Chinese New Year Message 2024 by PM Lee Hsien Loong

Please scroll down to read the Message in Chinese.

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Chinese New Year is always a festive occasion. We gather tonight with our loved ones to welcome new beginnings and usher in good luck for the year ahead. It is also an opportunity for those living abroad to return home and reunite with loved ones. Our homes come alive with laughter and chatter as relatives visit, and children play enthusiastically with their cousins.

As we celebrate Chinese New Year, let us also celebrate our families. Families are at the heart of our society. Our families give us unwavering strength and support, cheer for us in our triumphs, and stand by us through adversity. They are a big part of our sense of identity, belonging, and purpose. Through our families, we pass on our aspirations and values from generation to generation.

Picking up yummy treats for CNY. (MCI Photo by Chwee)

One important element of family life is having and bringing up children. It is a great joy for parents to bring kids into this world, and to watch them learn and grow, reaching one milestone after another and growing up year by year. Grandparents, like me, share this joy too. We dote and fuss over our grandchildren, helping the parents to bring them up and contributing our part in this journey filled with happiness, purpose, and love.

Many Chinese families consider a child born in the year of the dragon to be especially auspicious, the dragon being a symbol of power, strength, and good fortune. So now is as good a time as any for young couples to add a “little dragon” to your family.

I hope my encouragement prompts more couples to try for a baby, although I know that the decision is a very personal one. All over the world, especially in developed societies like Singapore, fertility rates have been declining. Each generation has different aspirations. Many young people prioritise developing their careers, spending quality time with their partners, and pursuing other interests. Even couples who want kids may put off starting families, not realising how quickly it gets harder with each passing year.

All this is quite understandable. But I still hope that more Singaporean couples will decide to have more children, and to have them earlier!

Having and bringing up children is important to family life. (MCI Photo by Chwee)

We will build a “Singapore Made For Families”, and continue supporting your marriage and parenthood aspirations. We have progressively strengthened support for infant caregiving and work-life harmony, to see parents through their children’s formative years. Recently we doubled Government-Paid Paternity Leave from two to four weeks on a voluntary basis. Measures like these will lighten the burden on parents, but they are merely enablers. Ultimately, couples will decide whether to have children for their own reasons. I hope more will decide to go ahead, and I am confident they will find parenthood a deeply rewarding and fulfilling journey.

The government will continue to support marriage and parenthood aspirations of Singaporeans. (MCI Photo by Terence Tan)

Entering the Dragon year, let us press forward with optimism and determination. I wish all Singaporeans good health, and a very happy Chinese New Year.

At the CNY 2024 Chinatown street light-up. (MCI Photo by Lim Sin Thai)

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2024年李显龙总理新春献词

农历新年是华人一年之中最重要、最喜庆的传统节日。今晚，我们将与家人团圆，辞旧迎新，迎春接福。旅居海外的国人，也会趁此时回国，与许久不见的挚爱的家人和朋友团聚。每逢过年，家家户户喜气洋洋，迎接亲朋好友上门拜年。孩子们兴高采烈地一同玩耍，大人们则难得聚在一起闲话家常，互道祝福。在欢声笑语中，彼此的关系也更近了。

正是这些过年的点点滴滴，让我们意识到亲情的可贵和家庭的重要性。家是我国社会的核心。家人更是我们每个人最坚固的后盾。他们会为我们的成功而喝彩，也会在我们遇到困境时在身边为我们加油打气。家庭在很大程度上塑造了我们的身份认同，也让我们产生归属感和让人生更有意义。家中长辈对晚辈的言传身教，也让优良的价值观和传统得以代代相传。

对一个家庭来说，生儿育女是一件大事。从孩子呱呱坠地的那一刻起，父母最大的喜悦，就是看到他们一天天长大，不断学习与成长，并走入人生的一个个里程碑。即便是像我这样已经做了祖父母的人，也能感受到这份快乐。我们含饴弄孙，把孙儿孙女捧在手心，对他们疼爱有加。我们也会协助儿女们带大他们的孩子，让育儿过程幸福美满，充满意义。

许多华人家庭相信，在龙年出生的孩子特别有福气，因为龙是权威、力量和好运的象征。所以，如果有更多年轻夫妇能赶在今年添一个龙宝宝，那就再好不过了。

我也明白，婚后要不要生孩子，始终是个人选择。但我希望我的这番话，能够鼓励更多夫妇选择生育。生育率下降，是世界各地所面对的问题。像新加坡这样的发达社会，下降趋势尤其显著。每一代人的想法和愿望都不一样。许多年轻人着重发展事业或倾向享受二人世界，也有一些专注于实现其他的人生目标。即便是想要孩子的夫妇，也可能选择延迟生育计划。但他们没有意识到自己年纪越大，养儿育女的挑战也就越大。

他们的考量都是可以理解的。但我还是希望更多本地夫妇能够多生早生，多子多福！

我们将致力于打造一个亲家庭的新加坡，不断协助国人实现结婚生子的人生目标。为此，我们逐步加强了育儿援助措施，并促进了工作与生活和谐，以便父母能够陪伴孩子们度过成长的关键阶段。最近，我们将政府所承担的父亲有薪陪产假，从两个星期增加一倍到四个星期。雇主可自愿决定是否要推行这个新措施。尽管这类措施有助于减轻家长的负担，但它们也只能起到推动的作用。在决定要不要生孩子这件事情上，每对夫妻终究会有自己的考量。我希望更多国人会选择开始踏上育儿之路，并深信他们将能够从中体会为人父母的成就感和满足感。

一元复始，万象更新，让我们以乐观的心态和坚定的意志，迈入甲辰龙年。在此，我祝全体国人龙年吉祥，新年快乐，阖家安康！

The CNY 2024 display at Gardens by the Bay. (MCI Photo by Liu Ying)