Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Mayors' Swearing-In Ceremony, 28 June 2011 at the People's Association Auditorium

Mr Lim Swee Say, Deputy Chairman of PA

Mayors

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.         Happy to join you this afternoon for the Mayors’ swearing-in ceremony

a.         Congratulate Dr Amy Khor, Dr Teo Ho Pin and Mr Teo Ser Luck on their reappointments

b          Thank Mr Matthias Yao and Mr Zainudin Nordin for their leadership and many contributions

i.          Cared for and served their residents well

ii.         Introduced many effective programmes

iii.        Left big shoes to fill

c.         Welcome Dr Maliki as Mayor for South East District and Mr Sam Tan as Mayor for Central Singapore District

2.         14 years since we launched CDCs

a.         Progressively done more, especially to take charge of social assistance schemes

i.          e.g. supporting poor families, tuition to needy children, befriending and helping vulnerable elderly, retraining and job fairs for workers

b.         Doing vital work

3.         Two important reasons why CDCs have worked well

4.         First, they are close to the ground

a.         Better outreach

b.         More intimate understanding of ground issues

c.         More able to direct resources to those in need

5.         Second, they can tap on community support

a.         Encourage corporations, GROs, VWOs and other organisations to contribute funds and manpower

b.         Leverage on volunteers to deliver services with a human touch

c.         In this way, multiply the resources available to help the needy

d.         And at the same time foster a caring community

6.         CDCs are working hand-in-hand with GROs and community partners in many ways

a.         Cite a couple of examples

7.         E.g. Walk for Rice@ South East

a.         South East CDC’s project, partnering NTUC Fairprice

b.         Involving grassroots, schools and VWOs

c.         In 2010, 19,000 participants walked to raise half a million bowls of rice to benefit 7,000 needy families

8.         Central Singapore CDC’s Nurture Programme

a.         Weekly reading and enrichment programme for young children from low-income families

b.         Grown from 1 to 16 centres in 4 years

c.         Funding support from companies like Credit Suisse and Starhub

d.         Over 1,400 volunteers from grassroots, VWOs, schools and companies

e.         Serve as friends and role-models to 2,100 children, improving their English literacy and giving them a stronger foundation in life

9.         Government has been enhancing our social safety net

a.         CDCs are the key agents to ensure that help is delivered promptly, efficiently and accurately to individuals and families most in need

b.         As we continue to improve and refine our safety net, and increase support to groups in need, the responsibility of CDCs will grow

c.         CDCs must rise to the challenge

i.          Outreach more

ii.         Explore new programmes

iii.        Gather more volunteers

d.         Give good support to Advisors, grassroots leaders and residents

e.         Only then can we ensure that the additional resources we put in will yield good results

10.       Mayors play key roles

a.         Leading and motivating their councillors, grassroots leaders and volunteers

b.         Encouraging new ideas to help the community

c.         Most importantly, serving the people with all their heart

11.       Urge Mayors to use the next few years well

a.         Evolve the CDCs to meet the changing needs

b.         Always remember the basic ABCs:  Assist the needy, Bond the people and Connect the community

c.         But continue to try new ways to engage a changing population

d.         Wish Mayors the very best as they work to serve Singaporeans better

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