Minister Chee Hong Tat at the Hainan Hwee Kuan Third Singapore Forum 2026

Mr Raymond Wang,
Mr Mah Bow Tan,
Former and current Parliamentary colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good morning. Singapore’s multicultural society and our diversity is one of the things that we treasure and is one of our strengths. We each have our own cultures, traditions and heritage, but our openness, diversity, and our willingness to embrace diversity and the multiculturalism in our society has helped to shape our shared Singapore identity. This allows us to preserve and celebrate our individual cultures, while strengthening our common identity as Singaporeans.

This is something very precious and very unique across different parts of the world, and something we want to continue to nurture as a core element of our societal DNA, and to pass on this very precious element of our society from one generation to the next.

“Moving Forward, Singapore: A Commemorative Volume for Singapore's 60th Anniversary of Independence” captures this spirit as it tells the stories of people from different communities who have contributed to our nation through culture and philanthropy.

I hope these stories will help us not only to understand one another better, more importantly, to be able to inspire Singaporeans from different age groups, especially our young, and from different social backgrounds, to contribute to the community and to nation building.

I was earlier sharing with the welcome party that the previous time I was in this school, was when we held an event together with Mr Jackie Chan. Mr Jackie Chan spoke to the students of Pei Chun, and he had two important messages for them.

The first message he said to our young people, to our children, was to dare to dream and work hard to pursue your aspirations and your dreams. They won’t come easily – he was telling them of his own story, of how when he was a young boy, he had to go through martial arts training with very strict Shifu, and he had to go through a lot of hard work before he could achieve success later.  

He had a second message, which was equally important. He said, when we do well, we have a responsibility to give back and help others in the society. I think he has demonstrated this through his own actions. When he has succeeded, he found different ways to give back and help others – whether through monetary contributions, sharing his experiences or giving opportunities for young people to be able to do well in life.

I wanted to share this anecdote with everyone, because I think this is the kind of spirit that we hope Singapore, all of us in Singapore, can continue to have. While not all of us can be as famous and successful as Mr Jackie Chan, we are still able to, in our own way, contribute and give back to the society and help others, for example through small acts of kindness. It may be a small act of kindness when we extend a helping hand, but to the person who is being helped, sometimes that could be a very important form of support to help him or her to tide over a difficult period, to give that person an encouragement to remind him or her that this society and other people do care for me and are willing to help me. I think this spirit of togetherness is what will enable us as a nation to continue to move forward.

Now, please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

新加坡海南会馆王振胡会长, 现任及前国会同僚, 各位来宾, 大家好！ 

非常高兴今天出席《前进吧 新加坡——新加坡建国60周年纪念文集》的新书发布会，以及海南会馆第三届新加坡论坛。

首先，我要恭喜海南会馆，也感谢所有参与这本文集的各位朋友，大家齐心协力，完成了这项非常有意义的工作。

去年，我们庆祝新加坡建国60周年。60年来，新加坡走过的路程，有很多起起落落，风风雨雨。我们的国家有了很大的改变。我们回顾这段历程，包含了经济的发展、基础设施的建设、社会的发展和人民生活水平的提升。这一切，都是一代又一代的新加坡人为国家所付出的贡献。

《前进吧 新加坡》，这本以国歌Majulah Singapura命名的文集，肩负着深远的意义。它从文化和慈善两个角度，记录不同背景的新加坡人，如何用自己的方式建设这个国家。

文化让国人认识我们的根，知道自己从哪里来，也帮助我们更好地了解其他族群的习俗和生活方式。

 这本文集介绍的不只是华族文化团体，也包括其他族群的文化工作者和作家，例如马来作家 Encik Mohd Raman Daud，以及淡米尔作家 Mr Ravi Sarma。

新加坡是一个多元种族、多元宗教、多元文化的社会。不同族群都有自己的传统，但我们并不是各自生活、互不往来。大家一起生活，一起成长，互相交流。我们在保留各自传统和文化的同时，也共同塑造了属于新加坡的独特多元文化和身份认同感。

所以，文化传承不只是保存过去，也要创造更多机会，让不同年龄层，包括我们的年轻一代，能够接触了解我们的文化，也了解每个族群的文化。

我很高兴主办方今天也安排了一场有关慈善和文化的英文论坛，邀请不同族群的代表参与讨论。这体现了新加坡的特色：我们来自不同背景，但都能为共同的家园贡献力量。

除了文化，这本文集所非常重视的另一个主题是慈善。新加坡一路走来，有许多人在事业有成后回馈社会；这是我们社会的一种美德。也有许多人默默付出时间和精力，帮助身边有需要的人。

文集也记录了已故黄马家兰女士和其他善心人士，为社会所做出的善举。新加坡能够有今天的成就，大家能够有今天美好的生活，靠的不只是政府，也靠社会各界和一代又一代国人的参与和贡献。政府的带领和我们民间的力量，相辅相成，双管齐下，取得很好的效果。

政府可以提供资源、建立制度，但如果我们要有一个有温度、有凝聚力的社会，这不是政府自己就能够做到的，而是需要每个国人一起努力，一起建设。

这也包括我们的文化团体、宗乡会馆、慈善组织、企业和个人，大家都可以做出贡献。有人保存历史、推广文化；有人捐款、当义工，也有人用自己的专业知识帮助他人。

方式不同，但奉献的精神是一样的：除了照顾自己和家人，我们也愿意为身边的人、为社会付出。

这本文集的书名叫《前进吧 新加坡》。我觉得“前进”这两个字非常重要，非常有意义。前进，不是把过去留在身后。我们要记得一路走来的人和事，从前人的经验中取得智慧，继往开来，再一起往前迈进。

过去60年，不同背景的新加坡人共同努力，一步一脚印，建设了今天的新加坡。未来的环境会继续改变，我们也会面对新的挑战，新的危机。

但是，有一个理念是不会变的，也不应该变。那就是，我们仍然要珍惜我们的多元文化社会，继续增进不同族群之间的理解和尊重；我们也需要更多人关心社会、愿意帮助他人，让我们的社会更团结。

文化让我们记得自己从哪里来；慈善提醒我们，社会上的每一个人都彼此相连。

在总结之前，我要再次感谢海南会馆，以及文集顾问委员会的各位成员，包括马宝山先生、符喜泉女士、符策翔先生、李宏壮先生、许德财先生和赵锡燊先生，还有所有作者和参与出版工作的各位。谢谢大家通过这本文集，为新加坡留下这一份珍贵的记录。

现在，让我们一起正式发布《前进吧 新加坡——新加坡建国60周年纪念文集》！我祝新书出版成功，也祝今天的论坛顺利举行、圆满成功。谢谢大家！