SM Lee Hsien Loong at the Teck Ghee National Day Celebration Dinner 2024

Please scroll down for the Malay, Chinese and English transcript.

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Good evening, everybody

Happy to see you all for the Teck Ghee National Day Dinner. My first time as Senior Minister, but almost my 40th time as MP for this area.

So, let me begin in the national language.

Malay Remarks

Saudara, saudari, sekalalian dan para penduduk Teck Ghee, apa khabar? Saya sangat gembira kerana malam ini, kita dapat menyambut Hari Kebangsaan bersama-sama – kali ini dalam peranan saya yang baru Menteri Kanan. Seperti yang anda tahu, saya telah menyerahkan jawatan Perdana Menteri Mei lalu. Saya gembira peralihan kepimpinan berjalan lancar. Dan kini saya penuh bersemangat memainkan peranan baru sebagai Menteri Kanan.

Tahun ini, Singapura berusia 59 tahun. Sepanjang hampir 6 dekad lalu, kita berjaya untuk kekal bersatu padu sebagai satu rakyat, dan berkembang maju sebagai satu bangsa – satu pencapaian besar yang harus kita raikan.

Namun kita dicabar kini dengan dunia yang semakin bergelora – peperangan di Timur Tengah dan Eropah, inflasi global, dan ancaman kemelesetan dalam masa terdekat. Sebagai ekonomi kecil dan terbuka, malangnya Singapura terdedah kepada kesan peristiwa global ini.

Oleh itu, saya gembira kita dapat terus meraikan Hari Kebangsaan, tahun demi tahun sebagai satu rakyat dan satu masyarakat. Saya sangat menghargai bahawa kita kekal bersatu padu dan memahami antara satu sama lain, tidak kira bahasa, bangsa, atau agama.

Dalam kita menghadapi masa depan yang semakin tidak menentu, kini lebih penting bagi kita menghargai apa yang kita ada di Singapura – keharmonian kaum kita, perpaduan sosial kita – supaya Singapura boleh terus menjadi sebuah titik merah kecil yang bersinar terang di dunia.

Sekarang izinkan saya meneruskan ucapan dalam Bahasa Mandarin dan Inggeris. Terima kasih!

Chinese Remarks

朋友们，居民们，大家晚上好！祝大家国庆日快乐！

很高兴今晚能够跟大家一起庆祝国庆。

去年的国庆晚宴，我还是以总理的身份参与。我在今年五月顺利地交棒给黄循财总理。在这里感谢大家给予我们的支持。

希望大家上个星期天已经看了黄总理的国庆日群众大会的演讲。让我跟大家分享一些重点。

去年黄总理带领了他的团队推出了“新加坡携手前进运动” (Forward SG)，与国人沟通，了解不同国人对新加坡的愿景和期许。在群众大会上，总理提到为新加坡未来拟定新的方向、新的愿景。为了实现我们的愿景，我们需要在政策方面做一些调整，但是同样重要的是，我们的态度和心理也必须经过调整。

在为国人谋求更好的未来，总理举了四方面的大改革:

工作方面，政府在技能创前程计划下会推出新举措帮助被裁退或公司倒闭而失业的人士，援助总额高达6000元，期限最长为六个月。

教育方面，我们将尽量帮助国人接纳终身学习的精神，保持自己的竞争力，在不断改变的环境，能够继续提升技能 – 无论是全职或者是半工读的培训，政府都会提供补助。

在住房方面，建屋局新的组屋分类框架，有了不同级别的津贴和限制，国人可以更有把握负担他们希望购买的组屋，包括在黄金地段的组屋。年迈的居民有新的选择，就是社区关爱组屋，把亲乐龄住屋和照护与社会服务融为一体。

家庭方面，学前教育的费用将会有所调整，低收入家庭可以更负担的起。

为了鼓励年轻夫妇考虑生儿育女，减轻他们抚养孩子的负担和压力，父亲陪产假将增加到四周，而且雇主必须让员工领取父亲陪产假，所以是强制性的。政府也会推出一个新的额外10周的父母共用产假。父亲或母亲都可以使用。

政府努力为新手爸爸妈妈着想，希望年轻夫妇也努力“打拼”，今年来不及生龙宝宝没关系，现在可以开始为蛇宝宝做规划了，并且希望大家努力付出行动。

这些措施的目标，就是要提醒国人在一个动荡不安的世界，新加坡要继续发光发亮，我们需要采取谨慎的态度，同时果断和勇敢地面对各种挑战。我们必须团结一心，互相扶持，继续努力付出，政府也依然在您左右。从青少年到银发族，我们齐心协力下，希望能让国人追逐自己的梦想，老有所依，安享晚年。新加坡也能继续在世界上立足，有一席之地。

这是黄总理和他的团队对国人的承诺，我希望大家会继续支持他们，一起落实愿景。

即使在短期内，还有些棘手的问题，例如生活费上涨的压力还没有完全缓解。政府依然会继续照顾大家，为国人提供援助。例如新一轮发放的邻里购物券、杂费和水电费回扣等补助，希望能为大家减轻一些负担。

在宏茂桥这里，我们也有好消息。我们的市镇中心已经翻新好了。我最近去走一走，就看到居民在树荫下纳凉，孩子们在新的游乐设施玩的很开心。

我们区里许多巴刹和小贩中心也进行或已经完成了整修，大牌226的巴刹和小贩中心年底应该也会完成整修。

我们也关心行人的安全，在宏茂桥31街增设了“安行街道”。我们也没有忘记提升居民的居住环境，79座组屋已经完成了“组屋家居改进计划（HIP）”，只剩下一座，就是31街大牌317的组屋。这个会是最后一个，现在已经被遴选了，就将要开始计划参加这个HIP翻新的过程。所以这个做了之后，我们整个邻里都已经翻新过了。

这四十年里，作为德义的议员，现在做为德义宏茂桥的议员，我能够为居民服务、打造一个美好的家园、让老居民老有所依、让年轻的居民可以有好的起跑点、追逐自己的梦想， 我觉得自豪。

这些成绩是因为有各位居民委托我的信任，以及与我的基层领袖一起努力所得来的。

借此感谢大家的支持。我虽然不是总理了，但会继续以资政的身份支持黄总理，也会继续以议员的身份照顾我们宏茂桥和德义的居民。

我很荣幸继续能够为大家服务。让我们一起携手前进，为新加坡创造一个更美好的未来。谢谢大家！

English Remarks

Friends and residents of Teck Ghee, a very good evening to all of you and a very Happy National Day to all of you again.

I am glad to join you all for our 59th National Day, this time in my new role as Senior Minister.

I am very happy that we had a smooth leadership transition in May. And I thank everyone for the support you have given me and to my team all these years.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and the 4G team completed the Forward Singapore exercise last year. They engaged Singaporeans from across all walks of life to understand their hopes and aspirations for the future. And at his inaugural National Day Rally last week, Prime Minister Wong outlined a new direction and vision for Singapore’s future.

Let me recap four key areas where we can expect some significant changes.

First, in employment. The Government will introduce a new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme to help those who are involuntarily unemployed. And such workers under the scheme, will receive up to $6,000 over a period of six months, to help them bounce back stronger. Provided they go for courses, look for jobs, go for upgrading, explore new opportunities – we will support you to walk the journey. You have to do your part, and we will walk with you.

Secondly, upskilling. As industries and workplaces change faster and faster, Singaporeans need to embrace lifelong learning, and to upskill yourselves and remain competitive. So we have a new SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance to provide financial assistance, support you in your mid-career while you undergo training, whether full-time or part-time.

Thirdly, public housing. It is the concern for many people. Every young couple looks forward to their BTO flat. And HDB’s new classification of BTO flats – Standard, Plus, and Prime – is going to come into effect very soon, in fact, in the next BTO exercise in October. And this framework will help to keep the flats affordable for all Singaporeans, even flats in choicer locations, like in Ang Mo Kio.

HDB will also build more elder-friendly community care apartments, to integrate care and social services on-site to support older residents living together in these community care apartments.

Fourthly, Singapore will continue to be Made for Families. We will make fees for pre-school education even more affordable.

We will enhance parental leave provisions. Father’s leave, paternity leave. 2 weeks, this year, increased to 4 weeks. And from next year, we will make that compulsory. Plus, we will add an additional 10 weeks of shared parental leave, so the mother has 8 weeks, the father has 4 weeks, and between them, they can share another 10 weeks, up to them how they want to split it. And the Government will pay for this extra 10 weeks, to give couples more time to raise their new infants.

These measures will create a family-friendly environment. But as PM said, we also hope that young couples will work hard and “go forth” to add to your family.

These are bold but necessary policy changes to refresh our social compact. Alone, they will not be enough to see us through this turbulent period in the world. We also need to change our own attitudes, and societal attitudes – workers to embrace upskilling and change, employers to take it upon themselves to support families with young kids.

The Government will be by your side all the way – to give you the best possible environment to grow up in, to give you the opportunities to pursue your aspirations, the jobs, to advance your careers and the community to age well in Singapore.

These are the new Prime Minister’s commitments to Singaporeans. Please give him your support as we work together towards realising our shared vision.

Besides planning for these long term matters, we also have to tackle more immediate problems, for example, the cost of living.

The Government will continue to help Singaporeans to cope. Some of the inflation is imported because prices are going up in America and Europe, around the world – and everything we eat practically comes from abroad, everything we consume comes from abroad.

So we have kept the Singapore dollar strong to keep down this imported inflation, and Singaporeans benefit from that. When you travel overseas on holiday, when you go shopping, you go to neighbouring countries close to us to shop, and you come back and you are very happy, it is because the Singapore dollar is strong. But if we make it too strong, we will lose competitiveness and our economy will suffer, so we cannot go too far. But we can do, we have done, and it has helped.

But beyond the Singdollar, we have also done a lot to help Singaporeans directly. Lower income families get more help. But everybody gets something, e.g. CDC Vouchers, GST Vouchers, U-Save Rebates, S&CC Rebates, cash rebates – every month there is something, every month we get something in our mail to announce the next gesture, every month you get some benefit to help you see through and be able to care for your family. And I am very glad to see many uncles and aunties using your CDC Vouchers at the local shops!

Building a better Ang Mo Kio

In Ang Mo Kio, our journey continues to build a better home for our residents. I spoke just now about the improvements to the Town Centre, and on estate upgrading.

But besides upgrading the physical environment, I am also proud of the ground-up efforts by our Teck Ghee residents and our community. For example, the Repair Kopitiam initiative, which happens at the CC here. And residents can bring their electrical appliances – their old radios, their TV sets, maybe their computer, and bring it to the CC and somebody will guide you, support you, help you to see if it can be repaired, and if it is possible, help to do it with you. And not just to renew the appliance and to save on buying a new appliance, but to make a more sustainable future and to strengthen our sense of community, that if you need help, there is somebody who is here, who cares about you and will help work through your problem with you.

And we have many other ground-up efforts to nurture each other, some nurturing young ones, some younger people, the youth network, looking after elderly residents, and many more.

I encourage all of you to join these initiatives to give back to the community, and create a better Ang Mo Kio, and a happier Singapore.

Conclusion

As a nation, we can be very proud of how far we have come. As your MP, I have had the privilege of serving you for the last 40 years.

And we have built a better home here in Teck Ghee – one where the youth can pursue their dreams, the elderly can age well, and we all live harmoniously and happily together. And many residents over more than one generation now have done so.

We could not have done it without your trust and confidence, without your support, without your full cooperation, and together we have made it happen.

So thank you all very, very much for your support!

Now as Senior Minister, I will do my utmost to support the Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his team, to help Singapore continue to succeed for many more years to come. And as your MP, which I still am, I will continue to do my best to take care of all the residents in Ang Mo Kio and in Teck Ghee.

And help us to stay united and cohesive as one people, so that we can do our best for Singapore, and so that we can continue to build an even brighter future for our children.

So a very Happy 59th National Day to everybody! 祝大家国庆日快乐！Selamat hari kebangsaan kelima puluh sembilan! Terima kasih!