The Annotated National Day Rally 2012: Part II
For this year’s National Day, we were or ma
ny of us were, at the floating platform on the bay. Someof us were overseas. There was one group in Melbourne.
They gathered, they watched it live
streaming on the Internet. Some of those kids, parents were at the Bay so we were having a remote joint celebration. They SMS-ed one another, you are watching the show here, they are watching theshow there. You are enjoying it separated by 5000 miles.
It’s a different world.
Within Singapore, domestic factors will change Singapore too over the next 20 years. Some of theseyou can already see
–
the more mature economy, an ageing society, a population which is bettereducated. But our future is not predetermined.
It depends on ourselves, what we make of ourresources, of education, our people, what we hope Singapore will be and what we will Singapore to
become. What we decide, we want to be there, let’s get there.
We have to set a clear direction. Wecannot just be blown off course or drift with the tides onto the rocks. So I asked Heng Swee Keat tolead a national conversation on Our Singapore to define what sort of country we want and how wecan achieve it. So please join in this national effort, think seriously about our future,
contribute yourideas, work together to make it happen. In a rapidly changing world, Singapore must keep on
improving because if we stand still, we’re going to fall behind. You may think you will be happy as
you are, but
when you see how the world has moved and what the human spirit is capable of
elsewhere, we will not be happy. And even if we are, our children will not be happy. So we have tokeep on moving and if we adapt to changes and exploit new opportunities, we will thrive.
So what should the next chapter of the Singapore story be about? I think if I summarise it very, very
briefly, it should be about three words
–
Hope, Heart, Home.BRIGHTER HOPES
We always have to offer hope of a better future in Singapore. An economy that createsopportunities for our people. A society that nurtures our people to their fullest potential.
A people
who look to the future and not just back to the past. A nation where our children will live better livesthan us, as we did our parents.We have done it in this generation, for this generation, with this generation. And it was broughthome vividly to me recently in one MPS session when Mr Toh Phee Seng came to see me. He is aTeck Ghee resident. He works in the construction industry, he came to see me for some helpbecause he needed to be recertified for the construction safety orientation course but he had aproblem because he is illiterate. He cannot read English, he cannot read Chinese. He knows thesafety rules, he can pass the exams but he needs somebody to read the exam for him, so could Iplease write him a letter? So I happily wrote him a letter then I had a chat with him and his wife after
Comment [A1]:
He forgot to mentionthat it was a session of group therapyrecommended by a shrink to overcomepost-traumatic stress.
Comment [A2]:
A better one too.
Comment [A3]:
It depends on whetherthe 60.1% of 2011 would wake up by 2016or if more would fall into a slumber.
Comment [A4]:
Does “we”
refer to thePAP?
Comment [A5]:
Division of labor: wecontribute ideas; the PAP contributesdecisions.
Comment [A6]:
True. One is remindedof Myanmar again.
Comment [A7]:
How nice of him!! He
asked the question and now he’s providing
model answers. If he were even nicer, hewould cancel the exam as well.
Comment [A8]:
They are already very
bright. In fact, they are blinding. It’s
justthat they remain as hopes indefinitely.
Comment [A9]:
That’s ingenious. Offer
the hope of something, but never offer thething itself. Keep the people yearning andthey will be your lapdogs forever.
Comment [A10]:
Perhaps he is hopingthat the people will forget all the lesssavory things that the PAP government hasdone.
Comment [A11]:
Correction: the only
appropriate preposition is “against”.
that and he told me proudly that his two children were graduates. The daughter, Huey Sun is anaccountant with IRAS, this lady (pointing to the screen), and the son, Wei Seong, is an A*STARresearcher. He graduated from Singapore Poly, he went to university overseas. Eventually he earneda PhD from NUS, he was awarded an A*STAR international fellowship, he did a post-doc fellowship inHarvard and now he is back
–
research scientist, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Ibelieve researching the structure of bones. So Mr Toh was happy that his children had done muchbetter than himself. And his family reflects the experiences of so many other families in Singaporeand epitomises
Singapore’s transformation in one generation from Third World to First
, fromsomebody illiterate, never had a chance to learn to read but brought up children who have been toHarvard, researchers, working, doing well. But beyond the broad lessons,
I am sure you want to
know what happened to Mr Toh’s MPS case.
I got a reply from NTUC Learning Hub, which was a
training provider. They have automated their process now so you don’t need somebody to read the
questions for Mr Toh. They advised Mr Toh to take the computer-based audio exam so the computer
will read the questions and Mr Toh can answer and I’m happy to say that Mr Toh passed the
examination!I know that our people sometimes worry about the future. Can our children really do better than us?But if we take a step back and look at where we are objectively and see our situation in perspective,I think the answer is: we are in much better shape than we give ourselves credit for. We have strongfundamentals. What do we mean? A world-class workforce, sound finances,
a system that works. Itis not perfect. Every now and then, something goes wrong and every time an MRT malfunctions, weare reminded of this but we can fix these imperfections and we can keep on making it better. Wemay be very conscious of our shortcomings but others have a high regard for what we have achieved.I met the former-President of MIT recently, Susan Hockfield. She was then about to retire and shewas going on a visit to many countries in Asia. She came here, I knew her and I gave her dinner, andshe told me how impressed she was with Singapore. She said Singapore is the only country where
you can see the full potential of the human spirit. And this is a person, head of one of the topinstitutions in the world, the brightest. She has got people from all around the world, she hastravelled, she tells me this completely unsolicited. I think we should give ourselves a little bit of credit. If we all work together and confidently tackle our problems, then I think we will improve ourlives.On jobs, we are bringing in many new investments.
We are creating new and better jobs; in fact
more jobs than we have persons to do them. We are strengthening the core of the workforce, theSingapore core of the workforce. We are offering new Singapore-Industry Scholarships forSingaporeans to go to university and work for local companies to build up our local companies. Thisyear alone, 90 scholarships, and more to come. We are upgrading our low income workers
–
whether it’s cleaning, security industries or others.
The opportunities are there, take advantage of
them, upgrade yourselves to become more productive, to become more employable.
Comment [A12]:
Moral of the story:this is hope, just as buying 4D is hope.
Comment [A13]:
The transformation isneeded is from authoritarian world to freeworld.
Comment [A14]:
He thinks hisaudience is stupid enough to believe thathe would start telling an inspirational storywithout a happy ending.
Comment [A15]:
A good speaker wouldhave paused after this sentence to allowthe audience to applaud him for being ableto empathize with them. He should have
since that’s what he wanted to show.
Comment [A16]:
The entire list wasburnt on the stakes thanks to this last item.Really, it should not have implicatedeveryone else.
Comment [A17]:
This should come asno surprise. She could have seen it duringthe Holocaust too. The human spirit is bestseen when people are faced with thegreatest adversities.
Comment [A18]:
One may choose todoubt her intelligence or her sincerity, butone should not doubt both for the sake of fairness.
Comment [A19]:
Who is getting them?
Comment [A20]:
Therefore we needforeign talents.
Comment [A21]:
People should alsomake use of the opportunity that comesonce every four years to upgrade theirpolitical leaders. By replacing them.
Public transport
–
I mentioned MRT just now
–
we are making major investments in trains, $60billion over 10 years. Many lines coming on. Thomson Line work is going to start very soon. It goesfrom Woodlands to Marina Bay. The Downtown Line from Bukit Panjang to Changi Expo will open inphases starting next year. But train projects by their nature take time, major investments and youhave to plan well ahead. So while we do the trains, we are also working on the Bus ServicesEnhancement Programme (BSEP). It was a little bit controversial when we announced it in theBudget but it is a good thing, I think it is the right thing to do and will benefit many, manySingaporeans. And the commuters should start to see new buses, new services and betterfrequencies under the BSEP starting next month, progressively as we phase in the additional busesand as we hire and train the new drivers.
On ageing and healthcare, new hospitals are on the way. Ng Teng Fong Hospital in Jurong and thenext one in Sengkang well under planning. We are building more nursing homes and daycare centresbut on your part, please make the effort, keep fit, live healthily.
It is the best and cheapesthealthcare anyone can provide himself.On housing, we are cutting the waiting time to book HDB flats and I am confident that nearly everySingaporean household can afford and can get their own home. We have done it before, we cancontinue to do it. There is enough space to accommodate the whole population even as it grows
somewhat. We are developing more housing estates. In the longer term, we will reclaim more landand we are not just building flats but creating better living environments with green spaces, bluewaters, clear skies.
And with your help we are building stronger communities, communities where
people live happily together, where people cooperate with one another. There is one thing I shouldmention on housing before I move on and that is the question of housing for singles. It is somethingwhich is on the minds of many Singaporeans because the numbers of singles have gone up. Singlescan buy HDB flats on a resale market and get a Government grant, CPF grant, but they are not yetallowed to buy HDB flats directly from HDB. And I think this has caused some concern because resaleprices have gone up.
I fully understand these concerns and I should say MND also fully understandsthe situation and I would also say Khaw Boon Wan is looking actively at the matter.Beyond these immediate challenges, we have to look ahead, prepare ourselves for the longer term.And the most important long term investment we can make is in our people and to make it througheducation. It is the key response to progress in technology and to the changing world. If you ask howdo I cope with UAVs, with technology, with computers, with life sciences, with new processes andproducts? The answer is educate yourself for the new world. Learn to control the computers androbots, do not get replaced by them. We have got to keep upgrading ourselves, out-think andoutsmart the competition and be smart enough to take advantage of the technology. And we have agood education system at all levels.
Our universities produce graduates which are highly sought after,here and abroad. This picture (of a university graduation ceremony) was taken I think in this room.There are more graduation ceremonies than National Day Rallies held in this room every year. Our ITand poly students do brilliantly.
They are considered world class institutions; nobody else has
Comment [A22]:
But will they be hereto wait for passengers or are passengersalready here desperately waiting for them?Should they have come earlier?
Comment [A23]:
Is it the right thing to
do because it’s a good thing? Or is it a good
thing just because
he
thinks it’s the right
thing to do? Either way, it is a thing thatwill take place at the expense (literally) of taxpayers.
Comment [A24]:
As with the trains, willthey be here to wait for people or arepeople already here waiting for them?
Comment [A25]:
One notes that this is
different from “It is the best and cheapest
healthcare any government can provid
e.”
Comment [A26]:
This may be taken to
mean that he won’t be d
oing much to helphouseholds afford their own homes sincepractically every household is
already
ableto afford one in his eyes.
Comment [A27]:
Yes. It just meansthere is going to be very much less space
for each person when we already don’t
have a lot of space to begin with.
Comment [A28]:
Warning: all attemptsto build utopias have resulted in thecreation of dystopias.
Comment [A29]:
He does not need aminister to look i
nto the matter “actively”
when the solution is simply to let singlesbuy from the HDB
—
unless he is bent onmaintaining certain obstacles. And ohyes
—there aren’t enough flats. People are
waiting for them, not them for people.
Comment [A30]:
That’s why he learned
how to use facebook.
Comment [A31]:
He could have meant,
“Our universities produce graduates who
are highly sought after here and in
their own
countries.”
Comment [A32]:
An idiotic statementgiven that there is only one NDR per year.
Comment [A33]:
The students areinstitutions? Very unique.
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
