My thoughts this National Day

2E3A8348I spoke at this year’s National Day Observance Ceremony on 15 August at NTU. It was a timely occasion for me to share my thoughts on what it means to be Singaporean and how NTU can contribute to Singapore’s future.

Punching above our weight
Last Saturday was a historic day for Singapore and the world as Singaporeans erupted in joy and pride when 21-year-old Joseph Schooling took home the nation’s first Olympic gold medal. It certainly felt like we had all won the gold ourselves! Continue reading

A debt of gratitude to Mr Lee

No words can express the gratitude I felt at the funeral service for Singapore’s first Prime Minister today. In his death as it was in his life, he brought all of Singapore together – One Singapore. I think I speak for all Singaporeans when I say that it felt like I had lost a father. Mr Lee Kuan Yew was indeed a father – of our homeland, Singapore.

I felt the same depth of feeling as I did speaking at the memorial ceremony NTU held last week to honour his life and legacy where I said that Singapore will be forever synonymous with Mr Lee Kuan Yew. From the early days when he first won his electoral seat in Tanjong Pagar in 1955, to the day he went into intensive care in February 2015, Mr Lee had dedicated his whole life to building the Singapore that we know today. He made this city state for today. He also spent his whole lifetime reshaping and refining the nation for tomorrow. Truly, like many Singaporeans, my family, my children and my grandchildren owe a debt of gratitude to Mr Lee. Not just for what we have today, but also for what we can have tomorrow.

Provost

The Singapore that was 50 years ago did not have land, did not have water, did not have industry, did not have decent education, nor good health, nor military security, nor racial and religious harmony. The secret societies collected their dues in Chinatown, Geylang, Jalan Besar, Lorong Tai Seng, Red Hill and many more places. Pirate taxis roamed the streets and illegal hawkers sold food that passed on diseases. That was the Singapore I was born into as a child. We were shamefully kicked out of one country and forced to become a country in a time and in a region that could not be worse. Continue reading

Count on us, Mr Lee

It was a privilege to be invited to witness the special parliamentary session on Thursday to pay tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Some of the speeches by the ministers and Members of Parliament really moved me to tears.

As I listened to their reflections, I felt thankful that I wasn’t born into their generation at a time filled with immense changes, developments and even turmoil.

After the session, I stepped out into the Padang and took a good hard look at the city. This was what the late Mr Lee and his team built with blood and perspiration. It reminded me not to take our nation for granted. Others take hundreds of years to build a developed and First World country, but Singapore took only 50. She is indeed nothing short of a miracle. And yes, much of the credit goes to Mr Lee.

I feel proud to be a Singapore citizen and am determined to continue to build upon the foundations laid by Mr Lee. This was also what I expressed in my speech last Wednesday at the Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Ceremony held at NTU in his honour:

Guoyi1a

It is with deep sorrow and sadness that I am speaking this afternoon.

Last Sunday evening, I felt led to make a trip to the Singapore General Hospital. I visited the Quad of SGH, a designated corner kindly set up by the hospital for members of the public to leave their well wishes for the now late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In spite of the cold and rainy weather that evening, there were many from the crowd laying flowers and cards of well wishes. The peoples’ hope for Mr Lee to recover and join us in the coming Jubilee National Day celebrations warmed my heart. There and then, I wished that I could have met Mr Lee in the ward to convey my concern and well wishes to him in person. I knew it was impossible to do so; hence I whispered a simple prayer, hoping that he could hear it. Continue reading

Mr Lee Kuan Yew had a vision for education

The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew was an exceptional man. And it hit home just how much he means to all Singaporeans when I went to pay my respects to him at Parliament House yesterday afternoon.

As he lay peacefully in state, thousands of Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans from all walks of life streamed in to bid him farewell, some having queued for hours in the hot sun. I felt the depth of their grief and was reminded of NTU’s solemn memorial ceremony at the Nanyang Auditorium on Wednesday, 25 March, three days after his passing, where I shared these words:

Today, we honour Mr Lee and his legacy. And it’s rewarding to see so many that have joined in for this. In less than 50 years, he and Singapore’s pioneer leaders remarkably transformed an impoverished island with no resources and a population of 2 million who were mostly illiterate or lowly educated, to a modern city-state of 5.5 million people with the living standards of First World countries.

prez2Signing the condolence book.

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