Zaobao asked me & some Cabinet Ministers to share our thoughts on the theme of 传承. Two Chinese characters, packing so much meaning – literally to hand on and to receive, but a better translation would be to pass on something precious from generation to generation.

You can read the article in Chinese and the English translation here: http://bit.ly/2MMK986

A quick summary of what I’ll be talking about at the National Day Rally tomorrow 18 Aug. Malay & Chinese starts at 6:45pm, followed by English at 8:15pm. Do tune in on my Facebook Page or PMO YouTube.

Hi everyone – greetings from the PMO team! :)

The National Day Rally 2019 will start at 6:45pm. PM Lee Hsien Loong will speak in Malay and Mandarin first, followed by English at 8:15pm.

You can watch the speech live on PM’s Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/leehsienloong) or the PMO YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/pmosingapore).

We will also be posting live updates here, and on PM’s Twitter account (www.twitter.com/leehsienloong).

Stay tuned!

PM Lee Hsien Loong has started his National Day Rally 2019 speech in Malay and Mandarin here: https://youtu.be/FEDNTGUu0oI

English dub of these speeches is available here: https://youtu.be/9Es2fIS9BUU

Identiti tersendiri masyarakat Melayu Singapura berbeza daripada orang Melayu lain di rantau ini. Tiga K yang membentuk identiti Melayu Singapura - Kewarganegaraan, Kemahiran dan Keperibadian.

Pendidikan penting utk tingkatkan masyarakat Melayu. 2007: Siswazah dengan ijazah kepujian kelas pertama 7 orang. Dlm 10 tahun: jumlahnya melonjak 10 kali ganda!

Masyarakat Melayu telah berkembang maju seiring kemajuan Singapura sambil berpegang teguh kepada identiti tersendiri. PM yakin masyarakat Melayu akan bertambah maju, tahun demi tahun.

总理在群众大会演讲里提到了新加坡中华总商会为了鼓励华社支持新实施的国民服役政策，为头两批入伍的青年制作的限量版的徽章。

总理指出新加坡华人是经过了两百多年，才逐渐形成自己作为新加坡公民的新身份认同。了解新加坡的历史，以及各族群如何共同塑造了对新加坡的认同有助于我们理解当今的世界局势，以及新加坡在国际问题上的观点。

总理在演讲中重申新加坡很希望同中美两国继续保持友好关系。在此同时，他也强调新加坡的立场是必须以新加坡的利益出发，在任何情况下都必须基于原则办事，不能受情感左右。经济方面，总理也说我们必须现在就做好准备，让新加坡适应这个新的国际格局。

总理表示政府和工会领袖都正在密切关注经济走势。虽然此时还没有对工友的就业情况有巨大影响，政府与工会已做好准备，会及时采取适当的应对措施保障工友的生活。

总理也提醒，虽然现在的大环境对我国不太有利，新加坡还是拥有重要的优势。投资者对新加坡的信任也是我们的宝贵资产。在此同时，总理保证新加坡会不断加强经济的基础，巩固我国的长期竞争力。

总理总结，他担心未来的十年会比过去的十年有更多的未知数，因此，我们必须为将来做好准备，秉持先辈毫无畏惧、力争上游的精神，齐心协力，一同克服困难。只要政府和人民团结一致，新加坡人就能够享有更好的生活，新加坡也能够在世界舞台上继续发光发亮。

PM Lee Hsien Loong is now delivering his English speech at the National Day Rally 2019. You can watch the speech live on the PMO YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/FEDNTGUu0oI

We commemorate our SG Bicentennial this year. Hundreds of thousands have visited the Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning. Due to overwhelming response, we have extended the show till year end!

We have overcome many difficulties in our journey from Singapore to Singaporean. Faced with change, we adapted. Faced with setbacks, we found solutions. We need these qualities more than ever.

We invest heavily in education to give our young the best possible start in life, so that anyone who works hard will have a chance to succeed, regardless of background. This is meritocracy in SG.

We have doubled full-day preschool capacity to almost 180,000 places since 2012, enough for every child aged 3 & above. Now, young parents in newer estates like Sengkang & Punggol are happier!

We have upgraded the preschools. The new HDB void deck centres are better designed, and we have built mega centres too, like the PCF Sparkletots centre at Punggol.

We set up MOE Kindergartens. By operating kindergartens, MOE gains direct experience, and raises industry standards. We have 24 now, and will more than double the number in the next few years.

We set up the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) to upgrade training for preschool teachers & raise their standing. It enrolled its 1st students this year!