1. A very good afternoon to the leaders and the organising committee members of Empat PM. And to the sponsors, the beneficiaries, a very good afternoon to all of you.
2. It is always heart-warming to come back to Empat PM to see your work. The last two years have not been easy for many families in need because of the COVID situation.
3. This is our third year combating COVID. Now as we speak, we see some light at the end of the tunnel. We hope that this year will be a better year as we recover from COVID. But unfortunately, the future has many more uncertainties – not least compounded by the situation in Russia and Ukraine.
4. The Russia and Ukraine situation threatens not just the lives and livelihoods of the people in Russia and Ukraine, or even Europe. There will be implications across the entire world. We are already seeing some of this impact. The very significant rise in oil prices and energy prices will bleed through the rest of the economy, and the disruption to our supply chains, including our food items, will also have repercussions across the entire globe. On top of that, we are facing a period of high interest rates.
5. There are many uncertainties ahead for us in Singapore and especially for many of the families in need. This year, while there may be many uncertainties, the Government is committed to making sure that if and when there is a need, we will step in to do more to help our people. But as we all know, the Government can only do so much via broad policy measures and schemes. What is most important is for us to be able to close up the last mile of any help that we deliver to our residents. And this is where the efforts of Empat PM come in. With organisations like Empat PM working together with the Government, and working with other social service agencies, we are able to reach out to each and every last person who might require help.
6. I want to commend Empat PM for the work that you have done. Many social service organisations want to think of how many people they have helped; how many people they can help. But I have always remembered that when I was in the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), we have a saying: It is not how many people we have helped that is most important. What is most important is how many people we do not need to help. This means that we have done many things upstream to prevent them getting into a situation where they need help.
7. And this is precisely what Empat PM is doing. Yes, today we see the front-line work being done by Empat PM to help families in need. But very often, we do not pay enough attention and do not give enough credit to the behind-the-scenes work of how Empat PM has, over the years, groomed generations of students and volunteers to do precisely that: to prevent families in need from getting into a situation whereby they need help.
8. And instead of just depending on other people to give help, Empat PM encourages them to in turn help others. This is very important in social work. No matter how poor a person might be, a person will always have the sense of dignity that they can do something to help others. And very often when they have this sense of confidence and pride that they can help someone else, they in turn become more confident of themselves and their abilities.
9. And so, I would like to congratulate and thank Empat PM for all this work that you have done quietly behind the scenes. Not just for how many people you have helped, but more importantly, how many more people you have groomed and developed, to avoid them having to be helped in time to come. And instead, they go on to help others.
10. This is what makes Singapore special and different from other parts of the world. In other parts of the world, very often help is delivered on the basis of race, language, and religion. But as we have seen from the video, in Singapore, when someone needs help, it is given regardless of race, language, or religion. When we have something to celebrate, we also celebrate it regardless of race, language, and religion. And this is why in Singapore, while we may not have a common past, nor the same ancestry, race, language, and religion, we can have a common future based on a set of shared values as exemplified by the volunteers and the leadership of Empat PM, which is that whether in good times, or bad times, we do it together. We help one another together regardless of race, language, and religion.
11. So well done to Empat PM, congratulations to all the volunteers and thank you to all the sponsors for your kind gestures to make our Singapore a much better place, notwithstanding the difficulties. So long as we continue to keep this sense of spirit, of togetherness, helping one another regardless of race, language, and religion, helping one another upstream to prevent people getting into need in the first place, I think we will be okay. We can look forward to the rest of this year and the next year with confidence because of these special characteristics of our community.
12. Thank you to Empat PM – the leadership, organisers, the volunteers and sponsors – once again.