1. 新加坡中华总商会会长和各位中华总商会的理事们、 先生们、女士们,大家晚上好。
2. 首先,要祝大家中秋节快乐,阖家安康。今天非常荣幸再次受邀出席中华总商会的中秋晚会。
3. 今天,在准备出席这项活动的时候,我想到的第一件事,就是非常感恩。去年我也出席了这项活动。若大家去年也有出席这项活动,可能会记得去年的这个时候,我们每一个人还需要戴着口罩,心情有一点忐忑,也有一点紧张。当时,我们不知道疫情几时会过去。 所以今天,能与大家再次的欢聚一堂,不用戴口罩,令我感到非常的感恩。感恩大家与政府配合,一起度过这个难关。
4. 另外一件值得我们感恩的事,就是我们的先贤。今天我们将揭幕 "嘉庚堂"的牌匾。当我们想起陈嘉庚先生所留下的丰富遗产,尤其是文化精神的遗产,我们也应该觉得非常感恩。
5. 陈嘉庚先生是一名成功的企业家。可是陈嘉庚先生所遗留给我们的不只是物质上的遗产,他也留下了最佳的华族文化精神。
6. 首先,陈嘉庚先生,无论在成功时,或者是在困境时,都不忘投资于教育。教育不只是一个知识的传授,它是一个价值观的传承。对我来说,陈嘉庚先生所传承给我们的价值观,最大的启发就是他没有把成功的定义放在个人的得与失或是个人的成就。他奠定了一个基础,不把我们这一代的成功定义只限于自己,而是把我们的成功定义放在下一代。我们的成功定义不是以我们个人的角度出发,而是希望下一代做得比我们更好,青出于蓝更胜于蓝。这是我们华族社会的一个优良传统,希望每一代新加坡人都能牢牢的记住这个价值观。
7. 我们现在这一代享有的许多东西,不管是我们引以为豪的樟宜机场,或者是齐全的公共设施,大部分都是我们的先辈所留下来的,让我们这一代能享受这一切。因此,我希望这一代也能秉持着同样的理念,造福下一代,让下一代从更高的起跑点出发,去追求他们的卓越。
8. 今天,在座的许多学生将会得到总商会所颁发的奖学金。首先,我要恭喜你们。希望你们都能向陈嘉庚先生看齐, 不把你们的成功定义放在个人的得失,个人的成就。更希望你们在接下来的日子,也能为国家、新加坡社会做出贡献。唯有保持这种理念与精神,我们才能有信心地说,每一代的新加坡人将过得比上一代更好。
9. 也希望在座的各位奖学金得主牢记,我们的成功不管是这一代,上一代或下一代,靠的不只是自己的努力或者是天分。而是因为我们的国家和大环境,让我们可以充分发挥潜能。如果没有这个大环境,不管我们的天分多高,我们多努力,也不可能有今天的成就。所以希望每一代的人,不只是为自己的得与失而拼搏,更重要的是,为了整体为了国家而做出贡献。如果我们能达到这一点,我相信新加坡在未来的日子会比现今过的更好。
10. 今天的奖学金得主,你们的另外一大任务就是在四十二年后,代表新加坡庆祝国家的一百岁生日。你们今年大概是十八岁,再过四十二年,你们刚好是六十岁。到时,你们将会成为新加坡的领导者。所以别忘记你们的任务非常重要。所以鼓励大家继续努力向前。谢谢大家。
11. We are very happy to be here like this today, because we have left COVID-19 behind. It was a very different mood last year. There are many things to feel thankful for, including overcoming COVID-19, but more importantly, we should have a sense of gratitude to our forefathers who have left us with so much.
12. Our forefathers, like Mr Tan Kah Kee, did not always start off with success already in their grasp. In fact, they also went through tough times. However, they have never defined success by how much they had achieved for their personal well-being, even during challenging times. Instead, they saw success as how they would have enabled the next generation to do even better than themselves. I hope that all the scholarship holders today will also see success in the same light – that our achievements are not solely the result of our intelligence and hard work, but also the opportunities given to us by society. And it is on this basis that I encourage you to see how you can enable the subsequent generations to do even better than you.
13. Last but not least, you have a responsibility to take our country forward. You will be the generation leading Singapore when we celebrate SG100, if we are so fortunate to get there. But I am confident that we can get there, if all of us continue to honour the best of our Chinese traditions and values, which are to always remember the greater good, and do our part to nurture the future generation. On that note, congratulations to all our award recipients and I wish you all the best in your journey to contribute to Singapore and take us to SG100. Thank you.