guidebook, which represents a significant step forward in strengthening flood resilience in Singapore’s built environment. The Guidebook will serve as a practical resource for design professionals, property owners, and property management professionals, to enhance the resilience of developments against both inland and coastal flooding.

    1. Let me assure you that this is not a technical manual meant to sit on an engineer's shelf. It pitched for the layman and the professional alike - a resource that allows a homeowner in Jurong or Pasir Ris to pick it up, look at their own property, and understand concretely what they can do today to protect their home - as well as the professional seeking guidance. Because flood resilience cannot be the responsibility of government alone. It has to reach every building, every estate, every household.

12. The Guidebook was developed by an Alliance for Action bringing together engineers, architects, and real estate professionals working alongside PUB. It was tested with practitioners and homeowners, refined based on their feedback, and designed to be genuinely useful - not just technically complete. 

People – Developing Skills and Capabilities for Coastal Protection

13. Let me now turn to people - because infrastructure alone is not enough. You need the human expertise to plan it, build it, and maintain it over decades.

14. Here is something worth reflecting on. When Singapore decided to solve its water security challenge in the 1970s and 80s, we did not just build NEWater plants. We built an entire ecosystem of expertise - engineers, scientists, operators - that Singapore now exports to the world. That capability did not emerge by accident. It was deliberately cultivated, over years, with structured investment in skills and training.

15. We are doing the same now for coastal protection. I am pleased to announce that PUB and the SWA Coastal Protection Chapter will co-develop a Skills and Competency Framework for the industry - covering the full project lifecycle from risk assessment and modelling, to design, construction, and long-term operations.

16. Just as we have learnt from the Dutch mastery of water management, we are now building our own generation of specialists so that one day, Singapore's expertise in coastal protection may be what others come to learn from.

17. We will invest in our people to be able to deliver on projects:

    1. A future-ready workforce is needed to plan, design and deliver effective coastal protection solutions.

    2. This requires specialised skillsets such as flood modelling, coastal engineering, and operation and maintenance of flood protection systems.

    3. With the new legislation, new roles such as flood protection managers will also be needed to help landowners meet regulatory requirements.

18. This Framework will be completed in the first half of 2027, and SWA will partner with the Skills and Workforce Development Agency to support subsidised training aligned with it.

19. The Skills and Competency Framework will:

    1. Guide industry on essential skills and competencies;

    2. Provide a structured pathway to relevant training; and

    3. Signal the need for workforce readiness as coastal protection works scale up.

20. We are, in effect, building a new set of professionals - because we know we will need thousands of trained specialists over the coming decades, and we need to start now.

Practice – Recognising Industry Contributions and Practitioners 

21. I am encouraged to see our earlier efforts already bearing fruit. Today, we recognise the first graduating cohort from SWA's inaugural Coastal Protection Masterclass.

22. I want to dwell on that word - first. These are the pioneers of a discipline that Singapore is building from the ground up. The engineers and professionals in this cohort chose to invest their time in a field that is still taking shape, because they understood that the work ahead is consequential and that someone has to lead it.

23. The Masterclass covered coastal systems and climate risks, engineering and nature-based solutions, and risk management through policy and planning. But more than the curriculum, what this cohort represents is a signal - that Singapore's coastal protection effort has moved from policy intent to professional practice. The pipeline is being built - and these are the people who will help Singapore write its chapter.

Whole-of-society effort

24. Building climate resilience is a whole-of-society endeavour. We must bring businesses and communities along - because the most effective strategies are shaped by the people they serve.

25. I earlier spoke about 2026 as Singapore’s Year of Climate Adaptation. This supports our development of Singapore’s first National Adaptation Plan (NAP). We will be conducting a series of these conversations over the coming months to gather perspectives on how different sectors - from businesses to local communities - can adapt and thrive in a climate constrained world. I encourage everyone here to be part of these conversations. Later this year, we will also be hosting a public exhibition on climate adaptation - do look out for it and bring your families and communities along to learn how we can all play a part.

26. If you have ideas for climate adaptation projects that engage the community, consider applying for the SG Eco Fund’s Climate Adaptation Package. We have committed up to $5 million over two years to fund projects that promote awareness and drive action on flood protection and other climate adaptation-related topics. 

Conclusion

27. Let me close where I began - with Venice, Amsterdam, and Singapore.

28. All three are coastal cities, built on water, shaped by water, made prosperous by water. All three have faced the same defining question: how do you protect what you have built, when the sea itself is changing?

29. Venice shows us what it costs to know the answer and delay. Amsterdam shows us what becomes possible when a society decides, with full conviction, that it will not be defeated by the sea - and backs that conviction with decades of sustained commitment.

30. Singapore's answer must be Amsterdam's answer. Not because we have no choice, but because we have made a choice - to govern with the political will to act now, and protect the coastline our children will inherit.

31. What we are building here - the legislation, the guidebooks, the frameworks, the professionals standing in this room today - is not a response to a crisis. It is about preventing one.

32. Not every government has the conditions or the long-term orientation to make commitments today whose full value will only be felt a generation from now. Singapore does. And we must use that advantage wisely, and urgently.

33. Thank you.