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SINGAPORE: Higher inflation, pressure from foreign talents and a low birth rate were some of the issues that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed in his annual National Day Rally speech to the Chinese community on Sunday.
In his Malay speech, he outlined three new initiatives to help the Malay/Muslim community to build on their achievements.
For more than 50 years, the Singapore Muslim Women Association has been helping women and their families. Their efforts to reach out to dysfunctional families were lauded by Mr Lee who said helping this group is a long-term effort and more resources will be channelled to the community's self-help group, Mendaki, from the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund, which working Malay/Muslim Singaporeans contribute to.
He said this fund can also be tapped to raise the quality of religious education programmes. This is something that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) is working on with three full-time madrasahs – Aljunied, Al-Irsyad and Al-Arabiah.
Another initiative announced is a new mosque upgrading programme to meet the needs of the modern Muslim community.
Mr Lee said he has received the support of community leaders for the proposed initiatives. But as more resources will be needed, working Malay/Muslim Singaporeans will have to contribute more to the community's self-help fund.
"We should remember our multi-racial and multi-religious society. As we maintain our traditions and practise our religious beliefs, we also need to strengthen our togetherness as one nation. This is how we have kept our society cohesive and harmonious. We must treasure this precious achievement, and do our best to keep it that way," he said.
On the theme of integration, Mr Lee told Singaporeans in his Chinese speech that the economy has become more vibrant and diversified because of foreign workers.
Noting their concern over the pressure from new immigrants, the prime minister said: "The government's responsibility is to Singaporeans. Our duty is to improve the lives of Singaporeans. We allow in foreign workers and new immigrants because doing so will benefit Singaporeans," he said.
Clearly in sports, foreign talents have allowed Singapore to compete above its class, even in the Olympics.
And even as some anxious parents in Beijing are trying to match-make their children, Mr Lee said he hopes young people in Singapore will see marriage as an important part of their lives.
He highlighted the acute problem for the Chinese community here which is a birth rate that is lower than the national average. He called this a worrying trend and a long-term challenge that must not be neglected.
Mr Lee, who also spoke in English, has decided to postpone the telecast of that speech to Monday night at 8pm.
Explaining the unprecedented move, Mr Lee told his audience at the University Cultural Centre that he arrived at the decision after learning on Friday that Team Singapore had made it to the women's table-tennis finals which took place on Sunday evening.
"I knew that everybody would want to watch the game and cheer for our team in Beijing. But it left me with a small problem – what to do with the National Day Rally? So, after thinking it over and consulting my colleagues, we decided on this solution – Rally proceeds.
"For the home audience, we will delay the telecast of the English speech till Monday night, 24 hours (later) and then the newspapers will carry it on Tuesday morning. For the Malay and Chinese speeches, we will carry on as normal. But the English speech is embargoed, so please don't tell your friends and family my jokes," Mr Lee quipped.
- CNA/so
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