The Ministry of National Development (MND) and its family of agencies celebrated Singapore’s 52nd birthday at its National Day Observance Ceremony (NDOC) on 8 August.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

Held annually since 2000 for MND and our agencies to come together to celebrate National Day as a family, NDOC 2017 was attended by about 480 guests including Minister, 2nd Minister, Senior Minister of State, Senior Management and union representatives of the MND Family.

At the ceremony, Minister Lawrence Wong presented the President’s Challenge 2017 cheque of $105,008 to Ms Ng Ling Ling, Managing Director, National Council of Social Service (NCSS).

Presentation to Managing Director, National Council of Social Service

The Minister’s Award (Team) 2017 was also presented to 15 teams. These awards recognise impactful and innovative team-based projects that contribute to the vision of transforming Singapore into an Endearing Home and a Distinctive Global City.

In his speech, Minister Wong noted several common themes across the winning projects and the work done by the MND family: a refusal to accept the status quo, the boldness and willingness to experiment, and a willingness to collaborate with others, in both the public sector and the private sector.

Rounding up, Minister Wong said: “When we look ahead, in the coming years and the coming decade, there will be many things we want to do, new breakthroughs we have to achieve in building our future city. Sceptics will tell you it cannot be done. But remember what our pioneers have done and be inspired by their actions. Let’s all work hard together to prove the sceptics wrong, and make things happen as our pioneers did. That’s the spirit that will enable Singapore to continue to succeed in the future.”

The projects were judged on three criteria: Impact/Results, Degree of Teamwork/Collaboration, and Innovation. The winning projects included the Kampung Admiralty project, the Singapore Botanic Gardens Learning Forest, and the MND Family Volunteer and Alumni Network. (See Table 1 below for full list of winning projects.)

The Kampung Admiralty Team was one of the recipients of the Minister’s Award (Team) 2017. When completed in 3rd Quarter 2017, the 11-storey Kampung Admiralty development will see several “firsts”. It will be the first to fully integrate housing for the elderly with a medical centre, eldercare and childcare centres, dining and retail outlets, and a hawker centre.

Another winning project was the MND Family Volunteer and Alumni Network. The Network was formalised in 2015 to grow strong partners who work together with the MND Family to make Singapore a greater city and a better home for all.

Heartiest congratulations to all the winning projects!

Table 1: List of Winning Projects for Minister’s Award (Team) 2017