home 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES MONDAY, AUGUST 3 2009 PAGE B3

10 challenges Birthday wishes

for the next Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
at a National Day celebration
with Yio Chu Kang MP Seng Han
generation: SM Thong (third from right) and Ang
Mo Kio GRC MPs (from fourth
left) Lam Pin Min, Wee Siew Kim
Success creates its own problems, and Lee Bee Wah (second from
said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong right) yesterday. Grassroots
yesterday when he spelt out the 10 leaders and residents were also at
challenges facing the next the event, which included a
generation. He highlighted them by parade and cake-cutting
ceremony at Yio Chu Kang
posing questions to Cabinet Stadium. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
ministers, families and the young.

1 High growth: Amid global competition, can you

the economic gloom was clearing up.

S’poreans urged
maintain Singapore’s high economic growth and
Mr Teo, who called the downturn a
keep on improving our standard of living?
snow storm where everything was fro-
In 1959, thousands of Singaporeans lived in zen, said: “The economy has stopped
slums and squalor. Today, more than 90 per cent falling, we are now bouncing along
own their homes. the bottom. Whether we will come up

to ‘stick together’
again sharply is not so clear yet, so we
2 Life will get better: How do you, as leaders, con-
vince Singaporeans of that when they are al-
ready living in good-quality public and private hous-
will have to see how the economy, es-
pecially the demand for our goods and
services in Europe and America, turn
ing? out over the next six months.”
He said Singaporeans can face the

3 Transport: How does the Transport Minister sat-

isfy the demands for comfort, convenience, con-
gestion-free travel and punctuality of services and
Stay united in face of Minister Teo Chee Hean, speaking at a
National Day dinner at the Pasir
one family and community” at a Cash-
ew constituency National Day dinner
future with confidence as the Republic
is ready to bounce back. Despite the
dismal economic scene, recent invest-
Ris-Punggol GRC, reminded Singapo- last night.
expectation of affordable fares, ERP and parking
charges?
threats, say DPM Teo, reans of the need to be vigilant in the Dr Balakrishnan said there would al-
ments in biomedical and green energy
areas will help the country grow, he
Vivian Balakrishnan face of terrorism.
“One of the objectives of these ex-
ways be the temptation to split apart
on the basis of race, language and reli-
added.

4 Health care: Can the Health Minister stamp out

diseases linked to an affluent lifestyle, such as
diabetes and cancer? And keep health-care costs
BY APRIL CHONG
tremists is to use religion in the wrong
way in order to split societies apart.
gion; especially with the influx of new
residents and foreigners working here.
Dr Balakrishnan noted that proper-
ty prices have started to move, with
properties in the neighbourhood fetch-
& VICTORIA VAUGHAN We must realise this and...make sure “We must not discriminate. We ing healthy prices.
down and affordable?
we put in even more effort to under- must learn to live and let live. We “But throughout all these, people
If we live till 90, we would probably have to
TWO ministers yesterday urged Singa- stand our neighbours and friends and must learn to accept people with open are still working hard, people are still
work till 75 to have enough savings for a cosy retire-
poreans to band together and not let reach out to one another.” hearts,” he said, while reminding the looking after their families and people
ment of 15 years. are still sticking together,” he said.
differences in the community be ex- In the same vein, Minister for Com- 1,000 residents at the dinner that
ploited for ill intentions. munity Development, Youth and their forefathers had also once been “The economic downturn will pass.”
5 Worker training: Can the Manpower Minister and
the labour chief design a new training pro-
gramme, Workfare (a wage supplement for working
A week before the country cele-
brates its National Day, Deputy Prime
Sports Vivian Balakrishnan also called
for Singaporeans to “stick together as
newcomers to the island.
Both ministers were also optimistic
aprilc@sph.com.sg
vvaughan@sph.com.sg
low-income Singaporeans) and a Jobs Credit wage
subsidy scheme for grandparents and maybe even
great-grandparents?

6 More babies: What will get our young to marry

and have children? Any creative ideas on pro-
creation, Mr Goh asks parents and the young.

7 Ageing: Today, 9 per cent of our population are

over 65 years of age. By 2030, it will more than
double to 20 per cent.
How do we support so many senior citizens, he
asks the chairman of the Ministerial Committee on
Ageing.
How will we look after our parents and grandpar-
ents? Will you build more community hospitals,
nursing and old folk’s homes, and keep them afford-
able?

8 Scarce land: In the last 50 years, land area has

been expanded by more than 20 per cent,
through reclamation.
How much more land can Singapore reclaim
over the next 50 years, he asks the Minister for Na-
tional Development.
As the population and the economy grow, how
will Singapore deal with the potential over-crowd-
ing problem?

9 Education: Bright students will be sought after

internationally, chipping away at Singapore’s
talent pyramid at the top. Mr Goh considers this
one of the most serious threats to Singapore’s
long-term survival and says it has to be solved
now.
His questions for the Prime Minister, Education
Minister, schools and families: How do we bond stu-
dents going abroad to Singapore, physically if possi-
ble, and if not, at least emotionally? How do we en-
sure most will return home and contribute to Singa-
pore? How do we ensure there will always be a core
of honest, able and dedicated Singaporeans to look
after the country and their fellow men?

10 Religious harmony: For four decades, Singa-

pore has enjoyed racial and religious harmo-
ny. How do the people of Singapore ensure that Sin-
gaporeans of different faiths will continue to mix
with one another and respect one another’s faith?