Speeches

Speech by Mr Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Defence, Advisor to Pasir Ris - Punggol Town Council and MP for Pasir Ris - Punggol GRC at Pasir Ris - Punggol GRC Kampong Family Day on 18 November 2007 at 11.00am

Good morning, fellow residents of Pasir Ris - Punggol GRC, friends and colleagues.

It gives me great pleasure to join you here at our Kampong Family Day. I am glad to see so many of you here today, coming together as a community to celebrate our Town Day. I hope that through this event, you will get to enjoy some quality family bonding time, as well as catch up with neighbours and friends in the GRC, for a fun and enjoyable time.

This year, we have specially chosen a Kampong theme for our town day, which we are celebrating here in Punggol 21. It is our hope that our young residents here too can also experience and appreciate the strong Kampong Spirit and Bond that we have built up in our GRC.

We have strived hard to improve and upgrade the more mature towns in our GRC, with Interim and Lift upgrading and other local improvements in Hougang and Pasir Ris estates. In our two relatively younger towns, Sengkang and Punggol 21, we have brought in transport, community and commercial facilities as quickly as possible to cater to the needs of the residents. We continue to improve this with widening of the TPE and we look forward to the opening of the KPE.

We were also all delighted that our Prime Minister announced the exciting development plans for Punggol 21 during his National Day Rally. Many of our residents had a chance to see these plans during the “Remaking Our Heartland” exhibition that was earlier held here on 13 to 17 September 2007.

Today, we have specially arranged for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to showcase their plans for the proposed Punggol Waterfront Promenade. This is also the first time that the URA is revealing their plans for the Punggol Waterfront to the public.

To many of us, Punggol Point is well-known for its seafood restaurants. Today, it is set in the peaceful surroundings of residential homes, holiday camps, beaches, a marina and a jetty. Increasingly, the place has drawn people to windsurf, canoe, water-ski or fish here during the weekends.

To further enhance the area’s rustic coastal charm, Punggol Point was identified by the URA in 2002 to be one of the five coastal areas where new activities and attractions will be introduced. I am very pleased and excited to hear that the URA will be building a waterfront promenade and a new park at Punggol Point soon.

Stretching from Punggol Point to Sungei Serangoon, the 4.9 kilometre promenade will link two proposed sports and recreational clusters at Punggol Point and Sungei Serangoon. It will also join up with new park connectors along Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon planned by NParks. When completed, we will be able to walk in comfort along the continuous stretch of the Punggol coastline and enjoy being close to the waters and nature.

The new park at Punggol Point will blend in with the beach and promenade. It will include a specially-designed Lotus pond. Other facilities for fishing and jogging will also be provided.

Attractions planned for Punggol Point include a horse-riding centre and a restaurant development. At Sungei Serangoon, a new golf driving range is already being constructed. More attractions will be built when the remaining land parcels are successfully tendered out.

The opening up of the waterfront will benefit us, the residents most. Soon, we will be able to enjoy greater accessibility to the rustic beauty of the coastal area. With all these enhancements and upcoming developments, we can all look forward to a new sea sports and recreational destination at Punggol Point, with rustic seaside dining opportunities and other facilities.

I myself can’t wait to enjoy all the new leisure facilities. Together, we can energise the area and help create a vibrant seaside town right here in Punggol.

We are pleased to bring you another piece of good news. The construction of our Sengkang Sports Complex is near completion. Following its opening in 2008, our Sengkang and Punggol residents will be able to enjoy the sports and recreational facilities, such as a gymnasium, swimming pools, dance studios and a riverfront café.

Meanwhile in Pasir Ris, we have also recently formalized the location for our upcoming Pasir Ris Sports Complex to be sited within walking distance from our Pasir Ris MRT Station. Judging from the proposed plans, we believe that we would be able to bring a whole new sporting and recreation experience to our residents there.

I would also like to thank our Punggol residents for their strong support for community programmes, which has allowed us to officially open the void deck Punggol 21 Community Centre at Block 172C in Edgedale Plains this year. This new void deck community centre will serve the residents until we are able to secure sufficient funding to bring to you a full-fledged community club in the near future. The Community Club Management Committee and Fund Raising Committee are working hard to bring you this new modern CC as soon as possible, so I encourage you to give them your full support.

Before I leave you in the good hands of the Organizers for today’s Kampong Family Day, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all of our residents from Pasir Ris, Hougang, Sengkang and Punggol to make use of this good opportunity today to mingle and interact with your neighbours, Town Councilors, Grassroots Leaders, and MPs.

Finally, I would like to thank the Organizing Committee, the participating Grassroots Organizations, North East CDC, Project S.U.C.C.E.S.S. team and the various agencies and organizations that have made today’s Kampong Family Day possible.

More importantly, I thank all our residents who are here today to support this event.

I hope that everyone here will have a good time and enjoy the games and programmes put together for you.

Thank you.