SM Goh Chok Tong at the Opening of the Kayin Chaung Station Hospital in Myanmar

It is a great pleasure for me to join you for the opening of the Kayin Chaung Station Hospital this morning.

Soon after Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta on 2nd May last year, with Myanmar’s approval, Singapore immediately despatched a 24-member medical team together with US$200,000 of emergency relief supplies to the disaster zone, as we have done with other friends in our region struck by natural disasters. The medical team subsequently recommended that the Singapore Government help to complete the hospital here. I am thankful that PM Thein Sein very quickly gave his support for Singapore to undertake the completion of the hospital, and that the Health and Foreign Ministries facilitated Singapore’s involvement at every stage.

I am pleased that this hospital will serve not only the villagers of Kayin Chaung but also the people of neighbouring villages. I am told that the two doctors and three nurses from Myanmar who will staff this hospital have all just returned from their training stint in Singapore. They were there to observe and learn how we operate our hospitals, and how we care for and bring comfort to the sick. I hope what they learnt in Singapore will come in useful in running this hospital.

Singapore will continue to help Myanmar in its post-Nargis recovery work. Apart from this hospital, we have provided a post-disaster trauma counselling training course to Myanmar government officials, and donated airport ground handling equipment, as well as fertiliser and fishing boats to help cyclone survivors regain their livelihoods. Individual Singaporeans are also doing their part by contributing over US$3 million (S$4.2 million) to the Myanmar people. These include organisations such as the Singapore Red Cross, Mercy Relief, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore and the Golden Pagoda Buddhist temple, just to name a few. Following discussions during PM Thein Sein’s visit to Singapore three months ago, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will conduct training programmes for Myanmar government agencies to help them build their disaster management capacity. This is part of Singapore’s ongoing commitment to technical cooperation with Myanmar, which we hope will continue to be helpful to the Myanmar people.

ASEAN also played a key role. The ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT) was despatched to Myanmar within a week after the cyclone struck. As ASEAN Chair at the time, Singapore convened an emergency ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting on 19 May 2008, which agreed to the formation of an ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force and its operational arm, the ASEAN-UN-Myanmar Tripartite Core Group (TCG), to oversee and expedite the flow of international assistance to the victims and survivors of the cyclone. Singapore also served as one of the co-Chairs of the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference which was subsequently held in Yangon on 25 May 2008, that helped to galvanise the collective response of the international community. It was clear from the outpouring of support that the international donor community was united in wanting to help the Myanmar people.

In particular, the TCG has been instrumental in facilitating the international relief assistance effort for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, and so Singapore strongly supports the extension of the mandate of the TCG by another year till July 2010. We look forward to the continuation of the excellent work by the TCG in providing the framework for close cooperation between the UN, ASEAN, and with the full support of the Myanmar Government, in helping the Myanmar people.

Ladies and Gentleman, this hospital is first and foremost a tribute to the resilience of the Myanmar people. It is also a testimony to the close friendship between the Governments and peoples of Singapore and Myanmar. It is a positive example of a successful partnership between foreign donors and the Myanmar government in the post-Nargis recovery effort.

As an old friend and neighbour of Myanmar, Singapore wishes Myanmar well. May your country develop steadily and prosper.

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