Speech by Minister Lawrence Wong at MND Huddle 2016
Nov 10, 2016
Good evening. I am very happy to be back at this beautiful venue with all of you for today’s MND Huddle.
Thank You MND Family Volunteers and Partners
This is our year end event where we bring our partners and volunteers together to reflect on what has happened in the year and to have a good time. Because we are MND, we can give you a preview of the Christmas lights and the Christmas Wonderland for the Gardens by the Bay. You are the first to see it because this will only officially open tomorrow.
The year is coming to a close and it would be an understatement to say that this has been a year of surprises and disruptions. We are meeting just a day after the US Presidential Elections - an outcome that must have surprised all of us. That was not the only thing that was surprising – there was Brexit earlier this year. It is not just events that happened far away in America and Europe but even closer to home in South Korea and Jakarta, you have seen recent events that have been volatile and turbulent. This suggests that we can expect more uncertainties in the years ahead. It means that we have to stay vigilant, alert and nimble. We should continue to work hard and keep Singapore shining. This includes the work that we do at MND to continuously strive to build better homes in Singapore.
Our MND work is often associated with the built environment –hardware, infrastructure and buildings. However, all the shining and new buildings in the world are meaningless unless they have life, they create something special, create memories, create shared experiences and create the sense of community and home. Buildings and infrastructure are important but they are not the only thing. We need people, life and vibrancy to create a sense of community, a sense home.
That is why we value the partnership that we have with all of you. We thank you very much for your service and dedication in many areas of work. All of you come from different backgrounds.
We have:
a. Board Members provide vision and guidance on the direction and strategy of the work in our Statutory Boards.
b. Many of you lend your expertise to our Advisory Panels and various Committees.
c. Some of you lead other volunteers who volunteer their time and effort in different areas of work that we have in the MND family
Our partners and volunteers come from different ages.
a. One of our youngest volunteers is Reiko Ho. She is just Primary 6 and a HDB Heartland Ambassador. Reiko goes around to the neighbourhood as a HDB Heartland Ambassador and she tries to make her neighbourhood a friendlier and greener place. I am glad that Reiko is here with her family this evening. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
b. We have people who cover many different interest areas. We have Francis and his avid group of cyclists who call themselves ‘Love Cycling SG’. Francis would have ridden his foldable bike here and he can show you where it is too. Francis and his group help us plan and build our cycling network and they are very much our partners in realising our car-lite vision for Singapore. These are some of the examples we have – across different ages, across different groups.
c. We also have industry partners. Sometimes the relationship is not a very pleasant one especially if you are the subject of a regulation. So from time to time you may run into a bit of trouble. But that is part of being a good regulator. A good regulator should hold its partners to account and be vigilant. But beyond regulating our partners, we see our relationship has a partnership – we want to work with you and want to support the work that you do.
Continuing a Journey of Partnership
And one example of partnership is something that you may have noticed. In the menu, we have food like seabass from the Fish Farmer, eggs from N&N Egg Farm, Nai Bai from Quan Fa Organic Marketing and Aloe Vera from Kin Yan Agrotech. These are all locally produced in Singapore farms. They are certainly fresher, they are organic. We support our local farms through small efforts like these and there are many other things we can do to support our industry partners.
We have partners from different industries here today. We have farmers, built environment, real estate developers, architects and planners and a whole range of different industries. So thank you all for the work that you do.
MND Medallion and Dedicated Service Awards
Tonight I also wanted to highlight some of volunteers and highlight a few for special mention. I will be presenting several awards to recognise our volunteers for their outstanding service.
Among the award recipients tonight, are those that are receiving the MND Medallion for their services and some of them are outgoing Chairpersons of our Statutory Boards:
a. Mr Koh Soo Keong, who stepped down from the AVA Board after serving as Chairman since 2008; Soo Keong was also awarded the Public Service Star this year;
b. Mr Quek See Tiat, who stepped down as BCA’s Chairman after leading the Board for nine years
c. Mr Greg Seow, who stepped down from the CEA Council this year, having served as President since CEA was;
d. Mr James Koh Cher Siang, who retired as HDB’s Chairman this year, having helmed the Board for nine years; and
e. Ms Rita Soh, who stepped down as President of Board of Architects, after leading the Board for the past six years
On behalf of the MND Family, I would like to convey our deepest gratitude to all our outgoing Chairpersons for your dedicated service and invaluable contributions.
I would also like to highlight another individual who will be receiving the MND Dedicated Service Award this evening. This will be the very first 30-year MND Dedicated Service Award that we are presenting to any individual. It will be presented to Dr Liu Thai-Ker. I think most of us here are familiar with Thai-Ker and his contributions as one of Singapore’s most illustrious urban pioneers. For more than two decades, he served on the URA and HDB Boards. Today he continues to serve as Founding Chairman of MND’s Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Board. He has contributed in not just planning our city from the start of urban planning in Singapore. His services have gone beyond Singapore. Many of the cities around the region have been consulting him, seeking his assistance and services to help them master plan their cities as well. He is well sought after. We are privileged to have Thai-Ker here with us tonight. He played an amazing role in planning Singapore and all of us continue to benefit from his vision and leadership. Thank you, Thai-Ker.
In closing, I would like to say that tonight’s dinner is for all of you. It is an informal gathering. Use this opportunity to network with one another. We have done this dinner for five years. Those of you who have been here for five years would have seen the size growing – we have more volunteers and partners and more people as part of the MND family. They are part of the MND family. We welcome all of you and would like to continue this partnership with you to continue building an even better Singapore for the future.
Thank you and have a very enjoyable evening.