PM Lawrence Wong at SGSecure's 10th Anniversary

My Cabinet colleagues,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning, and I am happy to see so many friends and partners of the SGSecure movement gathered here today – from our neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, and religious organisations.

Ten years ago, we launched SGSecure at a gathering like this, with Singaporeans of different races and religions, and different backgrounds.

SGSecure was not just a Home Team campaign. It was about preparing all Singaporeans: to stay alert to the threats around us. To know what to do if something were to happen. And if an attack ever happened – to stay calm, help one another and not allow fear or hatred to divide our society.

Today, terrorism remains a major concern. But the threats we face are much broader. For example, someone may become radicalised online and decide to carry out an attack. There could be an act of violence in a school, workplace, religious organisation, or public space.

We cannot predict exactly where the danger will come from, or when it might strike.

But so far we have been fortunate.

Our security agencies have worked tirelessly behind the scenes. They have detected individuals who posed a danger, disrupted plots, and intervened before anyone was harmed.

As Prime Minister, I get briefed on all such cases, and whenever I am briefed, my first reaction is one of relief.

But I also worry. Because there were very close calls in some cases. We managed to intervene in time before anyone was hurt. But things could have turned out very differently.

So I ask myself: can we keep catching every case, every time?

What if one day, despite our best efforts, something gets through?

And we know no security system can give us a 100% guarantee.

And that is why we cannot become complacent about safety and security in Singapore.

Of course, we are used to Singapore being safe. We go about our daily lives without constantly worrying about danger. Our children go to school and come back safely. We take public transport, go to work, attend religious services and community events without fear. We can walk around our neighbourhoods late at night and still feel secure.

These things feel normal to us. But look around the world, and you realise that what we regard as normal in Singapore is really exceptional.

And what we have today is possible only because we have all worked hard to keep Singapore safe – through our security agencies, and by building preparedness and trust across our society.

My concern is that, after so many years of peace and security, we may be starting to let our guard down. You heard the emcee say just now – perhaps we see an unattended bag in a public place, and assume someone else will deal with it. Or we notice a friend or family member being drawn to extremist material online, and ignore it. Or we see behaviour that does not seem quite right, but we hesitate to speak up because we do not want to be seen to overreact.

Most of the time, it may indeed turn out to be nothing. But sometimes, that small warning sign may matter. And we should not just walk away.

To be clear, we do not want Singaporeans to live in fear, or be suspicious of everyone around them.

We want to continue going about our lives with confidence and peace of mind. But we can do so only if we are alert and prepared, and take sensible action when something does not seem right.

And that is why SGSecure remains important 10 years on.

Through SGSecure, we have made progress. More Singaporeans now know what to do in a crisis – how to respond, how to help someone in distress, and how to protect those around them. We have strengthened emergency preparedness in our neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, religious and community organisations. And we have built stronger bonds of trust across our society.

These bonds become especially important if an attack is motivated by race or religion.

And we saw this, for example, in 2024, when ISD detained a self-radicalised 17-year-old who was planning an attack at a neighbourhood centre, near here – Tampines West CC. The Tampines GRC Community Response Roundtable quickly brought religious leaders together. And they stood together and sent a clear message: that such violent extremist ideologies represent none of our communities, and would not divide us.

So that is the resilience we need.

If something does happen, our emergency and security services will, of course, respond quickly. But the people already at the scene will be ordinary Singaporeans. Someone who knows how to render first aid. Someone who raises the alarm. Someone who helps keep calm and helps others to safety.

So we have made progress. But there is still more to be done. And in this next phase of SGSecure, we will step up our efforts. We will widen our outreach to neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces. We will mobilise more volunteer advocates to reach out to the people around them, and encourage more Singaporeans to do their part.

And we will need your help. All of you are critical in helping us take these efforts forward.

So today as we mark 10 years of SGSecure, let me also thank all of you who have contributed – our grassroots, school, religious, community and business leaders; our SGSecure Responders; and many others who have worked quietly over the years to keep Singapore safe, secure, and united. Thank you very much.

The theme for this 10^th anniversary of SGSecure is “Our Ordinary Days are Worth Cherishing”. And it captures well what this is ultimately about.

An ordinary day in Singapore is nothing dramatic. An ordinary day in Singapore is about our children going to school. People heading to work. Friends having a meal together. Families coming home safely at night.

We hardly give these things a second thought. And that is how we have become accustomed to peace and security here in Singapore.

We should cherish that. But we should never take that for granted.

Keeping Singapore safe requires constant effort – from our security agencies, from our communities, and from every one of us.

So let us all stay alert, look out for one another, and be ready to act when it matters.

And that is how we will keep our ordinary days going – peaceful, harmonious, and full of hope for all. Thank you very much.