Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Church of St. Vincent De Paul's 50th Anniversary Dinner

Archbishop William Goh

Archbishop Emeritus Monsignor Nicholas Chia

Reverend Father Michael Sitaram

Parish Priest of the Church of St Vincent de Paul

Parishioners, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

May I congratulate all of you in the Church of St Vincent de Paul (SVDP) on celebrating your 50th Anniversary, Happy Birthday! St Vincent de Paul was a French missionary who was also known as the “Apostle of Charity”. He dedicated his life to serving the poor and he was revered for his compassion, his humility and his generosity. And the Church of St Vincent de Paul has stayed true to the ideals and values of its patron saint. It goes back to 1959, when Father Henry Saussard, a French missionary priest, worked with residents in Jalan Kayu to help the needy there and they would gather at a sarabat stall to do good works, delivering food to poor households, spending time with the elderly. And a few years later, in 1963, they formed the parish in a shophouse basement and then later on they moved to the present premises. I think the sarabat stall is not there anymore, but the Church has kept up its good work, and has served the community well. It has provided cash grants and food rations to poor families through the Society of St Vincent de Paul and it runs the Serangoon North kindergarten, providing free education to needy children, regardless of race, language or religion. And it runs a thrift shop to sell affordable goods to the less fortunate residents.

The Church has paid particular attention to young people. Organised activities for them, like leadership development programmes. Given them opportunities to lead church functions like producing the musical which I hear we are going to watch this evening, called “Monsieur Vincent – The Saint for all Seasons”, about the life of St Vincent de Paul which has been produced entirely by the parish youth although they have allowed some not so young members to join in the cast as well, and I think it will be the highlight of tonight’s anniversary celebrations, so I would like to thank the parishioners and all the volunteers for the hard work and good work. Well done!

I am very happy that religious groups like the Church of St Vincent de Paul have been doing this community good work in Singapore, because religious institutions play a very important role in our society. It is not just spiritual and moral guidance to the flock, but also helping the less fortunate, strengthening the moral fibre of society and complementing what the government is doing to build the society, to strengthen our community, to make a better Singapore. The government, in a multi-racial, multi-religious society, we have to remain neutral and secular in our stance and in our policies, but that does not mean we cannot work with religious groups to serve Singaporeans, especially to meet community needs and to solve social problems

The Church of St Vincent de Paul belongs to the larger Catholic community in Singapore. By focusing on its spiritual and social missions, this Catholic church has made a valuable contribution over very many years. It has set up many educational institutes, St Joseph’s Institution, Catholic High, CHIJ, Assumption Pathway School and many others. And I am a product of Catholic High School and proud of it. All these schools emphasise value and character development and not just academics and is something which all our national schools are also trying to do more of. And I can tell you, I benefitted from it and I think that is what we want to do with the young people. Many of your alumni have gone on to distinguish themselves, whether in government, whether in the private sector, whether in social work, whether in terms of artistic performance, or contributions to our community. So the Church has made a big contribution in education. It has also provided many social services through your welfare arm Caritas, serving more than 20 charities and community groups, looking after the elderly – running weekly seniors’ nights, nursing homes, hospice services; helping beneficiaries, like vulnerable families, prisoners, people with HIV or AIDS. The Church has strengthened racial and religious harmony through its contributions to the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony, through the National Steering Committee on Racial & Religious Harmony or through the Archdiocesan Council for Inter-Religious and Ecumenical Dialogue. So I would like to thank Archbishop William Goh and also his predecessor Archbishop Emeritus Nicholas Chia for their leadership and support and friendship. Thank you very much.

We can all, Catholic or non-Catholic, religious or non-religious, learn much from the Catholic Church’s spirit of serving “the last, the lost and the least”. By working together – the government, religious organisations, Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), the private sector – we have built in Singapore, a successful economy and a socially cohesive community. And we have to maintain this success and this solidarity in the face of new challenges – challenges, economic challenges, keeping our place in the world, social challenges, inequalities between the rich and the poor, an ageing population – needing to be taken care of, while we keep the society young and vibrant. And we all have a role to play. As I explained in my National Day Rally, the government will do more to improve Singaporeans’ lives. Sharing the fruits of progress more widely, strengthening social safety nets, keeping paths up open, especially through education. But the government cannot do everything and should not do everything. We are not the be all and the end all. If we try to do that it would be too bureaucratic, because help would become a matter of administration and not of compassion. And government assistance given unconditionally eventually will foster an entitlement mentality, instead of a sense of mutual obligation and gratitude between the volunteers, the givers, the benefactors and the beneficiaries. So in many areas, we depend on religious organisations and Voluntary Welfare Organisations, on the churches, the temples, the mosques, all the religious groups, because they are better placed than the government to help, because they have forged personal and community ties with their congregations and because they know who needs help, who deserves help, and how to deliver that help.

So in our new phase, communities and individuals must do more for one another. Not just expressing or asking for what we would like to have, and expecting somebody else to do the good work and to make it happen. But making the effort ourselves to understand the issues and to develop proposals, and then, to do it. Rolling up our sleeves to do the heavy lifting, whether you are volunteering, whether you are fundraising, whether you are putting up a performance, but making a real difference in the lives of others, just as Father Saussard and his Jalan Kayu residents did, starting back in 1959.

So I hope Singaporeans will continue to participate in, and support these good works. It reflects the sort of people we are, and the kind of society we would like Singapore to be. I congratulate the Church again, and wish you every success in future. Well done and Happy Birthday!