Lim Wee Kiak
Singapore
“" The point I want to make here is that given that we have one of the longest lifespans in the world now, and there is a correlation with an ageing population and chronic diseases, are there plans to explore and develop the emerging fields of regenerative medicine and healthy longevity?”
“Can I ask, in light of the fact that we have a smoking cessation clinic, is there a vaping cessation clinic, whereby the public can surrender themselves and say, "I have been vaping. I wish to have some help"? And how does the Ministry of Health (MOH) handle this?”
“May I ask how the Government decided on these targets, and what steps will Singapore take to achieve them? I would like to highlight, this year, the Government announced a 2035 climate target to reduce emissions to "between 45 and 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035". Are we on track to meet our 2030 target?”
“Building upon this progress, I encourage individuals with innovative ideas and a passion for contributing to this vital green industry to step forward.”
“While mandating sustainable aviation fuel for departing flights is a commendable way, what other strategic initiatives are planned across different sectors to leverage on our hub position? How will such initiatives affect Singapore's economic competitiveness as a travel hub?”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister of State for the reply. I would like to ask two supplementary questions. First is that, is the Government happy with the state of affairs of the current SFC utilisation? Is 50% of the of the population using SFC the target?”
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Every one of 673 lines we hold for Lim Wee Kiak, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 14 of 14.
“When I watched this video, I was thinking about how we did with our population and, in this particular Budget, it seems that we did not mention anything about population, anything about policies that encourage our local population in replacing themselves. I hope the Government has not given up hope on Singaporeans as it gears towards putting our focus on getting in migrations of foreign talents. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to speak in Mandarin for the next section of my speech. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Speaker, Sir, I think it is perhaps right to raise this point at this time of the lunar calendar and we talk about the importance of the family unit, since this is the time of the year that the Chinese will be visiting their relatives and hosting reunion dinners to renew ties among their kins. I think it is not too appropriate for Mr Low Thia Khiang to say that the Government is treating the people as its antagonist. He should instead wish everyone a Happy New Year. I am sure most of us are aware of this Chinese idiom “xia zi mo xiang”, ie, a blind person touching an elephant. Mr Low could be touching the rear or the elephant trunk; as such he is not looking at this Budget objectively. Sir, I believe this Budget is like the Dragon in the Chinese mythology. You will see the Dragon head but you cannot see the Dragon tail. It is only when you look closely, then you will see the Dragon soaring up into the sky. This is the time of the year that the Chinese will be visiting their relatives and hosting reunion dinners to renew ties among their kins. The Prime Minister, in his Lunar New Year message, spoke of *Cols. 1761-1764.”
“English novelist HG Wells was disillusioned by what he saw in Russia in 1920 and he published a book called “The Outline of History”, and how true were his words when he said: “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” The main theme of his book was that the world would be saved not by revolution but by education. Thus, I have three comments mainly on this Budget. The first is on pro-natal and pro-family, ie, promotion of the family unit. Second is the group that is frequently ignored, ie, the stay-at-home spouse whom I would call stay-at-home mums and stay-at-home dad. Third is our environment. I was flying back from Tokyo last week and I watched a very interesting documentary on the Galapagos Island. It is a group of islands that is sited just off the Andes in South America and this group of islands is unique in terms of its fauna as well as the animals and birds. The islands were formed by volcanic actions. What is interesting is that it actually feeds off the cold stream from the Antartica as well as the warm stream coming up from the Equator. Every year, the birds on the island itself will reproduce themselves. The fertility of those birds actually depends on the condition, ie, the climate as well as the amount of fishes that are in those waters. About four to seven years, there will be a cycle of El Nino effect. When El Nino comes in, the cold stream fails to flow to Galapagos Island. As a result, the fish stock will decline, the birds will starve but automatically they actually cut down their fertility rates. So, fertility is a combination of correct inducement, in incentives in terms of providing them the fish as well as how the climate changes.”
“I think the introduction of the fourth pillar for our social security net through the Workfare plan represents a paradigm shift and it has added a new dimension to the Government’s efforts to help the lower-income workers. It is indeed a welcome move, akin to providing roller-skates as well as in-line skates to the group that is behind. They have to move on by their own effort. But we are not providing them with a travelator or a motorised vehicle to transport them along. So, by their own effort, we hope that, with the new roller-skates as well as in-line skates, the fourth pillar, they will be able to catch up with the group in front and narrow the gap. The second part I would like to touch on is education. It is heartening to see the Government giving an additional boost to help the lower-income sector now through education and training. By providing education for children of the lower-income group, we will be able to help them to secure a berth in better-paying jobs when they grow up. Good education is like spiked shoes worn by mountain-climbers and equipment given to them as they inched their way up to the top of the mountain. These are essential equipment they need. The top-up for the post-secondary education account is a step in the right direction. It encourages the poor to pursue beyond what we call foundational education to post-secondary education and to get themselves a diploma, even a degree. It encourages the poor to help themselves. And many may not realise it that, with the continual threat to social security, education is one of the key elements to prevent a catastrophe in today’s modern society.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Second Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shamugaratnam, has indeed unveiled a Budget for all Singaporeans that is pro-business, pro-growth and focuses on building up the foundation for the future of our nation. Sembawang Town is a fairly new town. It is up in the north where there is a lot of greenery and my residents are mainly very young. There are a lot of young couples and there is also a very good tradition whereby the folks there like to stay in the same area. A lot of them come from the Yishun and Mandai area, so big families stay together. The most common complaint I have about this Budget now is that they hope that they see the other three Ps, ie, for it to be pro-natal, pro-family as well as pro-environment. When I was driving through Mandai Road, I always think that it is a great place for the Marathon. The Marathon is, to be exact, 42.195 kilometres. I think a few Members in this House have actually run the Marathon and are quite familiar with it. At the start of the marathon, usually all the participants group together. They start off as a huge group. But as the race goes on, at the 10-kilometre mark, at the half-marathon mark, the group will get further and further apart. So, the distance between the first group of runners and the last group will actually get longer and longer. This year, we are progressing into our 42nd year as a nation. So we are running the first part of our marathon. It is like running the 42nd kilometre of the marathon. And now, at this part, we realise that there is a group of participants that is way ahead and there is a group that is way behind.”
“Sir, whilst it is heartening to hear that 83% of them are re-employed after nine months, may I know what is their pay like? Do they get back their original pay or is it much lower, compared to what they used to receive?”
“Sir, will the Ministry allow Singaporeans who aspire to upgrade themselves during mid-career to use their CPF for payment of their course fees, especially for diploma holders who want to pursue a degree?”
“One last supplementary question. Since the Medisave is mainly used for hospitalisation as well as more serious disease, the question is, for the poor, they cannot really afford the amount of money to use for health screening. Will the Ministry consider in the future or near future to allow Medisave to be used for health screening, especially for the poorer population so that they can detect their disease at an early stage to avoid costly treatment later on?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister for Health whether the current amount in the Medisave is enough, keeping in mind that we are liberalising and allowing Medisave to be used for more chronic illnesses. So for a person having diabetes at 40 years old now, or hypertension as well, the question is whether there will be enough Medisave by the time he actually retires.”
“To wrap up, in conclusion, I hope the Government Ministries can take the initiatives to look into the policies that are impacting on Singaporeans' lifestyle and happiness, especially the sandwich generation of income earners against the backdrop of rising cost of living. I know the welfare net will always be there for the very poor and the poor. Our Government and community will always lend them a hand, but it is the in-between - those in the gap - that will also need Government's attention. How we want our Singapore to look like, to feel like, in the next 10-20 years will be determined by policies today. I hope the Government will take active steps to ensure that all Singaporeans can achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. With that, I support the Motion. 6.42 pm”
“Now, the market is talking about biodiesel. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, burns clean and is biodegradable, non-toxic, works in any diesel engine with few or no modifications. It is simple to use, essentially free of sulphur and aromatics. In fact, it sounds too good to be true, but it is true. Scientific research has shown that pure biodiesel emission has not only decreased the level of potential cancer causing compounds but particulated compound as well, which is linked to asthma and other diseases. In addition, poisonous gas such as carbon monoxide is also reduced by 50%. My view is that since biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine and requires little or no engine modification, we might as well try it on our taxi fleet. This means that the operator can keep the existing fleet, spare parts inventory, refuelling stations, skilled mechanics. The only difference will be a change in fuel. And after some time, we will have much reduced cost and decreased pollution level as well. Sir, my main interest in biodiesel stems from three areas - (1) reducing our dependency on foreign crude oil; (2) development of environmental friendly and renewable energy sources; and (3) promoting industrial use of agricultural products. South East Asia is essentially an agricultural region. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are some of our largest agricultural neighbours. We can expand and strengthen our business ties with them as we are switching to biodiesel. Like the PM said, it would be good for us if countries in ASEAN prosper. It is even better for us if we prosper together.”
“They enjoy other facilities such as swimming pool, tennis court, 24-hour security and so on. So it is, in fact, in some situations more cost effective for these families in executive apartments to stay in condominiums rather than HDB estates. If we look at our car parks, the cost of maintenance would not be very high, I presume. How often do we resurface the car park or repaint it? I urge HDB to review its season parking charges and to moderate it to a more equitable fee, if possible. On a lighter note, another issue I would like to bring up is airport tax. I feel that with the rise of tourist arrivals coming to Singapore, our Government should consider lowering the airport tax for Singaporeans. Yes, we are building bigger and brighter airports. But can the Government consider recovering the cost from the increased inflow of foreign tourists rather than Singaporeans travelling abroad to enjoy their well-deserved breaks? The least the Government can do, as a gesture for Singaporeans, is to lower the tax, if not to withdraw it totally. Next, is protection of the environment. Singapore is not immune to climatic changes and we need to be a responsible world citizen in this, and many of the young will resonate with me. Sir, living in this era of high oil prices, even the first world countries, such as the US, are increasingly more concerned about their dependency on crude oil. US President George Bush has pointed out the need to seek alternatives to crude oil as quickly as possible. He suggested looking into hybrid vehicles and encourage the use of ethanol as a possible alternative to crude oil. Singapore, I note, has embarked on the use of alternative fuel sources, such as natural gas and testing out hybrid cars running on liquid petroleum gas or LPG.”
“While the poorest Singaporeans are getting a lot of assistance and incentives from our various schemes, we cannot ignore the fact that middle class income group Singaporeans are still earning considerably less than before, and the increased cost of living is a huge concern to them. One area which I feel that we can help Singaporeans is by lowering cost items that are impacting their lives. For the hardworking Singaporeans, some of the little goodies that they reward themselves are a home, a car, a holiday abroad. Sir, I know that the Government has provided a lot of financial assistance for the poorer segments via rebates, progress package, etc. But we certainly hope that the Government can do more for the not so poor before they become the very poor. How can we help these people? I take HDB car park fees, for example. The HDB charges $90 a month for a sheltered single season parking lot, and this equals to $1,080 per year. This may be too high. It is as good as a month's salary for some of our residents. For some of them, driving is not a luxury but it is a necessity for them to chauffeur their children to the carer's place. These cars with season parking do not stay in the lot for the entire day and night for the entire month. In fact, most of the time, the cars are parked in the owner's workplace. Comparing HDB flat owners with their counterparts who are living in condominium, HDB flat owners are allocated one parking lot while condominium residents with second cars are frequently given a free lot even though some may be required to pay a nominal fee, but it is usually less than $90. Visitors who come to visit them are not charged a fee for parking. Yes, condominium owners pay a higher maintenance fee but they are getting more value for their money as well.”
“On the surface, they seem to live comfortably but many find it difficult to maintain their lifestyle with each passing year, as living expenses such as cost of schooling, utility bills, cost of maintenance of a maid, cost of cars, all have escalated. According to the annual study conducted by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), the income gap for London's rich and poor continues to shrink last year, because of benefits and tax. This is in contrast with what MOS Lee Yi Shyan has mentioned. Among the reasons for the narrowing disposable income gap, according to the ONS, is the introduction of minimum wage, higher national insurance contribution and introduction of a system of tax credit. I am not proposing that we move into that. In fact, it is reported that inequality in disposable income has been falling since 2001 and 2002. While cash benefits such as income support, child benefit, incapacity benefit and state pension contributed very little to the income of the richest household, they boost the disposable income of the bottom fifth by as much as 60%. However, it should be noted that in their indirect taxes, such as VAT, it is regressive and therefore take a bite from the lower-income earners as well. The bottom fifth actually paid 27% of their income as indirect tax as opposed to 11% for the richest fifth of households. Perhaps the Government could formulate our own solutions to negate the negative impact on our lower middle income earners. Sir, my next topic is again on cost of living. The general household survey has shown that the average monthly household income has dropped by about 5%-20% for our workers earning from the 11th to the 20th percentile. This is despite an increase of 4.3% in salaries earned by Singaporeans in 2005.”
“I know this because I fall into this group of young families as well. It is probably doubly worse for those in the lower segment of the middle class, because they just earn a little too much to get any help and not enough to catch up with the rising cost of living. They are, what I call, within the gap. We are talking about the income divide. We are talking about the rich and the poor, but they are in between, they are in the gap. Someone who earns a gross monthly income of $3,000 may sound a lot. If he is the sole breadwinner with a family of four, he has a very different comfort level from someone who has the same responsibility and gets paid $5,000 a month. With a salary of $3,000, he probably does not qualify for any schemes. So they are squeezed from both ends. The person who earns $5,000 will probably hold a higher position in the corporate world and enjoys company benefits in terms of medical benefits and so forth. The $3,000 wage earner will have to penny pinch and consider hard before being able to buy good additional assessment books for his children, and even struggles with his monthly utility bills. We have seen many of such cases in our MPS. The other family lives fairly comfortably, pays their bills on time and even enjoys the latest state-of-the-art home entertainment system. What I am suggesting, Sir, is just for us to look at those in our income gap. While we have schemes to help the lowest income earner, we need to balance and look out for those who belong to the lower middle class. We need to lend a hand and to help the lowest segment of the middle income earners, not just the low-income earners.”
“For those of us who have a chance to stay abroad for some time, the ambience of the hawker centre and the food they serve are the things we miss most when we are away from Singapore. In my opinion, hawker food is cheap and good (though not necessarily the healthiest), and it has become part of the Singaporean lifestyle and a very unique brand of Singapore. Although it is mentioned in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources' Addendum to the President's Address, that HDB estates completed five to seven years ago do not have hawker centres, I am encouraged by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources' promise to upgrade the existing hawker centres. However, I hope that the Government will consider keeping the rental rates of all the stalls at the upgraded hawker centres at an affordable level and to keep the entry barrier low for new hawkers entering the market. I also hope that the Government would consider building new hawker centres and wet markets in the new towns to preserve our Singaporean lifestyle. Not everyone would prefer to shop in the air-conditioned supermarkets or have their meals in air-conditioned food courts. Many still prefer to frequent the wet markets and the open air hawker centres. These wet market stalls and hawker centres are the main sources of entrepreneurship for the heartlanders. Through competition, they provide cheap and good food for our ordinary citizens. I hope the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources will consider my suggestions. *Cols. 581-584. (In English): Next, the cost of living for young families. Young families are trapped in a whirlpool of stress, be it from work, bringing up the family, stress from keeping with recurrent car and housing instalments.”
“At that time, she worked as a cleaner at a clinic and doubled-up as a washer-woman for many families, just to earn some $200 a month, and she had to support four school-going children. Of course, the SBS bus service was better; the buses came more frequently, and they were newer and better maintained. But, at least, at that time, I had a choice. Today, although we have two bus companies, they are not two companies competing directly with each other. They are, in fact, two bus companies, each operating in its own carefully crafted out territory, and each enjoying its own monopoly over the territory. To the vast majority of commuters, they have no choice, no alternatives to choose from. The two bus companies also control their own MRT lines. In the name of complementary service and saving resources, many bus routes were changed purportedly to "encourage" people to use the MRT. Perhaps these services should be made to compete with each other to provide the most efficient and cost-effective service. Let the commuters decide on which service they prefer. As mentioned in the President's Address, the Ministry of Transport has decided to conduct a review with the aim of providing a high quality and cost effective land transport system. I hope that the Ministry will consider opening the bus and MRT services to allow for more transparent and genuine competition. Give the people more options to choose from and a system will evolve according to the choices of the people. Next, on hawker centres. One of the unique features of Singapore is our hawker centres. The Newton Hawker Centre has become a "must-see" destination for all visitors to Singapore.”
“But I am glad to note that significant efforts have been made by the Ministry of Manpower to promote family life and work balance. I hope employers, both public and private sectors, will heed the call as I am sure a happier employee is a more productive one. I would also urge the Ministry of Manpower to work closely with MCYS to introduce incentives to entice employers to allow working mothers with children in childcare centres to leave early so that they can pick their children up on time. Give people choices Just as travelling on the roads of Singapore, the Government should provide a fast lane and a slow lane to allow for people to move at their own pace. Without provision of a slow lane, some of them may be forced off the roads. Sir, I will deliver this section in Mandarin. Transport services in Singapore (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Although the Government has many schemes to help families who are in financial difficulties, I do hope that the Government would consider more measures to reduce, if not contain, the cost of living. One feasible way is to offer the people more choices of the various types of services. Take transport, for example. When I was in primary school (that was 30 years ago), I used to wait up to an hour for the Scheme B bus service No.19 to go to school. I used to wait up to one hour. If I were to take the SBS bus, the service would have been better. But the Scheme B bus service charged only 10 cents, while SBS charged 25 cents. So I saved 15 cents per trip and 30 cents a day. This may sound trivial. But in those days, to my widowed mother, that was a lot of money.”
“Currently, many think that VWOs offering family care centres serve only dysfunctional families although there are many good programmes for all Singaporean families. The outreach obviously can be improved. Today, in our Community Clubs (CCs), we have many sub-groups such as Senior Citizens, Women, Malay as well as Indian Executive committees. Each focuses on organising activities for their own segment of the population. The People’s Association started the Family Life Champion in the Community Clubs and that has achieved some success in inculcating family activities. Perhaps, it is time for us to put family life in its proper perspective and importance. I propose that we should form a Family Executive Committee in each Community Club. And through MCYS and the National Family Council, programmes can then be rolled out to the community. This network of family executive committees will be useful in outreach programmes and promote the Community Clubs as the family clubs for all Singaporeans. With prosperity and progress, our standard of living has risen and, along with it, the cost of living. In pursuit of keeping up with our standard of living, many families have to have dual income for sustenance. This has resulted in degradation of family life as a result of work-family life imbalance and increased stress to the couples. Many of the children are surrogated to the childcare centres or to their maid and their time with their parents is already limited to a few hours per day. The recent move to extend the hours of childcare centre may augur well for working mothers who find it hard to make it on time to pick up their children but it will drastically reduce the valuable family time.”
“On the other hand, I have witnessed many happy families, like what Mr Chan Soo Sen has said. They do not own a car or they may not have the most luxurious trappings in life to offer but they seem to get along well as a family. As a family, they participated in many activities organised by the grassroots as well as other organisations. Perhaps they have attended the family courses conducted by MCYS. From talking to them, one of the key ingredients to achieving happiness is to keep a close cohesive family. During the recent launch of a series of new initiatives by the National Family Council, one respondent over the radio commented that while these activities and programmes are well-intended, where do we find time to attend. I guess each one of us has to allocate our time and resources to what we value most. In this way, we can truly say that we have contributed time and resources to achieve happiness. Likewise, I urge the Government to step up efforts to preserve and strengthen the most important institution in this country, ie, the family. Prevention is better than cure. Investments in strengthening the family, building resilience will reduce our social burden over the long haul. Should the current approach to strengthening the family and promotion of family values be similar to the many-helping-hands approach by the Ministry which it adopts for the provision of some social welfare services? If resilient family is a core philosophy of Singapore, have we proportionately allocated resources to strengthen and preserve this institution? The pro-family efforts and programmes offered by the people-led National Family Council are very good.”
“During weekends, they changed their jobs to professional chauffeurs as they ferried their children from tuition to tuition, courses to courses. They have meticulously worked out the timetables on their fridges. Why did I know that? Because that family was mine. The routine has become that of many young parents' lifestyle in Singapore. They have practically no time for themselves and the kids have no time for themselves too. Are they really happy? In a speech delivered by Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the recent East Asia Ministerial Forum on Families held in Singapore, he cited building of resilient families as a core philosophy of Singapore. The building of a resilient nation must first start with the building of resilient families. Families in Singapore are facing more challenges than ever and there is a need to change our culture and mindset to make family the priority. Divorce rates have doubled over the past two decades. Members in this House have mentioned there is an increase in the number of children who neglected their elderly parents. Are these warning signs of erosions and breakdown of family values? We heard from many Members of the House who have reiterated that the family forms the first line of support in our social safety network. The trend is worrisome. Are these signs pointing to this first line of support as being besieged? If so, what are we doing about it? The 2005 Survey on the Social Attitudes of Singaporeans found that Singaporeans viewed their family as their source of social and financial support. Over 90% of them felt so. But in the same year, in the National Survey of Senior Citizens, only 69% said that they will discuss important matters with their children. What happens to the other one-third? Who do they confide in?”
“It is probably not as complicated as what Dr Fatimah has outlined in her formula. As we read the Forum pages in Straits Times as well as the blogs on the Internet today, there is a general feeling of unhappiness. This has been outlined earlier by my parliamentary colleagues, Mr Zaqy as well as Mr Michael Palmer. Can it be that the happy people make the most noise and hence, attract the most attention? Could this general unhappiness be true? Have we been focusing too much on developing the hardware and in the process neglected the equally important, if not, the more important software and heartware aspect for Singapore? Sir, I will now delve on the following topics to achieve a happier Singapore: (1) Strengthening the family, which is the source of happiness for most of us; (2) Give people more choices as a free bird is always happier than a bird in the cage; (3) Reduce the amount of stress and the cost of living for young families as well as support the lower middle income group; and (4) Protection of our environment by thinking out of the box. Singapore family and lifestyle I knew of a family who resided in Marsiling a few years ago. Both husband and wife woke up every day before 6.00 am to prepare the kids and ferry them to their caregiver's house, ie, their grandparents’ place in Hougang. They fought through our heavy traffic for work and in the evening, they fought through that heavy traffic again to pick up the kids, only to return home at 9.00 pm. By the time they reached home at 9.00 pm, they had to supervise the kids in their homework, to do housework chores and catch up on their reading, all in two hours before they hit the bed. By then, they were too tired to think about exercise, sports or any other activities that could make them happy.”
“Progress for our nation can be measured by our new skyline that is highlighted by the Ministry of National Development. But how about happiness? As for happiness, many have their doubts. We must commend the late Mr Rajaratnam for his foresight to put happiness first before prosperity and progress for our nation in the pledge. We recited it everyday in our school days. But as we grew up, we forgot about the most important thing we pledged to do, that is, to achieve happiness. So are we happy as a country? It is true that the findings of the London-based New Economics Foundation's (NEF) Happy Planet Index (HPI) certainly threw up some interesting results. I must confess that I am not sure if they are indeed an accurate reflection of the societies surveyed. I am not a statistician as I am just an ophthalmologist. The HPI reflects the average years of happy life produced by a given society, nation or group of nations for every unit of planetary resources consumed. And Singapore ranked a dismal 131 out of 178 countries surveyed. Among the countries in Asia, Vietnam ranked highest at 12th position; Philippines at 17th; Indonesia at 23rd; Thailand at 32nd; and Malaysia at 44th. What about the developed countries? Switzerland at 65th; Germany at 81st; France, just two spaces in front of us at 129th; and US behind us at 150th. So compared to the developed countries, we did not fare too badly. Our neighbours did well perhaps because they consumed fewer resources than us. We may dispute the methodology as well as the veracity of this report but the HPI does raise some pertinent issues for us to ponder about. As we progress and as we prosper, we should all feel happier but I cannot help to notice that it is not the case. Happiness is subjective and it is comparative.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to add my voice to the chorus of thanks to the President for outlining the new directions that the Government is taking to keep pace with the changing social and economic environment. In this maiden speech of mine in this House, I would speak as one of the minority, the post-65 generation. I was picked as one of the majority as well, as one of the young parents. I am sure, amongst the House, we were once young parents before. We grew up in the transitional post-independence era and witnessed the transformation from developing to our current first-world status. As we stand together to celebrate the 41st National Day this year, we marvelled at the achievements of Singapore. Together with the rest of the Singaporeans, we took our national pledge with pride. And I am glad that Mr Chan Soo Sen has highlighted the deep meaning of the pledge, ie, as we pledge, we have to ponder on what we are trying to achieve as one people. A few members of the House had quoted our national pledge "regardless of race, language and religion" when they spoke about an inclusive and cohesive society. I would like to bring to the attention, as what Mr Chan has brought up, to our national pledge that was penned by the late S Rajaratnam. We pledge to stay as one united people, to work together "so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation". The key thing is: so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. I think many would agree with me that we have achieved prosperity and progress for our nation. Prosperity can be measured by our economic success, from the figures that are published by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.”