Today-July 8
Singapore must never become a welfare state, but it can be a welfare society where everyone takes responsibility for the welfare of others, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on his last day of working for the Government. More than just personal responsibility, there has to be solidarity and social empathy, he said in a speech at the National University Heart Centre Singapore’s (NUHCS) 15th anniversary at Sentosa Golf Club on Friday (July 7). Mr Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Member of Parliament for Jurong Group Representation Constituency, announced on June 8 that he would be officially leaving his government posts to run as a candidate in the coming Presidential Election. Speaking hours before he became a “free man” — in his own words, to laughter from the audience — Mr Tharman said there will be a lot more people in Singapore with heart disease (about 2.5 times more in 25 years), hence the need to make sure that no one with heart disease falls through the cracks. “A fundamental effort is to start much earlier with healthy living, good education on what it takes to keep our bodies healthy and our minds healthy,” he said. Mr Tharman said that in Singapore’s early years, the ethos of the day was self-reliance and that made sense when the country was a young society. However, Singapore is no longer a young society and naturally has a maturing economy, where inequalities start to widen when a society gets older. He said that in his many years in politics, he has learned that most people appreciate deeply when there are others around them who are willing to help, and this in turn makes them take even more responsibility for themselves without having to be dependent on others. He said: “There has to be solidarity. There has to be social empathy. Social empathy and solidarity are not at odds with personal responsibility. In fact, they go very well together.” Read more at:
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-welfare-society-tharman-final-speech-2207241
