these complex challenges require fresh and bold ideas, careful balancing of different goals,and close coordination across multiple agencies. this is what my new cabinet, with a mix ofexperienced and new ministers, is designed to do. many countries and cities, even in thedeveloped world, have found similar challenges too hard to resolve. but here in singapore, wecan get things done and we will make it happen. we have a government that enjoys strongsupport. we have a competent public service. more importantly, we have a sense of nationalpurpose. we can work together, think long-term, and focus the efforts of the wholegovernment, indeed of the whole nation, to take singapore forward. this is what makes usunique and will continue to keep us special.
my other major goal in forming this cabinet is to prepare the next team to take over from meand my senior colleagues. my responsibility, as it was with esm goh chok tong and mr leekuan yew, is not just to govern singapore well today, but also to prepare the next team totake over from us. this will secure singapore's future beyond this generation, and take thecountry another step towards sg100.
leadership renewal was one of my major themes before and during the election campaign. iam grateful that with your support, i can reinforce my team and pursue renewalvigorously.
the clock is ticking; we have no time to lose. therefore, i have made a decisive move now. inthis new cabinet, nearly all ministries have new ministers, ministers of state and parliamentarysecretaries.
i have reinforced my team with backbenchers and newly-elected mps, and entrusted majorresponsibilities to younger ministers. they have to be tested, learn the ropes, prove themselves,and shake down as a team. increasingly they will carry the government's programme –initiating, explaining and executing policies, and persuading people to support these policies,which will increasingly be their policies.
the older ministers are staying on in cabinet. they will provide my team with depth andbreadth to think more deeply about issues and to plan more systematically for the future. theywill also help me to mentor and guide the younger ones. my overriding goal is to have a newteam ready to take over soon after the next elections, to work with you, for you and forsingapore.
we are planning ahead because singaporeans expect their leaders to do so. you have entrustedsingapore to me and my team, not just because of what we have done, but also because youare confident of what we will do. you trust that we will act on our words and live up to ourpromises, and we will.
i ask you to have that same belief in our country. singapore is special not just because of whatwe have achieved today, but also because of what we can look forward to tomorrow.singaporeans are not defined by the accolades we receive, but by our constant striving toalways do better, whatever the circumstances.
in this sg50 year, we discovered what it means tobe singaporean. when our founding prime minister,mr lee kuan yew, passed away in march, we grievedtogether. during the week of national mourning, wecame together as one people, to pay tribute to mrlee and to reaffirm what our pioneers stood for. onthe 9th of august, we celebrated 50 years ofindependence, and remembered how a ruggedpeople overcame adversity together. at the nationalday parade, we sang majulah singapura, recited thepledge, and sang home in one voice, committing ourselves anew to the nation. this year, weshowed what singapore can do and what promise our nation holds.
sg50 is not just about looking back but also looking forward. the last major sg50 event will be"the future of us" exhibition, which will open in december at gardens by the bay. theexhibition will showcase our journey from third world to first, but more importantly, lookforward to the many possibilities we have beyond sg50.
the themes of the exhibition include:
a. the future of lifelong learning – how singaporeans can follow multiple paths to chase ourrainbows, while also pursuing art, culture and sports;
b. the future of greening singapore – how our urban environment can be made moreliveable and better accommodate different rhythms of life in our lush city in a garden;
c. the future of caring – how we can come together, as one singapore family, whatever oursocial background or age, regardless of race, language or religion, to volunteer, and to care forand support one another; and
d. the future of smart living and working – how technology can transform the way we liveand work, and free us to develop the human spirit.
i hope the exhibition will launch us into the next chapter of our singapore story. we – thegovernment and the people – have to write this chapter together. we will debate and argueover what this chapter should contain, how the story should develop. we will do that onlineand offline, in civil society and in parliament. that is normal, and healthy. but at the end we areall co-authors of the chapter. we all have to work together, and we all want the story to have ahappy outcome.
in the last term, we held the "our singapore conversation". 50,000 singaporeans from all walksof life shared their hopes and dreams for themselves and for singapore. the exercise helped usunderstand what we share in common, and brought us closer together.
now we will take this one step further, to explore how we will build our future together – howwe will learn, work as one people, and celebrate life together. we will organise focusseddiscussions around the themes of "the future of us" exhibition.
i invite all singaporeans to participate actively in these programmes. we welcome all viewsand will engage widely because every voice counts. i also urge singaporeans to go beyondmaking suggestions or discussing ideas or critiquing policies. commit to what you believe in,roll up your sleeves, get involved, and come together to make things happen.
one important area needing reviewing is our economy. we must create opportunities even in a weaker global economy, and move faster towards higher skills, innovation and productivity. these are urgent tasks, because both global economic conditions and also because of domestic demographic trends. both will pose us severe challenges. we have to create more good jobs and pathways for our workers. we have to help enterprises, especially smes, adapt to a lean workforce, and build links with the region and the world. minister heng swee keat will chair a committee on "the future economy" to study this.
the singapore story belongs to all of us. if we have faith that singapore will endure and thrive, and put our heart and soul into building singapore, then we will prevail, and secure our place in history. as mr lee kuan yew once said, "we intend to see that [singapore] will be here a thousand years from now. and that is your duty and mine."
we can achieve so much when we work together.
two weeks ago, i attended an sg50 musical. it was called "our lives, our story". the show was a grassroots effort, put together by residents from ang mo kio and sengkang west. they were all volunteers who invested energies and time to celebrate singapore in song and dance. the musical traced singapore's journey from independence, decade by decade, and explored our way forward to sg100.
this amateur production embodied the essence of what makes singapore special. people of all ages and races shared wholeheartedly in a national celebration, and gave something of themselves. we found a wide range of talents from among ourselves – the producer, the creative director, the volunteers and children who sang and danced, the backstage crew, the props and the costume designers. they came together to rehearse and present an original musical, in the beautiful theatre at ite college central, to a full house.
during the performance, each one played their part, and everything fell into place. the audience too participated actively, clapping, cheering and singing along. it was a joy experiencing this moving rendition of our nation's story, and being part of it, part of the story and part of the performance. and this could only have happen in singapore.
that is what singapore is and will always be about: each of us giving of our best, united by our shared ideals, our faith in this nation, and our belief that here we can build something special together.
we are not done building singapore, and we will never be done. in this general election, singaporeans have reposed their trust in me and my team. my team and i take this trust and our responsibility seriously, and will continue to earn, honour and to grow this trust. together, as one united people, regardless of race, language and religion, we will achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for our nation. good night.
