English Text of Prime Minister's National Day Rally Speech In
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English text of Prime Minister’s National Day Rally Speech in Mandarin on 16 August 2009 My fellow Singaporeans, good evening. We are experiencing an unprecedented economic storm. The economy plunged in the first quarter. Fortunately, it rebounded in the second quarter. The situation is now stabilising. Early this year, we introduced the Resilience Package in the Budget and are now seeing results. There have been no massive retrenchments. Unemployment has been kept at an acceptable level with only a small rise in job losses. The economic storm does have an impact on Singaporeans and more people are asking their MPs, town councils or CDCs (community development councils) for help. However, until now, for most Singaporeans, life goes on normally. Their jobs are safe and are generally in good spirits. The people have just happily celebrated National Day. Travel fairs have been busy too. I have a picture here showing a travel fair held last week. The boss of the travel agency was very happy. He told reporters: “Many people have not gone for holidays this year. They cannot stand it anymore!” Stronger evidence of this upbeat mood is the fact that the property market is seeing queues again. Putting aside the question of whether it is a good or bad sign, it does suggest that Singaporeans are quite confident about the future. Whatever the case, the Government will continue to watch economic trends in the next few months. The global economy is stabilising. Some Singapore firms are starting to hire staff. Massive retrenchments are unlikely this quarter which is the third quarter. But beyond that, the situation is still not clear and we need to be mentally prepared. For the long term, we should be optimistic. Sunny days may not be back just yet, but we can see some hope and some green shoots. During the slump, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been harder hit as these companies may not have enough funds or staff. However, the Government has implemented many measures to help them and many of them have shown spunk in striving for survival in adversity. The SMEs dare to innovate, change business models and look for new opportunities. The Government will continue to fully support these SMEs, for instance helping them to open up new markets. There are many opportunities in Asia if we understand the market and are able to build connections. Let me explain using the furniture industry as an example. The furniture industry has been around since the early days of our industrialisation. It was labour-intensive and not high-tech, so it made sense for Singapore to make furniture then. But 30 to 40 years later, our furniture Page 1 of 7 industry has acquired new vitality. It has not been phased out but has instead totally transformed from a sunset industry to a sunrise industry. Not everyone could have predicted this. How did this happen? This is because we are now making top end furniture with trendy new designs. The Singapore Furniture Association has also been very active in promoting sales of furniture bearing the Singapore brand both at home and overseas. It has doubled its efforts during the economic slump and successfully opened many new markets, including East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Our furniture companies are now in Brazil, a Latin American country, looking for business opportunities. Having scoured the world for business, they are bound to find it. In April this year, the Singapore Furniture Industries Council participated in the Milan furniture fair, the largest and most famous furniture fair in the world. Spring Singapore supported the association and helped it secure an exhibition venue at the fair. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was visiting Italy at the time. He went to the fair specially to support the SMEs and took a photo as a memento. In fact, most of the furniture companies set up factories not in Singapore but in neighbouring countries, where production costs are lower. But they use the Singapore brand as the selling point. In international markets, Singapore is not just the name of a country, but also an icon of quality. So the Singapore brand is very important. It is a special advantage for our businesses. We should treasure it and not mar it. We should enhance it to help us win in the market. Our businesses are working hard to transform and seek new opportunities. Individual Singaporeans should also take the initiative and seize opportunities to upgrade themselves. Workers should make use of SPUR (Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience) and take up the many training courses offered. Those who are jobless can seek help from e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and the CDCs. These organisations have helped many people to find jobs. They have been working hard, contributing quietly with good results. Most important is their determination to succeed. An interesting wall mural at the e2i reads: “The mountain does not move, the road winds around it. If the road cannot turn, man can still turn. If man cannot turn, his heart can turn.” It encourages people to have the resolve to strive and work hard. So if you face a mountain in life, go to e2i to find a way. Having a skill is the best way and the only way to get out of adversity. Over the next two years, the global economy may grow more slowly. We must continue to forge ahead. The global economy will eventually recover. By then we will be ready to take flight again. We have been busy invigorating our economy, but we must not neglect longer term issues. Page 2 of 7 Tonight, I will discuss two long-term issues. One is healthcare and healthcare costs while the other is religious and racial harmony. Let me first discuss our healthcare system and healthcare costs. The Government has taken many steps to moderate rising healthcare costs. So generally, most Singaporeans can afford their healthcare expenses. But I know that Singaporeans are still worried. Why? Many need to look after their elderly or ill parents and the burden is heavy. Those getting older may worry about their own health and healthcare costs. The Government is also concerned about these issues and is already working to upgrade healthcare services to meet the enormous demand arising from an ageing population. Older folks have more health problems, more serious illnesses and longer recovery periods. This cannot be helped. Hence, we need to be proactive, effective and focused in our response. We are building more hospitals, including Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in the north and Jurong General Hospital in the west. We not only need to build large hospitals, we also need to build a few community hospitals. Let me explain the difference between the two types of hospitals. During their recovery period, elderly patients need appropriate step-down care. They need not stay in large hospitals. Community hospitals can provide suitable care at lower cost. They can link up with large government hospitals for mutual support. Government hospitals would help community hospitals raise the quality of medical care to ensure that patients get good care. Community hospitals in turn can share the patient load of government hospitals to free up beds for more serious cases. Community hospitals also serve another function. They have closer links to society which helps in community outreach. One good example is the cooperation between Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and Ren Ci Hospital. Ren Ci Hospital is a community hospital next to TTSH. I recently visited Ren Ci Hospital to get a feel of its operations. Ren Ci now has a new management team and a new approach. TTSH guides medical care for Ren Ci patients, and when TTSH patients are stable, they can transfer to Ren Ci for step-down care until they recover. Ren Ci patients too have little cause for worry for if their condition deteriorates or if there are problems, they can transfer back immediately to TTSH for acute treatment. So both sides work closely together. At the same time, Ren Ci is supported by many warm-hearted volunteers who help patients recover faster by providing many leisure activities. When I visited Ren Ci that day, I met a group of volunteers who were singing karaoke with the patients to cheer them up so that they would recover soon. I think this is a good model. Changi Hospital and St Andrew’s Community Hospital have a similar cooperative relationship. The Ministry of Health is studying how to expand this partnership model to other public hospitals. Elderly patients cannot be hospitalised forever, be it in a government hospital or a community Page 3 of 7 hospital. They have to go home one day, and the sooner the better. When they return home to convalesce, families need to take up the responsibility of looking after them. I know looking after the elderly or the chronically ill is a heavy burden. Some people even went so far as to say that people with chronic illnesses cannot expect filial piety from their children. I cannot agree with such a view. The burden is heavy, but whatever it is, we cannot and should not shirk our responsibility. As Asians, we deeply value filial piety. This is a virtue in our culture and we have to keep it. Moreover, while the Government has to and will do its part in looking after the elderly, for family members, it is not simply responsibility, but responsibility with love. Family love and warmth cannot be replaced by nursing homes or hospitals. Recently, I met some managers from nursing homes and talked to them about this.