National Day Rally 2018

Good. Evening again. My. Fellow Singaporeans. We've. Had a busy year, both. At home and. Internationally. Two. Months ago we hosted the first-ever meeting between a u.s. president, and a DPRK, chairman mr., Donald Trump and mr.. Kim jonghwan. Singapore. Was just a host we were not involved in the discussions. Still. We had a big responsibility, to, ensure that a summit proceeded, smoothly and safely. Why. Did the u.s. and the DPRK. Choose. Singapore, to host the summit I think. They consider considered. Us a serious. And reliable, partner we. Are friendly and straight, with all parties, and both. Trusted, us to have the infrastructure, and the capability. To provide a safe and secure environment. It. Was a daunting task but. We rose to the challenge. We. Welcome our guests with uniquely, Singapore, touches of warmth, and hospitality. You. May have seen this in Tosa cannons, barrels, decorated. With flowers, and olive, branches. As. DC, has good staff. We. Found an assigned Korean, speaking officers, to the North Korean, delegation. We. Packed goodie bags for, 2,500. International, journalists, with, thoughtful, items like bottled water and a. Portable fan to beat the heat. We. Kept the journalists, well-fed with meals and snacks from local sponsors. We. Even had laksa. Flavored, cookies. After. The summit we held appreciation, events for the officers who had worked so hard I attended, several of them tonight. I want to thank the officers and your families once again personally. You. Didn't just answer the call of duty you gave your best and more many. Of you work 24/7. It, was Ramadan, and Muslim officers were fasting. Some. Officers even had to abort leave plans and cut short family vacations, at the last minute. And. The home team party, I chatted with a Gurkha, contingent, officer who had been on duty outside the sin register tell, he. Told me how proud he had felt when a woman leaned over the cloud barrier to tell him thank. You for keeping Singapore, safe, I. Would. Also like to thank all the Singaporeans, who made an extra effort to show what. Singapore, could do, we. Receive postcards. From a class of primary, to students, from MGS. The. Kids had written to thanks Singapore for. Having lighted the world by. Hosting the summit. They. Reminded, us that when Singaporeans, work together we. Can do great things. I'm. Heartened. That even our eight year olds followed the news and knew what we were doing. Organizing. The summit brought us all together. Supporting. And cheering one another on we. Have every reason to feel proud of ourselves well. Done team Singapore. We. Hope that, the summit has helped to defuse tensions, on the Korean Peninsula. But. Korea is not the only trouble spot in the world, the. World situation has become much more uncertain.

Openness. Globalization. And free trade have all come, under pressure. The. U.s. used to promote free trade and a free movement of people, but. Now many, Americans, are questioning, the. Benefits, of this approach. They. Feel that other countries are taking advantage of them. Thus. The US has made rebalancing. Trade a top, priority. Rebalancing. Country, by country. Rebalancing. Item-by-item. It. Has unilaterally imposed. Tariffs, on imports, from other countries, the EU. Canada. And Mexico and, especially, China. These. Countries, are retaliating. Imposing. Their own tariffs, on US exports like, soy beans bourbon. Blue. Jeans and, harley-davidson. Motorcycles. They. Want to inflict, maximum pain, on, Trump's, supporters. Who. Grow or make these things hoping. To force the u.s. to back off. This. Tit-for-tat affects, business, confidence. Undermines. The, multilateral trading system and, threatens. Global. Prosperity. There. Are no winners in the trade war. Small. And open economies, are especially vulnerable and, Singapore. Will. Suffer, collateral, damage. Beyond. Economics, world, peace and security and, stability, I at risk. The. Trade frictions have eroded, trust between nations and sharpen. Tensions and rivalries, between. Countries. The. US and Europeans, have long been firm friends, and allies but. Now they are arguing fiercely over. Trade and defense spending. China. And the US have the most important, bilateral relationship. In the world they. Are interdependent. And they. Also need to work closely together on global, issues like climate, change. But. The Trump administration has. Named China as America's. Strategic. Competitor. And. Presidency, Jinping has warned, that, China will punch back and will, not turn the other cheek. This. Is an unprecedented. Situation. Henry. Kissinger recently, told the Financial Times. We. Are in a very very grave. Period, for the world. We. Cannot be confident, that a major powers, will continue to work with one another and. That. The existing, international, system which, has held the world together for. So long, will. Still hold.

We. Do not know whether, after a while new, rules and, norms for international, cooperation will, form or. Whether. There will be prolonged tension, and suspicion. Mutual. Rivalries. And, hostile. Bloc's. We. Are therefore at, a, turning point. We. Hope all countries. Will act with restraint and wisdom overcome. The current challenges, and find. A new way to move forward together in. An, uncertain world ASEAN. Is all the more important, to us. We. Have to strengthen ASEAN, and work on our relationships, with all our ASEAN partners and especially. With our two closest. Neighbours Indonesia. And Malaysia. Indonesia. Will, hold elections next year. They've. Just decided on the presidential, candidates. They'll. Be preoccupied, with election campaigning, for the next few months I've. Worked well with President, jokowi we. Have wide-ranging, and mutually beneficial cooperation with. Indonesia, and I, hope this will continue. In. October, President jokowi will be hosting me to our annual leaders, retreat this, time in Bali. We. Will be discussing ways to do more together. Malaysia. Has, just had its general, election. For the first time ever it's changed, its governing coalition from. Barisan Nasional to. Pocket and Harappa. Malaysia. Has a new generation, of leaders a combination, of young talent, and experienced. Hands. Of. Course. Prime Minister Mahathir is not new to us we've. Worked with him before the last, time he was Prime Minister for. 22 years under 2003. That's. When this picture was taken which, is why I look. With. More black hair. We. Completed, several important, projects with Malaysia under Dr Mahathir including. The second linkit to us and the. Link we dam in Johor. We've. Worked with some of his coalition partners and ministers, - I know. I brahim was my counterpart, as Dr Mahathir is deputy and also finance minister, and, Home. Minister, mu Eden Yasin was. The geometry, Bazaar when we built the lingua dam. In. May, soon. After the Malaysian election, I visited. Dr Mahathir in putrajaya I also. Met DPM, one Aziza, and Anwar. Ibrahim I. Had. Good meetings with all three of them I, told. Dr Mahathir that I wanted to work with him to take our bilateral relationship. Forward and, he. Agreed that we should because, we are each other's closest. Neighbors. Dr. Mahathir and his team are determined to review and change many of the policies, set, by the previous Malaysian. Government, I, appreciate. Their reasons but some of their reviews affect Singapore's, ongoing.

Projects With Malaysia, including. The high-speed rail and the. RTS the Rapid Transit System link to jeho. We. Entered into these two projects, in good faith after. Careful negotiations. Because, they benefited, both countries. Now. Malaysia, wants, to defer the HSR. Corbin. Wan has met Osman, Ali Malaysia's, Economic Affairs Minister, to. Understand, malicious intentions, and to find a constructive way forward. Both. The HSR, and the RTS have legally binding, bilateral, agreements, these. Set out clearly the duties of each party, and what, happens if either party wants, to change or to, terminate, the agreements, and. Both. Sides have to carry out what has been agreed to unless. We mutually agree, to. Vary the terms. Dr. Mahathir has also said that he wants to review our 1962. Water agreement. This. Is not a new issue it's, come up before when Dr Mahathir was previously, p.m. and you. Know Singapore's, view the. Water agreement, is sacrosanct, we, must proceed strictly. In, accordance. With its terms. To. Avoid any misunderstanding. Foreign minister Vivienne balakrishnan recently. Reiterated our, position, in Parliament so. That's why I'm only giving you one sentence, here the, full statement, look. It up on the Internet. We. Have worked well with Malaysia over the years. We've. Done substantial, projects, with successive, governments and brought, tangible, benefits, to both Singaporeans. And Malaysians. And I. Hope that with Dr Mahathir and his new team we, can build on our deep partnership, look, ahead and make. Further progress together. Ultimately. The, fundamentals, of our relationship, with Malaysia have not changed. We. Are closely bound, by ties of kinship and history, geography. And, economics. We. Need to work together to tackle common, challenges, and. When. Our interests diverge we. Must find constructive ways to. Resolve our differences. If. Singapore. Malaysia relations, state ape stable, and close we. Can pursue a win-win, cooperation and. We, can also each focus, on our, own domestic, priorities, and we. Have many, of them so, do the Malaysians. Although. Our external environment, has, become more uncertain, Singapore's.

Economy, Is still, growing steadily. Efforts. To transform the, economy are making progress our, business. Including, SMEs, have, been improving their productivity, and expanding. Both, in and outside of Singapore, our. Workers, supported. By unions, and employers are working. Hard to upgrade their skills and to seize new job, opportunities. Or. We are on the right track the, economic, restructuring will, lay a strong basis, for our future growth. Earlier. In, my Chinese speech I spoke about cost of living pressures what, causes them what, the government is doing and how. You can stretch your own dollar I. Explained. How we are helping people cope with water and electricity bills through, you save rebates, I just. Can't describe our, changing, lifestyles, how. Handphones. Infant formula and eating out among, other things have. Impacted, families and what, you can do to lessen the burden and what, the government is doing. Beyond. These three. Major expenditure. Items, housing. Education, and healthcare affect. Our cost of living in a big way at different. Points in our lives. When. A young couple when young couples buy an HD B flat it, is your first financial, commitment. When. You start a family and have children preschool. Fees, can add up and. When. You grow older medical, bills can be unpredictable and, significant, and your family, can. And can be a burden on your family. Therefore. Housing. Education and, healthcare are three, areas that the government is very focused on. We. Will spare no effort, to ensure you can afford them. I've. Opened often, spoken about education. At national, day rallies and last year I spoke quite a bit about, preschool, education. This. Year I'll talk. About health care and housing, starting. With health care. Singaporeans. Are indeed. Spending. More on health care. Partly. Because we have more advanced, treatment, options and better equipment, more. Sophisticated, equipment but. The bigger reason, is big Singaporeans, are living longer and growing old which. Means we are likely to have more episodes of illness and more. Medical, problems to treat. How. Have we kept health care spending affordable, for Singaporeans. We. Have our 3ms Medisave, MediShield, and Medi, fun, at. The same time government, provides heavy subsidies, up to 80% in our hospitals, and also. Subsidies, for primary, and long-term care and, this. Framework has worked well, for, many years it's. Produced good, health care outcomes is. Held national, health care spending law and also. Kept health care affordable. To. You. In. Recent years we've made further changes, to help you with your medical costs. First. We. Upgraded MediShield, to medicine, life a big. Move to. Protect Singaporeans, from unexpected. Medical bills big, ones. The. Payouts are more generous, and there's. No lifetime, claim limit. You. Enjoy a lifelong, protection even if we have pre-existing conditions or, you were previously uninsured. If. You suddenly have to go to the hospital or undergo. A major operation. MediShield. Life will help you. Last. Year alone, close to 200,000, Singaporeans, benefited, from MediShield, life and their. Payouts amounted. To over 800, million dollars. Second. For outpatient, expenses, we introduced the, community, health assist scheme chassé a, GP. Clinics your task card entitles. You to generous, subsidies, especially. For the lower-income. Dr.. Lilly know who's a GP, told. Me that after the charge was introduced, she saw more elderly patients, and she. Said that our old, folks are very resilient and generally. They put off seeing the doctor until they, really cannot behind anymore. But. Because. Of Chasse they. Now come to her earlier, which, is better because now she, can treat them before, their conditions worsen. Just. Has worked well as. We. Grow older more of us will have chronic conditions like diabetes or, high blood pressure or.

High Cholesterol. But. We can continue to live a full life if we manage these conditions, by. Taking good care of ourselves eating. Healthily, taking. Our medications, regularly and, following. Up with, our family doctor I. Think. All of us will appreciate a little bit of help with a regular medical bills for, such chronic conditions. Today. Chassé. Covers, middle, and lower-income, Singaporeans. We. Will now extend Chasse to. All Singaporeans with. Chronic conditions regardless. Of income. The. Benefits, will continue to be teared according, to income and MOH will announce the details later on. For. Those who visit the polyclinic, instead of the GP I have good news to. MOH. Has been building and upgrading poly, clinics and medical centers, across the island, for. Example, in pom ball or, campo admiralty amongst others. Bongo. Paulo clay opened, last November. It, focuses. On women's and children's health, to, cater to the young families living nearby. Admiralty. Medical Center is at Campo Admiralty, where, many elderly residents, live and where I recorded, my National, Day message and, it, provides health education, I checked and fall. Risk screening for the elderly on, their doorstep, at their doorstep, I. Also. Recently opened, the new mo kio polyclinic. It's. Bigger and better with more and improved services, here, you see they have a special, dentist's, chair, so. That you, can put, a wheelchair, patient in and the wheelchair patient doesn't have to get up and be maneuvered, on to the dentist chair separately, it's. A great help for all people. There's. A Senior Care Center it. Offers daycare rehab, and home care services. Saving. Elderly, and less mobile residents, trips to the hospital my. Residents, as you can see are very happy. In. Fact Mo Kio polyclinic, has become so popular that the staff told me they are getting medical tourists. Not. From overseas, but they come from Mission and even below and do wrong. Now. All of you are very welcome in our Mo Kio but. Actually you don't have to worry because we're, building more polyclinics, across Singapore in. Sam bong Janos, Karin bukit panjang by, 2020, and then, a few years later by 2023, two more in this, one central and companies north some, of these are to upgrade and improve existing, ones, but, we will make sure that there, are affordable accessible high-quality. Primary. Health care services all, over. Singapore. Certainly. With. Improved financial support. For long-term care we've. Seen our own parents, or grandparents, getting old grown weaker gradually. Becoming, unable, to take. Care of themselves, they. Can. No longer feed themselves dress, themselves, or, move, around independently. They. Struggle, to perform, these activities, of daily living or, you. Call ADL's. Activities, of. Daily living activities. That, when you are young you take for granted. It's. A little bit sad. You, see it happen, but that's, life one day it will happen to us. So. We have the eldershield, scheme if. You can't do three. Of these ADL's. Eldershield. Will pay out a monthly sum, $300. Or $400. For. Up to six years. MOH. Has revamped eldershield, fundamentally. And soon, we will have cash. Yield life. Cashy, life will pay out significantly. More at. Least $600 a month and. It. Will pay out for as long as you live not, just six years, the. Scheme will start in 2020, and will, cover all Singaporeans born, in 1980. Or younger and, even. People with an existing, disability. Will be covered. The. Government, will subsidize their premiums for low and middle income families, so that these families, can pay their shares out. Of Medisave, and. If. You're older, born before 1980, you. Can also choose, to join cashier, life it's, not compulsory, but you can join and I, hope you will do so. Why. First. Because, you get a general subsidy, to help pay the premiums, the government, will copay so you're getting a good deal. But. Really, because. Cash in life will give you and your family more, peace of mind and it's something which. You probably will need. Gong. Kim Yeung tells me that, this is the most difficult of his health care schemes to. Explain to the public. So. He commissioned. Me to do it for him tonight. Young. Healthy. People can't, imagine themselves being old and disabled. When. You are young sometimes it feels like you're going to be young forever.

But. The last it, is, not so and, if. You wait until you are older before thinking about disability insurance. By. Then the premiums will be higher and you, may no longer even, be eligible, because. You may already have conditions, and not, be insurable. Singaporeans. Are living longer but. Unfortunately. Our additional years are not always healthy years, as. Many. Of one as one in two of us will, at some point in our lives no. Longer be able to perform three ADL's. Just. Think of the old folks you know and you. Will see that this is the reality and that's. Why I believe, casual. Life can, help all of us and it's. Offered to you I hope, you will take it up. These. Are some of the major changes to our health care financing, over the last few years we. Want all Singaporeans to have access to affordable high-quality health, care no. One should, be denied medical care because, they can't afford it and that is, my commitment to you. We. Have taken special care of, elderly Singaporeans. For, years ago I launched the pioneer generation package. The. PGP, was. For the group of Singaporeans, born in 1949, or earlier who came of age when the country was in our early years of development. They. Were a special generation. Who sacrificed, much to. Bring up their families. They. Didn't have good educational. Opportunities, most started working early had, low-paying jobs and couldn't, put aside much for old age, they. Spent most of their working lives in third world Singapore, only. To retire in, first world Singapore. Understandably. They, were worried about their health care needs. We. Implemented, the PGP, to. Recognise the pioneer generation for. Their sacrifices, and support. Them in their silver years. So. Far we've spent more than 1.3, billion dollars of the eight billion dollars we set aside for, the PGP. 450,000. Pioneers, have, benefited, and they. Fully deserve it. When. We introduced the PGP, we knew that Singaporeans, are little younger than the PGP, than the pioneers, and the PGS would. Just miss out. We. Gave those who are born between 1950, and 1959, annual, Medisave top-ups one or two hundred dollars depending on the circumstances. Nevertheless.

A, Medisave. Top-ups is not quite the same thing as a PGP. We. Have not forgotten this group. They. Lived through the two masters years of the 50s and the early 60s. First. Came the struggle for independence from, the British. Domestically. Singapore, politics, was, fiercely, fought over. Different visions, of the colony's future, in. 1959. Singapore, gained internal, self-government one. Big step towards, independence. The. PAP won the general election that year and formed the government for the first time. Then. Came this with a communist, merger, with Malaysia than separation, and unexpected. Independence, alone. For. Those born in the 50s, these were indelible. Formative. Experiences. That. Shaped them for life. They. Were too young to participate in, events but, most were old enough to sense the, electricity in the air to. Share the excitement of the changes, to feel the hope of a, brighter tomorrow. They. Saw the posters, and banners that festooned, the streets and were. Stirred by the rallying cry Merdeka. One. Word that, meant so much. Liberation. Freedom. Independence. One. Word that. Expressed, the determination. And the passion, the ambitions, and aspirations of. Our people. Roused. And on, the move, and. Seldom. Were the people more rouse, then. On the 3rd of June 1959. When. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew newly. Elected Prime Minister addressed. A huge rally at the bottom as. He. Told the crowd from the city hall steps. Once. In a long while in the history of a people there, comes a moment of great change tonight. Is such a moment in our lives we. Begin a new chapter in. The. History of Singapore. Most. Memorable, was his call to action captured. In this clip you've. Seen it you've heard it but. It's still electrifying. This, group born. In the 1950s. Are. The mardi gras generation. In. Chinese, we can say league-wide I in, Malaysia, of course, generosity, Merdeka. There. Are 500,000, of the Madhukar generation, today and I'm proud to be one of them. Having. Lived through the battles and upheavals, of the Merrik daija struggle, and. Seen. How, their parents have scraped and slog for him. When. The medicalization grew, up they, understood. Instinctively. What. Was at stake. The. Accept accepted. Hardships, they made sacrifices they. Answered, the call of duty they. Worked with their leaders to build a better tomorrow. The. Men were amongst the earliest batches called, up for National Service, they were the first of the SAF the. Army the Navy the Air Force. Many. Especially. The girls didn't. Complete their education. They. Came out to work early to support the family and younger siblings. Some. Drawing the workforce, some it's economic, uncertainty, and high, unemployment as, the British forces withdrew, from Singapore. All. Started. Working when. Wages were still low. Together. With a pioneer generation the, Merdeka generation, contributed. To building Singapore. To. Making, malaika independence. A success. Compared. To the pioneer generation the. Merdeka generation, are better off they. Were born later they benefited, from an extra decade of economic growth and. They. Were generally better, educated, than the Pioneers especially, the, younger ones the. Merdeka, generation, earn. More over their lifetimes, and accumulated, more CPF savings because. In the early 80s wages, increased sharply CPF. Rates also went, up significantly. But. Of course the cohorts, that came after them did. Even better as. We. Improve the education, system year by year more, of the younger cohorts, earned diplomas and, degrees and, found, higher skills, and better, higher, skilled and better-paid, jobs and. People. Stopped, dropping. Out of school because they needed to work they, could afford school they, could get the education. They could invest in their children for, a lifetime and, therefore. They, earn more and save, more. Most. Of them are deca generation, today I'm their 60s, if. Either left the workforce so will soon be retiring. Many. Have similar health care concerns as a pioneers. They. Are looking at their CPF savings and, Medisave accounts, what. It about having enough for their medical needs as they grow older I think. We owe something to them. The. Government will work out a Merdeka, generation. Package. The. Merdeka generation, package will, help this group to.

Meet Their medical expenses. We'll. Announce the details next, year but it'll cover similar, areas like the PG package for, example outpatient. Subsidies, Medisave. Top-ups MediShield. Life premiums subsidies. And payouts. For long-term care. The. Benefits will not be as large as for the pioneer generation who. Had much less advantage, in life but. The Merdeka generation, package will. Go some way to, relieve their health care what is and more, importantly, it, will show our appreciation for. The, medica generation, and their contributions, in. Summary. We. Are making big changes to our health care financing, framework. We've. Strengthened, the 3ms, and introduced, MediShield, life. We. Will soon enhance, chassé and. Introduce. Care shield life. We. Implemented, the PG package and. We. Will set aside a significant. Sum for. Merdeka generation, package this. Is not yet the logo but, is a first approximation. Courtesy. Of my artist. Courtesy. Of my very good team from Nanyang Polytechnic. Our. Schemes, are now more comprehensive. And inclusive and. Singaporeans. Can have more peace of mind that health, care needs are well, taken care of by. The way if you look carefully at this you will find that this is a yellow, Chasse, which, is a different color from the orange ones and maybe. There's a hint down there. Apart. From health care many. Singaporeans are also concerned, about housing. But. Unlike health care housing is not a simple matter of keeping, prices down because prices. House, prices affect different people differently, and the same person, differently, at different times. When. You want to buy a house you want prices, to be low but, when you want or when you own a house or you want to sell it you. Want prices to be high so, it's not possible to please everybody. Still. Singapore's, housing policies, have been uniquely. Successful. We. Are the only major city in the world where nearly every young couple getting married can, afford to buy their first home immediately, in. Other. Major cities young couples can only hope to rent a flat and the, monthly rent can cost up to 40% of the household income and in. Some cities you don't rent a flat you rent a space or. Sometimes. A tube. Because. That's all you can afford. Whereas. In Singapore, you buy, a flat you pay for most of it if not all of it out of your CPF, and the, flat is yours. Teak, young-kwang, and Sabrina for example, they. Got married recently they, bought a four-room PTO flat in Boonville they. Paid a net price three hundred forty five thousand, dollars for the four room flat after HDB, housing grants and, this. Was less than five times their annual income as, a. Rule of thumb flats. Housing. Costing, about five times annual, income is what. Is counted as affordable. And in this case they had it less, than five times. Having. Worked for some years already they had saved enough in their CPF for the down payment. Now. Their monthly CPF, contributions. Are enough to pay their installments, so they've not had to pay any cash out of pocket for the flat either. For the down payment or the installments. Young-kwang. And Sabrina's, story is not. Unusual. 80, percent of us live in public housing, it's the Singapore, normal, it. Is not just for poor families like, elsewhere but. For a wide range of, Singaporeans, from all walks of life public. Housing, is really, in Singapore. National. Housing. This. Didn't happen by chance we. Made it happen through, sound policies, and wavering. Political, resolve and the strong. Support of Singaporeans. Our. Founding fathers started the home ownership scheme in 1964. They. Wanted every citizen, to benefit, from the country's growth and prosperity and, to, have a valuable, stake, that, would be theirs that, they would defend, if. Necessary, with their lives. As. A result, generations. Of Singaporeans, have been uplifted, by home ownership. Take. For example a. First generation resident. In an mo kio his. 4 room flat will now be about 40 years old and can. Fetch more than 400 thousand on the retail market in a, good location probably. More. When. He bought the flat 40 years ago how, much do you think he paid for it. $25,000. Even. Accounting, for inflation, this. Is a huge appreciation and. This. Is how we've enabled many, Singaporeans to. Have a substantial asset, to your name, even. No income households, in. Fact, if we take our homeowners, who are 90, percent of the population, and you, look at the poorest, one-fifth of the homeowners.

Each. One of them has on average. $200,000. Of wealth in his, or her HDB. Flat. $200,000. Of wealth, that. Means you take the value of the flat you subtract, off his mortgage, unpaid, and. Still has $200,000. To his name. Doesn't. Happen anywhere else. Young. Couples, buying a flat today probably. Won't see as huge. An appreciation. As the. A local resident who bought the flat 40 years ago because. Our economy is maturing, and it, can't grow as fast anymore. But. You still get a good head start because the government helps you out sells. You a subsidized, flat or. It, gives you housing grants and often. Both and. As. Long as our economy, grows the value of the flat will go up for many years. Just. Not as dramatically. The. Oldest flats are on Macchio and now about 40 years old sometimes. Residents, ask what will happen to their flat as, time. Passes and their leases run down. Will. Their flats still hold values. What. Options do they have, why. Are their leases for, 99, years can. They be longer. Actually. 99. Years is a very long time. Let's. Say you buy a new flat from HDB in your early 30s after. 99 years, you. Will be 130. Plus years, old and I. Would guess you probably won't need this flat anymore. If. You, have children they. Also will be very old, almost. As old as a flat itself, in their 80s or 90s and. If. We have grandchildren. By. Then your grandchildren. Will, be grandparents. So. 99. Years is, a very long, time. In. Particular. When. You retire after. Living in your flat for 30 to 40 years, the. Flat will still have a good 60 plus years of lease left and. That's. Long, enough for, it to retain substantial. Value and be. A good retirement, nest egg as you, can see with, the unmarked your example, I gave you just now. You. Can continue living in the flat you can rent out a room for income if you need to and one. Day pass on the flat to. Your children. Or, you. Can write sighs sell, it move, to a smaller unit, or. You can go for lease buyback and return. The remaining lease to HDB. Then. Use the money you get back for, retirement I. Explained. How all this works in a previous national day, rally 2014. If. You look up this clips on the YouTube, you will still find them there. But. We can make, things better we can do several things to help residents, monetize. Their old older, flats we. Can expand the lease buyback scheme, we. Can do, things to improve the liquidity, of the resale, market that, means make it easier for people to buy, and sell old flats and, M&D. Is working on this. But. What have you had bought a resale, flat instead. Well. Our oldest. Flats are at most, 52. Years old so. You have at least 40 another 47. Years left, of your lease which, is still quite a long time. Very. Few of today's htb owners, will outlive their leases. HDB. Estimates, that it will happen to less than 2% of households, including. Those who bought resale flats so. It's not likely to happen to you it, could happen not likely, it, could happen to your children if, they. Inherit your flat but. This shouldn't be a problem if your. Children by their own BTO flat with, its own 99, year lease as many. Do because. Then an inheritance, for them would be a gift and a bonus and. Even. If you have to return your old flat at the end of the list don't. Worry because. The government will help you to get another flat to live in, it. May be a BTO flat from the HDB with. A fresh 99, year lease if you're eligible for another one, it. May be a resale flat on a shorter, and cheaper lease or it. May be a two-room, flexi flat for retirement different. Options. Your needs and what you can afford. But. Whichever option you choose you. Will have to pay for the lease and, this. Is only fair because you, bought the original flat, knowing, when the lease would run out and, knowing. That the flat would then have to be returned to, HDB. There. Is one, fundamental, reason. Why ACB. Leases for. 99 years and. That. Is we, need to be fair to future, generations. Let. Me explain. HD. B sells you the flat for 99 years you, own it you can pass it on for, one or two generations after. That the flat comes back to the state the government redevelop, the land and builds, new flats. For. Future generations. This. Is the only way to recycle, the land to ensure that all, our descendants. Can, buy new BTO flats of their own. If. Instead the government sold you with a flat on free whole that, means in perpetuity. Sooner. Or later we would run out of land to build new flats for future generations.

The. Owners would pass down the flat to. Some of that its descendants. Many, generations into, the future. Those. Lucky, to, have a flat while they become flat owners those not lucky enough to inherit their property, so. They will get nothing so. Our society, would be split into. Property. Owners and those who cannot afford a property and I think that would be most unequal and. Socially. Divisive. So. That's why. 99-year. Leases are not, just for HDB flats in fact for private housing also the. Government only sells land on 99-year, leases. There's. Also a practical reason why. We can't extend the leases easily. If. You look at all the buildings today. Some. Look rather worn. Even. Before they are 50 years old some, condominiums, are like that private. Property and, after. 99, years or a century, I'm sure, the mechanical, and electrical systems will. Be obsolete. The. Concrete, will have deteriorated, in our tropical climate and even. We could fix all that the recurrent, maintenance, costs would be very high so. It's, better to let the leases expire take, the blocks back demolish, rebuild, afresh we. May keep a few blocks for historical, or heritage, value, or. Sentimental, reasons or, to remind people why the old days were like, but. These should be the exception for. The, others we can rebuild newer better, more livable, flats. Blocks, townships. More. Suited, to what our grandchildren. And great-grandchildren will. Want to live in, today. If I offer you to live in a 100 year old flat, I don't. Think there'll be many takers because. You, want the mod cons you, want the lifts you want the power supply, you, are the modern, sanitation. You. Want the convenience, you. Want the finishes, the styles you. Want to be up-to-date and I think our grandchildren, will also want to be up-to-date and, it's. Better we, take back we rebuild. Singapore. Progresses, while, keeping an essence, of its, history and soul and. That's. Why when. The leases expire the, flats have to be returned to this date. There. Are still many decades before the first HDTV leases expire as. The. Flats grow older, the government, will help you to keep them in good condition, and we, do this through HTTPS upgrading, programs. We. Started, with a main upgrading, program in the 1990s. This. One happens to be in my own constituency and, you, can see each. One of these red bars is one. Lifts. Tower this is one block this is one block it's, a block with seven, lift towers, at government. Expense upgraded. Mu P and L u P together. Later. We, replace, the mu P with a home improvement program, H IP. The. ACIP has been very popular it's. An essential upgrade, we. Fix up maintenance, problems, like spawning concrete, ceiling, leaks damaged, pipes, this. Is the new toilet after it's been upgraded we. Upgrade the electrical supply, to this. Is a substation. Because. More families have air cons washing machines computers and now, p-m DS. Personal. Mobility devices, needing, to be charged. The. H IP scheme, is heavily subsidized, the. Government pays up to 95 percent so. Residents, pay as little as a few hundred, dollars for, the upgrading, and is. Not surprising, that after upgrading the, flat value usually. Goes up. We. Launched the h IP 10 years ago. The. Final batch of h IP flats will be announced, by next year so. Within a few years all flats, eligible, for h IP will. Have been balloted, hopefully. Pass. Executed. And upgraded. And that means altogether four, hundred and fifty thousand flats upgraded. Under mu P plus, the h IP. Now. Each, IP, covers. Flats build. Up to. 1986. And. That. And, we, launched a program a decade, ago. So. The flat switch missed qualifying, for, each IP are now. Starting to show, their age I. Know. Many H TV residents, in these younger flats, are. Also hoping, for an upgrading, in. A states like yishun or tampines order on there, are flats both built both before and after the 1986, cutoff so, people ask why next door got h IP my flat got no h IP. And. Then. Their spacer is where. Residents, started collecting their keys in. 1987. Soto. Sheahan used to remind the minister's regularly, that Viserys hasn't, had any h IP projects, and i would console. Him regularly, that facilities, flats were very lucky you, don't need h IP yet you are new very good. But. Still he said my residents, are waiting anxiously. Now. That the oldest bastard is flats are 30 years old they are no longer quite so new, we're, entire starting to show so. I'm very happy to announce that, we, will expand. The H IP and, H. IP will now include blocks, built up to. 1997. And. That means another. 230,000. Flats will benefit, soap. A series will get h IP the. Older flats and so. Will the Asian companies, Jerome and several, other estates.

Beyond. H IP what more can we do us as our flats grow older. The. Expanded, H IP will include flats built up to 1997. In, other, words the flats will get h IP about 30 years after they were built after. Upgrading. These flats should be good for another 30, to 40 years, by. That time the flats will be 60 to 70 years old and I expect, they'll be showing their age again. We. Are determined, not to let our public housing degenerate, into ragged. Squalid, slums which, has happened in many other cities. So. We should do a second, upgrading, a second, round of upgrading, at. About the 60 or 70, year mark and let's, call this H IP to. 60. To 70 years old. H. IP to will keep the flat safe and livable and also, help them to retain their value as their, leases run down and, it. Should see the flats through to the end of their leases. So. In short every. HDB, flat can expect to be upgraded, twice during their lease, once. When they are about 30 years old through the H IP or mu, P and a. Second time through H IP - when. There are about 60 to 70 years old. The. First flats will, reach 60, to 70 years old about, 10 years from now so. That's when we plan to launch the H IP to program, a, cantata. H. IP 2 is a huge. Financial commitment for the government. If. You own a private property you are fully responsible for its upkeep and upgrading. But. Because, the HDB is public, housing the government, will upgrade each HDB, flat not once, but, twice. During. Its lifespan. Furthermore. The government will help to pay most, of the upgrading, costs. The. First H IP will. Cost the government more than 4 billion dollars and H, IP 2 will probably. Cost even more because the, flats will be twice as all by them. But. It is well justified and will do it so. Long as MOF has the money I. Know. What some of you are thinking. H. IP and h IP 2 are fine if. I want to stay on in my flat. But. What, if i want to move out, can. I get first. Selective. Unblocked redevelopment, scheme. So. This is a very good scheme for, a state rejuvenation. It. Brings new residents, into the estate often, young families, who. Inject vitality, into the community, I have. Two sirs projects, and Peggy and recently I visited piggie, Park view it is a replace the BTO blocks which came into the, sirs site. The. New flats have made a noticeable, difference to taking the, estate is livelier, more children are running around more, young couples like, this one whom I visited, it's. Cheered up the neighborhood now. We have, more babies and piggies some even, able to dance with their mothers. So. Yes sirs, is indeed one option if your flat happens, to be searched and. Selected. But. Sirs is a very limited scheme, because. It's meant for selected, HT B blocks or precincts, which, have high development value, which, we can unlock and what. Does that mean. Take. Tangling halt for example, it's. In Queenstown, is our first HTTP Township it, wasn't built optimally, the precincts, were not always well laid up there, are low-rise units, the, flats, have. Layouts. Where there are large surface, car parts empty spaces or leftover spaces, so, if you take it all back and redevelop. It completely. Tanglin. Hall is being searched you can use a space better you, can create denser, housing greener, environments. So from something like this you, can go to something like. This. 40. Years. Change. Or. 50, years change it. Makes economic sense in such cases. For. The government to take back the flats early and redevelop. The site because. There's a lot of value unlocked, so. We can share this value with residents, through. Generous, compensation and. With. Generous compensation we. Can make the acquisition compulsory. In. Other words HDB decides on sirs residents. Don't get to vote. However. HDB. Estimates, that only about 5% of flats are suitable, for sirs. There'll. Be a few more sales projects, to come but, many projects.

With High, redevelopment. Potential, have. Already been done because HDB, chose the most promising ones and did them first so. What, about the flats that do. Not get sirs. Well. Htb, has been studying this intensively, and I. Have good news for you tonight. More. Households. Will, be able to benefit from redevelopment. Before. Their leases expire. Why. Because. The government has good reason to take back more flats and redevelop, them as they grow older before. 99, years are up and, let. Me explain. When. HDB towns grow older and the, leases in the estates are nearing expiry, we, have to redevelop, the towns. We. Want to do this in an orderly way. In, the early years because, of the housing shortage HDB. Often built in a tremendous rush and several. Older estates were built within short periods, especially in, the 70s and 80s. Marine. Parade between. 74, and 76, within, three years I'm, Goku. And Bedok after, that seventy, five to eighty one within. Six to seven years, therefore. If we do this one is Marine Perry. Therefore. We do not plan ahead nineteen, nine years later all the leases and such towns will expire around the same time and then, will be returned to the state within a few years and we'll have to find new homes for, a lot of people at once and HTV, will have to tear down and rebuild all, the, old flats in a hurry, just. Like when we first built Marine Parade and Mo Kio and Biddle and, I. Don't think that's. A good idea, the. Towns will become construction, sites all over again with, cranes all over, the place I. Think. We. Should redevelop, our old towns over 20, to 30 years rather, than within four to five years. Progressively. And that. Means starting, when the oldest, flats reach about. Seventy years old onwards. So. Some flats you redevelop, when they get to seventy years old some seventy five some 80 and you. Stretch it out over twenty thirty years and, progressively. Do things in a measured and considered. Way. Then. Just like with sirs the estate, and the community, can be renewed. Progressively. And. More. New. And younger residents will move in and the estate will become more vibrant. Those. Moving, out will have somewhere to go to and, those stay will. Have rejuvenation, to look forward to and.

That's. Why it makes sense for the government to take back the flats progressively, over several decades starting, from about 70, years onwards, and stage. Out the redevelopment. We. Will need a new scheme for this of. Course we will compensate, the residents, whose flats are taken back early and we, also help them to get another flat. To, live in just, like we would if their leashes had run out but. The terms will be less generous than sirs, because. There'll be less financial, upside, there's, social merit, in it there's community. Merit in it but there's not so much financial upside, so, it's less generous, financially, and therefore. The. Scheme will. Be voluntary, and I. Will call it vers. Voluntary. Early, redevelopment. Scheme. So. If you don't get sirs you can hope to be versed. Residents. In the precinct, will have to vote for verse just. Like for each IP if, the. Residents, vote yes we'll proceed the. Government, will buy back the whole precinct, all the, flats and redevelop, and, residents. Can use their proceeds to help pay for another flat. If. The residents, vote no then they can continue to live in their flats until their leases run out. This. Is a long-term plan we. Will not start doing verse for. Another 20 years we. Need the time to work out how to choose the precincts, how. To pace the redevelopments. Out the. Specific, terms of the government's, offer and so. On. We. Also need to study how. To afford verse for, the long term but. I think such a scheme is necessary, and we, will start planning for verse now. I've. Covered quite a bit of ground on housing so let me do a quick recap, there's an examination, later. First. We will expand each IP, to. Upgrade, 230,000. Flats go between, 87, and 97, and this, will happen when the flats are about 30 years old and. Will. Start soon. Second. We'll, do a chai p2 to. Upgrade flats a second time this is a big project which, will happen when the flats reach. 60 to 70 years old and, HIV, 2 will, start in about 10 years time. Third. Will. Have verse, two, progressively, redevelop. Precincts, in aging. Housing, estates and this. Will happen from about the 70th, year onwards and we. Will start 20. Years from now. 11. Years ago at, ndr. 2007. I showed, a CGI, fly-through of what. We hope bungle would look like one day. Some. Of you may remember watching, it at, that, time Bougainville, 21, plus was, just a gleam in the eyes of, our HDB planners. Recently. Lawrence Wong showed me a new fly through of Pongo this time using a drone real, life not, CGI let, me show you the video. We. Start from outer space, we. Fly in we. Propose to create a bumble, waterway, to, build a town on both sides and if. You fly along the waterway, this is what we thought it would look like and ten. Years and a lot of hard work later. You cross the bridge and. It. Becomes reality and. This. Is. HDB. Housing, there, are parks, there, green areas. There. Are schools. This. Is a commercial development, as Oasis, the Hong Kong Polytechnic is, there. This. Is waterway Cascadia, and other development. HDB and back. To the future this. Is the Pongal digital district, which is adjacent to, the si T campus Singapore, Institute of Technology. Thank, you for joining my guided tour. What. My government and vision and vision, more than ten years ago we've. Made reality this. Has been the story of Singapore, for more than 50 years we. Said this would be a metropolis and, so. It came to pass. We. Will continue, to transform our city a whole island will, never let Singapore, become a shabby shadow of some, past glory, but. Always keep it a vibrant, and attractive place, to live in. We. Are creating green. Corridors, expanding. Changi Airport, moving, PSA to to us and building, a new city center on the southern waterfront, we. Are planning and building new htb towns, bhaduri, is already, under construction, the. Next is Donna in the, West and later. Called, the Kok each. With, its own special. Concepts. Later. After, by labor a base has moved to Changi we. Will redevelop the eastern part of the island and in. 30 to 40 years time we will rebuild our existing, towns into. The future Marine Parade a future animal cure the, future Biddle and others. Each. Development. Will learn from the previous one and be even better and. We. Are designing each town so, that the community remains youthful, and vibrant and the, facility, serve a wide, range, of needs and interest for, now in the future, townships. For all ages. Just. As we turn Pongal 21 plus from CGI to reality, we, will make these other plans come true. Then. Future, PMS can show them off at future, India's to. HDB. Will be very busy they may have to change the name to HR be housing. Redevelopment board. Indeed. We, will never be done building. Singapore. Tonight. I've spoken about major shifts, in our external development, I have described, our plans to improve healthcare and public housing, these. Are fundamental, commitments, by my government to you, they. Are ambitious endeavors, and will, require large expenditures. These. Schemes, will stretch over, 50 years and more.

Several. Generations, and many. General. Elections. But. We are planting the seeds now conceiving. The plans investing, the resources building. The institutions, the. Benefit, will be felt by ourselves our, children and our grandchildren. Decades. From now, ten. Years before, we start h IP -. 20. Years, before. We start verse and. If. You are 30 years old and get enrolled in cashier life it, may, be 50 years before. You need the payouts, longer. If you are lucky. Very. Few countries can, make such long-term plans, and anticipate, needs and opportunities into. The distant future but in, Singapore, we, can and we. Will. This. Government, believes. That owes it to you to. Look ahead share. Thinking, with you pull our ideas, and work. It out with you to. Make it happen. Our. Plans, will not unfold, exactly, as we predicted because. Nobody can tell what will befall us over the next half century. What. New technologies, will disrupt the world. Will. It be a world where countries big and small can work together. Will. There be war or, peace. But. Whatever the future brings we, know what Singapore, must strive for to give ourselves the best chance of success, we. Must have a thriving economy and, sound. Government, finances, to generate, the resources, to carry out projects. We. Must maintain political, stability and, outstanding, leadership, so. That we can continue to plan for the future and. Most. Important, of all we must, always stay, one united people and work, together to, build a better Singapore, for ourselves. Building. And rebuilding Singapore. Is not just about satisfying material. Needs, the. Human spirit must. Flourish in, Singapore. Recently. The. National Geographic magazine published. A special issue on Singapore, city. Of tomorrow you. Can pick up a copy later after, the rally. The. Issue celebrates. Ordinary, Singaporeans, doing extraordinary, things, taking. The path less, traveled excelling. In their. Own fields. One. Of them is Markham an artist. Who designs customized. Sneakers, for celebrities, and shoe companies, under. His own brand name s. Btg. Pronounced. Sabotage. You. Would never have guessed but it works it, started, when he won an online competition in 2003. Overnight. He had an order for 72, pairs of sneakers he. Sold the first pairs. For. Three hundred US dollars each, and now his earlier work sell for thousands, of dollars I wish my old sneakers, were as valuable to. Mark. This, is a dream come true as he's loved drawing since he was a child, inspired. Inspired. By the art and creativity of his parents congratulations. Mark. There. Are many Singaporeans just, like mark following. Their passions breaking, new ground doing. Singapore, proud let. Me share with you a few I came across recently. This. Is dr. oz ha Ali a senior. Research scientist, at the cancer it science institute of Singapore, as. High as leading a team of researchers from Singapore, in the u.s. to. Study lung cancer, the, team recently made a breakthrough because, they discovered a slimming, drug that could help bring lung cancer, under, control, Shabazz. Ha. These. Are darius. Tomb and roshni, Mitanni. Dpmp. O met them in Jakarta and told me about them they. Are husband and wife both digital, entrepreneurs, each with their own online business his. And hers. Darius. Co-founded. 99.4. A. Search. Platform for property that connects agents, buyers and sellers not. Just in Singapore but also in Indonesia which, by the way has a very lively startup, and tech, scene and there. Are many opportunities there. Roshni. Founded, a media company that operates the Asian, parent comm, is a. Website which is popular, with many Singaporean. Parents. With young children well. Done Daria Santosh. This. Is sim teenie. She's. An award-winning documentary. Photographer. And artists. She. Was commissioned, as the Nobel Peace Prize photographer. Last year the. First Asian to be chosen and she, travels to places like North Korea and Kazakhstan, to, pursue her very adventurous, projects. She. Recently joined, Magnum, Photos an acclaimed international, photographic, cooperative, you can, apply, you have to be invited, to join.

GaN. Is not able to be here but I'm happy to have her parents with us here tonight. This. Is Michael Kerr. Who. Gave up his career as a pharmacist, to take over his father's poor PR business and. Carry. On his 79, year old family legacy, if you look very carefully these are the papayas and he, also sells grape i.t down there. Michael. Now travels, the world to introduce his papaya and promote, Singapore, food all the best Michael. And. Finally. One, catchin a conductor. And composer. Cartoon. Grew up in a Chinese speaking family, he, discovered, Western classical music, as a young boy at, Durham Primary School his. Math teacher was in charge of the school band and asked him to join it. Through. His school band cartoon found his love for music pursued. His music education, and won, a scholarship to the NUS young Giotto Conservatory, of Music and, after. That a National, Arts Council scholarship, to do his master's in Germany. School. Band started, in 1965. Soon. After we became independent mr., Lee Kuan Yew made school bands a priority, and. This. Gave many, students, from modest backgrounds the, opportunity, to pick up music. In. Our first National, Day Parade in 1966. Many, newly formed, school bands marched, with pride wearing. Their new uniforms. This. Was before cartoon, was born today. Age 32. Cartoon. Is the chief conductor of the Nuremberg, Symphony, Orchestra, in Germany, a prestigious. Appointment. Next. Year cartoon, will be a guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. For the lunar new year concert. Cartoon. Also, co-founded. Project, infinitude, an initiative, to bring music to less, privileged and special needs children in Singapore, and elsewhere he's, giving back to society so that others can discover music just like he did here. He is with the kids at child. At street 11 which. Is a nonprofit organization that. Runs a preschool in our mo kio. But. When cartoon comes back to his HDB. Flat comes home to his HDB flat in Durham West that, he grew up in second. Floor still no aircon sweaty. At night he. Says it's, still the best because, it is home and better. Than any hotel. These. Are just a few of many many, Singaporeans, who are pursuing dreams breaking, new ground and flying. Our flag, hi. We. Rejoice, in their successes, they show the world that here in Singapore, passion. Can indeed, be made possible. Our. Forefathers. Transform, Singapore from mudflats to a metropolis, thanks. To them today we are in an immensely. Stronger, position, with. What we now have we, can achieve so much more together. 100. Years from now, Singapore. Should stand out not. Just for its modern skyscrapers. And world rankings, but. For being a nation of boundless, opportunities. A society. Where, every skill and talent is recognized, develop, and, celebrated.

And Where, those who have done well contribute. Back to society and, help. Others to do better as. One. Of the primary two MDS girls put it Singapore. May be a small country. But. We have big hearts. Let. Us live up to that ambition, let, us continue to stand tall chase, rainbows and, work, together for. Many brighter, tomorrow's, thank. You and good night.

2018-08-27 17:50

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