Speeches

Speech by Mr Mah Bow Tan Minister for National Development at the My Endearing Home Roving Exhibition launch at Marina Square Atrium on 16 May 2009 at 5.15pm

"My Endearing Home"

Mayor Amy Khor
Grassroots leaders
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Thank you for being here at the launch of this exhibition called My Endearing Home.

My New Singapore

This year is a significant year for Singaporeans. It is the 50th anniversary of our self-government. In 1959, for the first time, we formed our own government, adopted our own national flag and national anthem. We took charge of this island we call home.

Since then, generations of Singaporeans have worked hard and invested time, energy and effort, to build up this place as a nation and as our home.

And in 50 years, we have collectively transformed Singapore. Since 1959, we have cleared squatter colonies and slums in our city. In their place, we built a modern city, wired and connected to the world. We greened our city, cleaned up our rivers, developed industry and built a world-class public transport system. Today, Singapore is one of the most liveable cities in Asia.

Marina Centre is an example of this significant physical transformation. In 1959, this place where we are standing now did not exist. It started in the early 1970s when some 100 hectares of land was reclaimed from the sea to form an extension of the city centre. Today, it is part of our new downtown, bustling with people, people who work here, who shop here, tourists who stay at the hotels here, or come for meetings and conventions here.

Our efforts to remake our city will not stop here. It is very much work in progress. In fact, our cityscape will undergo yet another transformation in the next few years. Marina Bay was reclaimed slowly but steadily, starting from the 1970s. Within the next few years, Marina Bay will come alive as the waterfront promenade, the double helix bridge, the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resorts and other developments are completed. Marina Bay will be an extension of the current downtown. It will be the new “happening” place for all Singaporeans to enjoy.

Our city’s shopping district in Orchard Road has just been rejuvenated too. In the near future, it will become even more exciting when new retail developments like the ION Orchard, Orchard Central, and Somerset Central open.

Outside the city centre, new regional commercial districts, such as the Jurong Lake District, is beginning to take shape. Our HDB heartlands, such as Yishun, Punggol and Dawson, will be improved and upgraded with new facilities and a new generation of public housing.

Singaporeans will also have more leisure and recreation options very soon. Within the next few years, the Gardens by the Bay will open, and new parks and park connectors will be completed in various parts of Singapore. The Family Bay and Rower’s Bay at Lower Seletar Reservoir, as well as new boardwalks, wetlands and other recreational facilities at the northern and western banks of Jurong Lake will also be completed under the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters programme. The Southern Waterfront will also be transformed, with new lifestyle attractions at Bukit Chermin and the Harbourfront precinct.

My Endearing Home Exhibition

In short, we can look forward to a new Singapore cityscape very soon.

Last month, I announced that MND will launch a "My New Singapore" programme to encourage Singaporeans to rediscover Singapore. The programme comprises events and activities to reach out to Singaporeans, and to invite them to see new developments and visit leisure destinations.

The Exhibition today marks the start of this effort. It will showcase the new plans that will shape Singapore’s physical development in the next few years. The Exhibition will also tour six other community venues in the next few months – HDB Hub, Causeway Point, Vivo City, IMM in Jurong, Compass Point and Parkway Parade. At each of these locations, residents from different parts of Singapore will see the exciting plans for their respective neighbourhoods and for Singapore as a whole.

But nothing beats experiencing the various new places in Singapore first hand. In addition to the Exhibition, the URA will work with the People’s Association to organise community tours and encourage residents to visit various destinations in Singapore, such as the Southern Ridges, the HortPark, Marina Barrage and so on. I am very happy to learn that many of our grassroots leaders are as excited as I am to encourage Singaporeans to explore Singapore.

To accompany these tours, URA in collaboration with TimeOut, will launch Rediscover Singapore 2, which is a handy booklet that provides information on where to go and what to do around Singapore.

I hope that all Singaporeans will take advantage of these opportunities to rediscover and reconnect with this place we call home. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised with what you will find. Singaporeans are well-travelled, but unfortunately, we may not have taken the time to experience and appreciate our own city. With the June holidays coming up, I would encourage Singaporeans to take time to bring your children around Singapore. Share with them the special places that you remembered when you were a child. Enjoy a day out with them to experience the new Singapore, be it the upgraded East Coast Park, the new Orchard Road or the new Southern Ridges.

Capture these special moments of discovery and submit them for the photo competition that is part of this exhibition.

Conclusion

All our plans to remake Singapore are for you – to make Singapore the best home for Singaporeans and future generations of Singaporeans. We have, over five decades, built a special little city of our own. Despite the current economic recession, there is much we can treasure and enjoy at home. And as the plans you see in this exhibition take shape in the next few years, we can also be quietly confident that we can have a better Singapore, a better home and a better future ahead of us.

Thank you.