In his speech, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing, who was the Guest of Honour at SMU’s biggest graduation ceremony in 11 years, likened graduation to finishing the first part of a computer game. The large cohort of more than 2,100 students, is attributed to the growth in the number of postgraduate degree programmes that SMU has offered in recent years. Chairman of the SMU Board of Trustees Mr Ho Kwon Ping said that the University's interactive pedagogy and seminar-style teaching have helped its graduates become more "world-ready and career-ready" than their peers. All SMU students will get to stay for a few weeks or months in a facility called SMU-X, a flexible 24/7 space for incubating ideas and bringing them to fruition. It will be ready in five years. SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer added that it will increase its "presence" in Singapore by tapping its central location and undertaking research and projects that will have an impact on the city.