Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Berita Harian Achiever Awards Celebration Dinner (English)

Dr Lee Boon Yang
Chairman, SPH

Mr Saat Abdul Rahman
Editor, Berita Harian

Friends, ladies and gentlemen

I am very happy to be presenting the Anugerah Jauhari award again. I presented the inaugural award in 1999 and since then, Singapore has changed greatly, and so has the Malay/ Muslim Community. We have improved our lives, we have invested in our students and workers and we have upgraded our living environment. And whether you are looking at housing, education, careers, healthcare or self confidence, Singapore has improved, and Singapore Malays have also improved. Today, we are at a turning point. I spoke about this during my National Day Rally, and tonight I will take a little bit less than two hours to explain to you what this is about.

To thrive in our new phase, we need to forge a new way forward. Individuals doing their best, the Government and the community doing more to support individuals, and together, building a better Singapore for our future generations. Indeed, this is how the Malay/Muslim community has progressed over the years. You are a good example of the gotong-royong spirit we want to see in Singapore.

The Anugerah Jauhari winners reflect this spirit of individual excellence and community support. The first winner, Dr Mansoor Abdul Jalil, earned a PhD in physics from Cambridge. He is now an Associate Professor at NUS, in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The subsequent winners have come from diverse fields, e.g. the arts, Iskandar Jalil; sports, Mardan Mamat; fashion, Ashley Isham; Government, Mdm Speaker, who is here with us this evening; and music, Iskandar Ismail. Well done to all of you!

The Anugerah Jauhari award is one way we celebrate our successes. It reflects our ethos as a society – to identify and develop talent, to celebrate those who have done well and who have contributed back to society, and to encourage others to emulate them and go forth and do great deeds. We must maintain a social climate which encourages excellence and success, instead of envying them or wanting to pull them down. The Anugerah Jauhari winners are role models not only for the Malay/Muslim community, but Singapore as a whole. They inspire others, especially the younger ones, to do their best, for themselves and the community. It is critical to do so, as our youth are our future. Many do good work. I mentioned a few in my NDR, e.g. Dr Rufaihah Abdul Jalil, Riduan Zalani.

Our responsibility to them, to the young people, is to help them make a difference. To develop their potential, especially through education and by keeping our society open and mobile; by encouraging them to contribute back to society and to the community, for example via the youth corps, which we are going to form. So I am very happy that there is a new award category this year – the Inspiring Young Achiever Award (Anugerah Jauhari Harapan Berita Harian). It will recognise the achievements of young Malay Singaporeans aged 30 and below. I hope it will spur young Malays to strive for higher peaks and to serve the community.

I am also glad that Berita Harian (BH) has been organising this award for more than 10 years. Berita Harian is not just a newspaper, but an important platform, an institution of the Malay community. It is a way to engage and strengthen the Malay/Muslim community. As Saat said, if you want to reach the Malay/Muslim community, you go via the Berita Harian. Despite changing language and social habits among Malays, as among other Singaporeans, and despite competition from social media, BH has continued to hold its own by renewing itself to appeal to today’s readers. I am happy to see the recent changes in the newspaper. News content is more interesting and uplifting. There are many stories of the community and individuals doing well, and new platforms to boost readership, including online. I am looking forward to the new online edition to come. I wish BH well in serving the Malay community, and Singapore.

Congratulations to the winners this year. May the award spur you and the community to achieve your vision of becoming a Community of Excellence. Thank you very much.