PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) 25th Anniversary Charity Dinner

Mr Abdul Hamid, Chairman AMP Group, Mr Mohd Anuar Yusop, Executive Director of AMP, Members of the Board, ladies and gentlemen.

Good evening to all of you! I am very happy to be here this evening to celebrate AMP’s Silver Jubilee. I see many familiar faces in the crowd and including quite a number pioneers of AMP.

I was a bit worried that I would be late this evening for the event because we were in Parliament today discussing and debating the Constitutional Amendment Bill. In particular, voting on the Constitutional Amendment Bill this evening. I was not sure how many speeches we had to do. I passed a message, “If I am late, please start dinner and I will join you later”. But luckily, we finished the debate on time. We voted, we passed the amendment and I am able to be here with Minister Yaacob and all my parliamentary colleagues. I am doubly glad to be here. Now that the amendments have been passed, we will bring the legislation into effect in due course, in time for the Presidential Elections next year. This is a historic exercise for Singapore. It is important to the future of our multi-racial society. I announced yesterday and I hope you read Berita Harian. Just look at the front page, the next Presidential Election will be as a reserved election for the Malay candidates. As Minister Yaacob said on Monday, it has been 46 years since we had a Malay President, who was Mr Yusof Ishak, our first President of Singapore. So when the Presidential Elections are held next year, I hope qualified Malay candidates will step forward to serve in the highest office in the land and represent all Singaporeans. I look forward to Singapore having a Malay President again. It will strengthen our multi-racial society. I hope we will continue to work together as one people to overcome our challenges and to help one another to progress together.

If you have been reading the news at all or even if you have not read the news, you will know that something else happened today. So I do not know how you knew when you chose today as the date for the dinner but yesterday was the Presidential elections in the US and today we learnt the results. I am sure you have been following it. We congratulate the new President-Elect Donald Trump.  His candidacy took many by surprise, but at each stage he defied expectations, and now he has made it to the White House. Mr Trump’s victory is part of a broader pattern in developed countries. Many people in these countries are deeply frustrated with the way things are, and have a strong wish to somehow break up the status quo and reassert their sense of identity. So it is not an easy task which the new administration will have but we wish them all the best in dealing with American’s issues, and I hope, enabling America to cooperate with the world and to lead the world.

But to come back to tonight’s occasion. AMP in Singapore is playing a valuable role, helping the Malay/Muslim community progress together with other Singaporeans. The work that AMP has done in the last two and a half decades, along with fellow Malay/Muslim organisations and other partners, has made an impact on the progress of the community. I was enjoying the slideshow which showed some of the beneficiaries of your good work has changed their lives. I am happy that AMP is continuing this work, and will help the community to prepare for the changes of the future economy.

So I was very glad when I met Chairman Hamid and the President of Young AMP, Shamir, last week over lunch at the Istana. They told me about a very interesting initiative which AMP has, to set up an incubator in one of your premises to groom start-ups from the community which Chairman Hamid mentioned just now in his speech. It is called Common [ ] Space and Shamir told me he got the idea from his own experience at Block 71, which is an incubator which JTC has set up in Ayer Rajah. He was very grateful to get AMP’s support. I am very glad that it is doing well.

It is good that AMP is exploring new and innovative ways to help the Malay/Muslim community to participate in our economy. That is what we must have in our multi-racial society – everyone progressing, and no one is left behind.

Let me now say a few words in Malay:

Saudara saudari sekalian, saya berbesar hati dapat meraikan ulangtahun Jubli Perak AMP bersama anda, malam ini. AMP bersama badan Melayu/Islam lain banyak membantu masyarakat Melayu/Islam untuk bergerak maju bersama kaum-kaum lain di Singapura.

Dalam usaha untuk memperkukuh masyarakat berbilang kaum kita, semalam saya mengumumkan bahawa Pilihanraya Presiden akan datang, bakal dikhususkan untuk calon-calon Melayu sahaja. Seperti yang dinyatakan Menteri Yaacob kelmarin, kali terakhir Singapura mempunyai Presiden Melayu iaitu Presiden Yusof Ishak, ialah 46 tahun lalu. Jadi apabila Pilihanraya Presiden diumumkan kelak, saya harap calon-calon Melayu yang layak, tampil ke hadapan untuk berkhidmat mewakili semua rakyat Singapura. Saya mengalu-alukan adanya Presiden Melayu sekali lagi di negara kita ini. Saya harap ini akan menguatkan lagi perpaduan kita sebagai rakyat berbilang bangsa Singapura.

Saya gembira kerana AMP terus mencari cara-cara baru yang kreatif untuk memperkasa masyarakat Melayu/Islam. Masyarakat Melayu/Islam telah mencatat banyak kemajuan sepanjang lima dekad lalu. Ini berkat kerjasama erat antara pemerintah dengan badan Melayu/Islam termasuk AMP sejak ia ditubuhkan 25 tahun lalu. Saya harap AMP akan terus gigih bekerjasama dengan badan lain seperti Yayasan Mendaki supaya masyarakat Melayu/Islam mekar bersinar dalam masyarakat majmuk Singapura.

Akhir sekali, tahniah AMP. Semoga terus maju jaya. Terima kasih.