20 Oct 2015
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good evening to all of you.
I’m delighted to see so many friends and colleagues here this evening. Your presence means a great deal to Singapore, my team and to me.
Let me say a few words about tonight.
I want to first thank Director-General Michael Moller, and the heads of the UN agencies and international organisations for taking the time to offer their best wishes, and some very moving words, to Singapore in the video you just watched.
Your words will inspire us to continue to be a responsible and contributing member of the international community in the years to come.
We don’t usually host big receptions. But we decided to do one this year, because this is a special year for Singapore.
This year we celebrate our 50th Anniversary of independence.
In the life of nations and civilisations, 50 years is but a blink of an eye.
But for us, 50 years is a significant milestone.
This is because independence was unexpectedly thrust upon us on 9 August 1965.
Some had even called us an improbably nation.
On the very first day of our independence in 1965, our people were apprehensive.
Our Prime Minister at that time, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, gave a press conference on TV that day, and he broke down halfway, unable to contain his emotions, right in front of the entire nation.
Our economy at that time was not yet viable. We had practically no resources and no real armed forces to defend ourselves.
We didn’t know if we would survive, let alone prosper.
My own mother gave me the name “Kok Jwee”, which literally means “Prosperous Nation” in my native dialect, at a time when we were not.
Perhaps, this is what she and her generation hoped Singapore would become for their children and grandchildren.
From that point on, we began building a nation, and embarked on a journey from Third World to First as one united people.
And what a journey it has been.
But the Singapore story is not just about our rapid economic rise. It is also about the broad-based social uplift for our people in one generation.
And we achieved this by stoutly preserving our multi-racial, multi-ethnic harmony; by building a culture of self-reliance and mutual support; by keeping our politics honest; and by confronting challenges in a pragmatic manner.
We have put together a small exhibition at the back of the room for tonight because we thought photographs tell a better story than a thousand words about where we came from, and where we are at today. I hope you’ll find some of the exhibits interesting.
Dear friends and colleagues,
There is another important reason why we have decided to host a reception tonight.
It is to thank and honour you – our friends from around the world, the UN and various international organisations for all the help, friendship and support you had given us since our independence.
For without your support and friendship, we would not have been able to build better lives, and safe and secure homes, for our people.
In fact, one of our earliest economic advisors was a Dutch economist Albert Winsemius from the UNDP, and some of our economic institutions and policies still bear the hallmarks of his advice.
You can read about the Singapore-UNDP connection in a very new UNDP publication in the goody bag you can collect on your way home later.
We have not forgotten the help that we had received in the past.
This is why we are giving back to the international community in our own small way.
And we do this by sharing our development experiences – both our successes as well as mistakes we have made along the way – through the Singapore Cooperation Programme.
Over the past 20 years, the Singapore Cooperation Programme has trained more than 100,000 officials from more than 100 countries around the world, many of them small states like Singapore.
Many of our friends found such technical assistance useful because our experience stands as a powerful example that it is possible for small states without natural resources to survive, and even thrive, as long as it has good leadership, political stability, rule of law, well-run and forward-looking institutions, and staying committed to the protection and promotion of the rights of their people in practical ways.
We will continue to give back to the international community.
My Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan announced the launch of a new Sustainable Development Programme to support the 2030 Agenda just last month at the UN in New York.
Through this Programme, Singapore will work with our friends to build capacity at three levels.
First, at the senior leadership level, we will partner the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence to jointly offer leadership programmes on Good Governance and Public Sector Institutions.
Second, at the policy-design level, we will cooperate with UN-Habitat to roll out a multi-year programme on sustainable cities and urbanisation for 100 cities in developing countries.
Third, at the ground-implementation level, we will work with partners like UN-Water and UNICEF to deliver practical and local solutions in water and sanitation for countries in need.
Dear friends and colleagues,
I have spoken for far too long. Let me conclude by quoting an old Chinese saying “创业难, 守业更难”. It means “Setting up an enterprise is difficult; but preserving it is even harder”.
I think this applies to nations too.
As Singapore looks forward to our next 50 years of independence, we know it will be a more challenging but no less rewarding journey.
I hope all of you can continue to extend the same support and friendship to Singapore, and work with us to nurture and build our better world in the years ahead. Thank you, and I wish you a most pleasant evening ahead.
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