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“Flying
Singapore Higher”
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My
fellow Singaporeans,
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When
I was sworn in as Prime Minister on 28 November 1990, I pledged:
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“to
ensure that Singapore thrives and grows after Mr Lee Kuan Yew; to find a new
group of men and women to help me carry on where he and his colleagues left
off; and to build a nation of character and grace where people live lives of
dignity and fulfilment, and care for one another.”
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It
has been 14 years since I made that pledge. Though this National Day Message
is my last, I address you with a happy heart.
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Our
economy has grown significantly.
Our society is more compassionate, open and gracious. We
have inducted a capable group of younger leaders.
As a people, our bonds
have deepened.
As a nation, we are maturing.
We are now more confident of who we are, and what we stand for.
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The
first seven years produced bountiful harvests.
We distributed the fruits, and helped lower-income Singaporeans.
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The
next seven became lean years.
First, Southeast Asia was struck by the Asian Financial crisis.
Then followed September 11, terrorism, SARS and economic recession.
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But
we did not throw up our hands in despair.
We rallied and fought back. We
worked and grew our economy again.
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And
together we defeated SARS.
It was a frightening time. A good number of our loved ones died.
This was my saddest moment in government.
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But
our collective response to SARS and other crises strengthened my confidence in
Singapore’s future.
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We
went through fire together; the steel in us strengthened.
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This
is what I am proudest of, my fellow Singaporeans, this fighting spirit, the
character of our people, our strong bond and social cohesion.
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Many
of you have thanked me for taking care of Singapore.
Tonight, I want to thank you.
I have had the privilege of leading Singapore.
I could not have shouldered the responsibility alone.
I am deeply grateful to you, my fellow Singaporeans, for your support.
And the support of my Cabinet colleagues, Members of Parliament and my
Party.
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The
responsibility of taking our nation further will now rest on the shoulders of
the next generation of leaders.
How do we fly Singapore higher and further?
I want to share with you key lessons which I have learnt over the past
14 years.
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First,
Singapore’s
future depends on the commitment of its people to the country.
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Building
a nation is not like building a block of flats.
It is not just a matter of laying bricks and pouring concrete.
Material wealth alone is not enough to root Singaporeans to Singapore.
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More
important are the emotions and intangibles that bond us to our country – our
shared values and memories, our families and friends, our progress as one
people and our common commitment to a society where each of us can achieve his
or her full potential.
I believe that Singaporeans will love their country more when they feel
valued and have the opportunity to shape its future.
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The
second critical factor to keep Singapore going is trust – the trust between
the different communities and the trust between the people and the Government.
The
discovery of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network after 9/11 shocked our people. I
was worried that it could break the trust between our Muslim and other
communities.
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I
remember our first dialogue session at Kallang Theatre with community and
religious leaders.
The anxiety was palpable.
We explained why the Government had made the JI arrests and that they
were not targeted at Muslims. We
urged non-Muslims to reach out to the Muslims.
We also urged the Muslim community to integrate more with the other
communities.
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I
was relieved when speaker after speaker – Muslim and non-Muslim alike –
rose to support the Government’s actions. They condemned the terrorist plot
as the work of misguided individuals.
They emphasized that the plot had nothing to do with our Muslim
community.
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We
could deal with race and religion so openly because of the mutual trust we had
built over the years. We
have deepened this trust with the way we handled the JI episode.
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The
third critical factor for Singapore’s future success is the quality of
national leadership.
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Singaporeans
are not naturally drawn to politics.
So we have to systematically seek out good and able people and persuade
them to become MPs and Ministers.
And amongst them, there must be at least one who can eventually take
over the controls.
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More.....
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Prime Minister Goh's last National Day Message
