PM Lee Hsien Loong at groundbreaking ceremony of ABC Waters @ Hougang Town & Hibiscus Family Carnival on 20 March 2016

各位同胞大家早上好！

很高兴今天有机会和在盛港南和后港的居民聚一聚，为公用事业局(PUB)在后港镇的ABC 水源计划项目举行动土仪。ABC 是什么呢 ? 是 “活跃，优美，清洁” 的水源。 这个项目预计需要两年的时间完成。完成之后，大家可以沿着全长2.2公里的水道，从后港10道，经过滨奈河(Sungei Pinang)，一直走到实龙岗蓄水池，会是一个清静、悠闲的消闲地方。年轻人可以跑步、锻炼，爷爷奶奶们也可以来这里散步，带着孙子，含饴弄孙，享受天伦之乐。后港镇的项目竣工之后，相信也会和碧山-宏茂桥公园一样，环境媲美，深受居民欢迎。

ABC项目，我们全岛做了很多。碧山-宏茂桥公园我直接有经验，我们的居民都很高兴，所以我相信这个项目在完成之后，会给居民带来相当大的好处。希望大家到时有机会来看看、欣赏、享受， 同时聚在一起。 ABC水源计划今年已经是第十年了。在这十年里，计划取得相当大的进展，已完成了32个项目， 改善和翻新了蓄水池与大大小小的水道，将水道和周边的设施连接起来，同时建设新的休闲设施，让国人享有更多休闲的好去处，和更优美的环境。政府在后港镇和全岛各地不断地翻新、建造新的基础设施，美化各个社区，就是为了让大家拥有更舒适的生活环境，提高大家生活质量。希望大家会欣赏、享受，同时会珍惜和爱护它、保护它，维持我们这个温馨的美好家园。 谢谢大家。

Friends and residents of Hougang Town, I am very happy to join you for this groundbreaking ceremony of the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) at Hougang Town and Hibiscus Family Carnival.

It is a double celebration today because we are breaking ground for three ABC Waters projects in Hougang Town, and we are also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the ABC Waters Programme.

Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters
The ABC Waters Programme has been a great success. We have developed our waterways, reservoirs and lakes not just for functional purposes, so that we have water to collect to drink and to use, but also for recreation and to improve our living environment. We have been able to build new community spaces that are clean, pleasant and full of life. I am very glad that lots of Singaporeans with their families – their old folks, their young ones – have been enjoying them.

In these last 10 years, we have expanded the ABC Waters Programme all over the island. Now we have 32 projects, including one at the Kallang River at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park which has a naturalised river that looks like a real river going through the park. We have Sengkang Floating Wetland at Punggol Reservoir which is not so far from here, and which is now a natural habitat for birds and fishes. The Wetland cleans the water up and links up both side of the reservoir with a boardwalk and a bridge.

And we will do more such projects all over the island so that Singaporeans can enjoy, and we can have a pleasant and beautiful living environment.

The ABC Waters @ Hougang Town
Today, this is three projects in Hougang Town, and we are breaking ground here for Hougang Avenue 10, Sungei Pinang and Serangoon Reservoir. It starts from the junction of Hougang Avenue 4, will go along Avenue 10 to Sungei Pinang next to Punggol Park, and go on to Serangoon Reservoir, all in, 2.2 km. So if you are practising for your 2.4 km run, it is almost long enough. We hope to complete the projects by 2018. It will beautify the neighbourhood and bring more activity and life to the waters. I know many residents are looking forward to this, I hope you will enjoy it when it is done, and I look forward to coming back and visiting it myself. Maybe if I am lucky, there will be some otters here to entertain us as well. Why not, because you can see them in many places now. If you look after the waters well, the otters will come and visit you.

Everyone Plays a Part
I hope you will take care of the neighbourhood, and the ABC projects. Enjoy them but look after them. Keep the waters clean and the surrounding areas beautiful. I am glad we have community groups which are very active here, like the Sengkang South C2E (Community Emergency and Engagement Committee) Riverwatch Group which has been doing boat and foot patrols for more than 10 years now, to clean waterways like the Serangoon Reservoir and the park connectors around it. That is how by coming together, by taking care of our environment, by working together, we can make Singapore a happy, pleasant, and good place to live for all of us, and especially for our children.

Thank you very much.