1. Let me thank all the kind donors and sponsors for this programme, and for the many people behind the scenes working hard to support the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). I thought I would just make a few points that are important.
2. First, I would like to thank DAS for their work, not just for the children with dyslexia. DAS was in many ways a forerunner in the way we better understand the diverse needs of our students and children. Because of the diverse needs, we have now evolved to an education system that is much more variegated; much more able to cater to this diversity. In our early days, we would not be able to do this, partly because we did not have the science to do this, partly because we did not have the resources to do it.
3. When we look back, we have indeed come far, where today, we have much more science in understanding the diverse abilities of our students. Not just dyslexia, but many other conditions. Today, we have also moved from what we call mass access to education, to mass customisation. And we will go further. In MOE, our aim is to make sure that we can provide as customised an experience to each and every of our student to the extent our capabilities and resources allow us. So, I would like to thank DAS for pioneering this work in understanding the diverse and special needs of many of our children beyond dyslexia. Thank you very much for spearheading this.
4. Second point I would like to make tonight is that some of you might be wondering, as you usually do at a charity dinner, "why do we need charity dinners? Why don't we just pay our taxes, and then get the Government to settle all this?" In fact, when I was in the Ministry of Social and Family Development, a question that was often asked is, why is it that the Government provides 90% of everything, and yet ask people and organisations to spend their time and effort to complete the last mile, the last 10%?
5. Arguably, we could have done that, which is that we forgo all this need to raise money, have different associations look at different needs, and we just nationalise everything that we want to do in the social service sector. We can do that, but I think Singapore will be poorer for it. Let me share why it is so. No matter how good our policies may be, policies by nature cater to the broad swath of people. There will always be last mile needs that are unique and special that broad-based policies will not be able to cover. Therein lies the role for many community organisations, including charity organisations and social service agencies, that will come in and help us reach this last mile so that we truly leave no one behind.
6. But there is also another perhaps more important reason why we do this. Imagine we are a society where we all just pay our taxes, and we feel no sense of responsibility towards the rest who may be less privileged or less fortunate than us. I think we will become a very transactional society. I do not think that will be the way we will be able to bond our people and inspire the next generation. These are the reasons why, despite us being generally well-endowed and provided for as a society, there will always be a role for social service organisations, specialist organisations like DAS, to provide for the unique and special needs of our people.
7. Going forward, we will continue to have this model because we think that it is important for us to bring up a generation that does not look at society just from a transactional lens as to whether I have done my dues and paid my taxes. But for those who are able and want to do more, they must be enabled to do more. In our society, we want everyone to understand that regardless of our station in life, we can always do something and contribute something. This is why in MOE's recent move to broaden the definition of success, we say that it is not just about moving from academics to non-academics, but an appreciation of a shift from personal achievements to collective contributions. We believe that this will be the way for us to build up the Singapore spirit; for everyone to know that regardless of our station in life, even the poorest or the least able, they are able to contribute something. Because of that, there will always be the sense of responsibility, the sense of affinity among fellow Singaporeans.
8. We hope to partner all of you in doing this, in building a new generation where we define our success not just by the material wellbeing of our people, but also by the spirit of our people, the big-heartedness of our people. Where everyone feels that they can contribute, and there is a path for everyone. So, we would like to join hands with all of you to do this for the next generation.
9. I would like to thank DAS once again for spearheading the work not just for children with dyslexia, but for the way you pioneer new approaches to cater to the diverse needs of our people. For playing a part in building that stronger, deeper spirit within Singapore and inspiring the next generation to know and appreciate what it means for us to be Singaporeans. That as Singaporeans, we will never just define success by how well we do for ourselves in this generation, but that we will always aspire to enable the next generation to do even better than us in this generation.
10. On that note, thank you DAS for your inspiring work. I hope that many more of you, in your different ways and capacities, will also inspire the next generation towards this goal of building a more cohesive society with a deeper sense of belonging to Singapore beyond material success. That even one day, when the chips are down, our people will say that we will stay here and rebuild it all up, just like the 1965 generation. Thank you very much, and congratulations to DAS.