Transcript of Speech by Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, at the Tanjong Pagar GRC and Radin Mas SMC National Day Dinner, at Tanjong Pagar Community Centre

Introduction

1.Every year, as we gather here to celebrate our National Day, we will also take the time to reflect on the challenges for the future of our country. For many people, 59 years old sounds "middle-aged". For a country, 59 years is but a short time.

2.Let me begin in Malay. Then I will say some things in Chinese, before I conclude in English.

[Malay] Unity in a Troubled World

3.Sedang kita di Singapura bersyukur untuk menyambut Hari Kebangsaan kita, tetapi konflik berlaku di seluruh dunia.

4.Di Barat, Timur Jauh dan Timur Tengah.

5.Kami membaca berita mengenai mereka. Di media sosial kita melihat pengalaman di atas tanah. Ramai di antara kita yang sangat bermasalah dengan apa yang kita lihat.

6.Acara-acara ini juga menguji perpaduan kita sebagai satu rakyat yang bersatu padu.

7.Keupayaan kita untuk bertahan akan terjejas.

8.Kita tidak boleh membiarkan konflik global, dan bagaimana ia dibincangkan, untuk menarik kita ke arah yang berbeza dan memisahkan kita.

9.Perbezaan pendapat tidak boleh dibiarkan memecahbelahkan kita.

10.Sebaliknya, kita mesti faham apa yang ada dalam kepentingan negara kita sendiri.

11.Kita mahu menjadi jiran yang baik dan warga global. Tetapi kita mempunyai rumah kita sendiri yang kita mesti menjaga.

12.Terdapat peribahasa Melayu: "Air dicincang tiada putus" yang bermaksud: Potong Air, tetapi air tetap mengalir.

13.Ia bermakna bahawa ikatan dalam sesebuah keluarga tidak mudah putus, walaupun terdapat percanggahan pendapat dan perbezaan.Masa lampau kita mungkin baru berusia 59 tahun sahaja. Namun, masa hadapan kita buat selama mana yang kita jadikan bersama.

14.Mungkin yang paling penting kita harus ingat, walaupun mungkin kita tidak pernah ada Sejarah yang sama, tetapi kita pasti boleh ada masa depan yang cerah dan dikongsi.

15.Biar saya teruskan dengan bahasa Mandarin. Let me continue my speech in Mandarin.

[Mandarin] Confidence in a Troubled World

16.最近就像英兰妮部长和我们分享，最近大家都可能面对到生活费的压力，通货膨胀的压力。这一点，政府非常理解。政府也竭尽所能继续帮助我们有需要和弱势家庭。

17.在这方面，政府将采取多管齐下的方针来帮助新加坡人度过这一系列的挑战。

18.首先，对我们来说，最好的福利就是一份好工作。这能给我们安全感， 给我们家人一份安心的工作。在这方面，政府将竭尽所能打造最好的就业机会，让所有新加坡人能得到安心和所希望得到的工资。

19.在这方面，要达到一个有竞争性的新加坡经济，我们需要不断提升我们的竞争力，从个人方面到企业方面，才能保持个人企业与国家的竞争力。

20.庆祝的场合可能会让我们忘记，对我们当中的许多人来说，生活可能是艰难的。你们当中有许多人告诉我，你们关注生活费的问题。

21.政府正在采取什么措施来缓解决这个问题？让我分享我们已经和将会继续做的八件事。

22.首先，我们致力于保持新加坡经济的竞争力。创造良好的工作机会和实际收入的增长，有助于超越通胀。

23.第二，政府将竭尽所能维护我们强劲的新元。大家可能最近出国的时候，都纷纷说，外国卖的东西似乎相对比较便宜。这是因为新元强劲，让我们在全球的购买力提升。如果我们没有好好的照顾好储备金，好好的把我们的预算案控制得好，让世界各地的人民对新加坡的货币有信心，可能我们不会有这一天。

24.第三，我们将继续供应给国人多元化物质来源。从1965年，在新加坡独立开始，我们就深信不能太过依赖某一个来源 - 不管是水工，能源，或其他的材料，就算是食材，我们也必须多元化来源地。这就需要大家的配合。因此，没有任何一个来源可以挤压我们。

25.第四，政府将继续鼓励竞争。这才能保持我们的价格，公平合理，也变得更有竞争力。

26.第五，我们也会不断的降低新加坡企业的成本。

27.第六，就像英兰妮部长刚才对我们分享 - 我们有粥吃粥，有饭吃饭，同舟共济。政府 -包括财政部 - 会竭尽所能好好的保护我们所有的资源。每一分钱，我们将会好好的利用。我们为收入较低的国人提供更多援助计划。 在我们能力范围内，以较有针对性的措施来帮主最多有需要的家庭。

28.第七，我们为消费者提供更好的选择。什么时候有好的优惠，大家应该知道。例如 Price Kaki.

29.最后，我们也会提升我们的社会企业，例如 NTUC, 就能继续不断的翻新，才能把他们的有限之源帮助和服务更多新加坡人。

30.如果我们要照顾我们的人民，如果我们要照顾自己，我们就必须继续这么做。

31.在这些过程中，大家可以安心。新加坡政府将不断地把我们的资源处理好，好好的分配，把更多的帮助那些更有需要的。这是我们的承诺。

32.我们站在一起，互相照顾，直到暴风雨过去。

33.让我继续以英语发言。

[English] Opportunity in a Troubled World

34.Ladies and Gentlemen, let me now conclude in English with some of the challenges that we are facing.

35.In my Malay speech, I spoke about the challenges that we are facing in our social fabric. Today, the world is in a troubled place. We have to be very careful in all that we do. If you look around the world today, we can no longer assume that peace will be the natural state of affairs.

36.In Europe, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues into the third year. In the Middle East, the conflict between Israel-Hamas, Hezbollah, and even Iran, continues to threaten to widen. Even in Southeast Asia, if you are watching the news closely, you would know that we have had quite a few episodes of close shaves in the South China Sea and also the Taiwan Straits. All these suggest that we have to be very careful and not assume that peace is inevitable.

37.On the economic front, we have seen the advent of artificial intelligence and many other new technologies that have been disrupting the global economy. Some of them will disintermediate previous jobs, some of them will create new opportunities for us in Singapore. Just take AI as an example. AI can disrupt many jobs but AI can also create many new opportunities for Singapore. As we progress our economy, we must also be cognisant of the disruptions that we have to face. We must not let up on our efforts to make sure that every Singaporean can progress together and benefit from the economic growth, even as we transit to a new economic model.

38.So first, the global security order is under challenge, second, the global economic order is undergoing rapid change. Third, our social fabric will continuously be tested. In the new media environment, whatever happens in other parts of the world can have a knock-on impact on our social fabric directly. If you look at the recent conflicts around the world - be it Russia-Ukraine, the Middle East, or even in Asia, you will know that our people are inundated with information from all kinds of sources; threatening our social fabric, and pulling our people in different directions, perhaps hoping that our people will support their cause, one way or another. But this is where we have to be careful and ask ourselves not whether we should choose sides, but what are our core interests. What will serve Singapore best?

39.Today, it's useful to remind ourselves how we will navigate all these global geostrategic, global-economic and global domestic cohesion challenges.

40.First, we need to remain cohesive. A house divided cannot have a strong government that is confident and coherent to deal with the external forces. All foreign policies start at home. Our people need to understand our interests. We aim to have more opportunities to share with Singaporeans some of these challenges that we are facing to allow them to understand the global challenges.

41.Second, we will need to have a coherent government that has the confidence and the support of our people to deal with these external challenges. A competent government is not just one that is made up of capable people. A competent government must enjoy the support of our people, one where the government must inspire not just confidence domestically, but a government that will inspire confidence in others that deal with us.

42.I used to be the Minister for Trade and Industry. Whenever my officers from the Economic Development Board (EDB) go around the world and try to encourage people to plant their investments in Singapore to create good jobs for our people, the first question inevitably that we will be asked was this: Will you provide me with coherent governance? Will you provide me with continuity of policies so that I have the assurance that my investments here for the next 20 years will pay off?

43.In today's world, not many places can provide that. It is an opportunity for us, but it is an opportunity that we must work together to achieve, to demonstrate to the world that we have a cohesive people, a coherent government that can deal confidently with external players near and far.

44.In order to do that, we must also have committed people who are prepared to stand forward and serve our country. I do not mean this just at a political leadership level. Singapore is what it is today because we have committed people across all sectors of society that will put the nation's and country's interests before ourselves. This is what makes Singapore powerful. When foreigners come and study our model of governance, there are many lessons that they can learn and replicate.

45.When they visit our grassroots organisations and see the number and type of activities that we have to help our people bond, they always ask: how big is the People's Association (PA) and its staff? The truth is that the PA and its staff are not as big as many people imagine. The true strength of our grassroots is our people who serve daily and build the relationship between Singaporeans block by block, constituency by constituency for us to perform as one Singapore.

46.When there is a crisis - be it COVID-19, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome episode, or even the global financial crisis, it is people like you who go out to assure and engage Singaporeans at large to make sure no one is left behind. This is the strength of Singapore that we must keep growing.

47.At the higher leadership level, we must continue to inspire people who will put Singapore's interests first to come forth and serve. We need people who will make the hard decisions and can stand firm to convince our people why that was the right choice, and inspire Singaporeans to move forward together.

48.It would do us no good if Singapore becomes a low-trust society one day, where we do not trust our leaders or leadership teams, where every motive is suspect. No country can work like that. In our world today, there are many places with clever people running their countries, but may not achieve the results that we have. Fundamentally, it comes down to whether they have that deep sense of trust between government and people. This is why we must make sure that we keep the system of government and politics clean and honest, elect good people to lead our country, and inspire the young to come and step forward.

49.These are some of the unique traits of Singapore that we must continue to preserve, which will help us continue to overcome challenges as per the last 59 years of our history.

50.Every generation will have our fair share of challenges and unique solutions. But the thing that must remain constant across all generations is for us to have good people across different levels - from grassroots to the highest political offices, who are honest, command the respect of our people, and can inspire more to stand forth and serve.

51.On that note, I thank you all for your service to our nation. I hope that your efforts will inspire many more to come forward and serve. Together, let us build a Singapore that commands the respect of our people and the international audience. Together, generation after generation, we will have the right political culture where people come forward to serve for the larger good of the country, above any individual interest.

52.Thank you very much. Wishing you all a happy 59th National Day.

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