PM Lawrence Wong at the 10th Anniversary of Enabling Village and the Opening of Vista

Chairman and CEO of SG Enable
My Cabinet and Parliamentary Colleagues
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to join you this morning to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Enabling Village and also to open this new extension of the Village called Vista.

2025 I am sure has been an eventful year for all of you. We have had our General Elections in May. We celebrated SG60 in August. For me, it has been a very busy year full of domestic commitments, events, as well as overseas travels. But when I looked at my schedule, today’s event looks like the final major national commitment I have to make, because most people do not invite me in December; everyone is travelling in December. This is my last big event of the year, and I can think of no better way to wrap up the year than to celebrate it with all of you. It is also a good opportunity and timely for all of us to take stock of how far we have come in our journey of inclusion, and to chart the Singapore we want to build for our next phase.

Achievements of the Enabling Village

10 years ago, the Enabling Village opened with a bold vision: to build a more inclusive society that empowers persons with disabilities, and recognises them as integral and contributing members of our community.

And it was not just about building a facility. It was about building a national movement – to open up new opportunities to persons with disabilities, to empower them, and to get our wider community behind these efforts. And in many ways, we have achieved good outcomes. Private companies have discovered the value of inclusive hiring. Volunteers have found purpose in supporting their fellow Singaporeans. Social service agencies have come together to collaborate, innovate and bring new ideas to life. And everyone comes here to the Enabling Village as partners, united in building a more inclusive Singapore.

The results also speak for themselves, and let me share two stories. There is 20-year-old Visnu Gobi. He graduated from Eden School and enrolled in the School-to-Work Transition Programme at the Enabling Village. His job coach taught him workplace skills – to manage his daily routine, communicate with colleagues, and understand workplace expectations. Also worked with his supervisors and colleagues, to help them recognise and tap on his unique strengths. And today, Visnu thrives as a housekeeper at Aloft Hotel, valued for his work ethic and his positive attitude. Then there is Warren Sheldon Humphries, who was my tour guide earlier today. He is here, with a different look from the video — I noticed you shaved today! Sheldon started as a docent right here at the Enabling Village. He built his confidence and skills in a nurturing environment, and now he conducts tours in Sentosa, he hosts podcasts, and gives back as a volunteer para-counsellor, and also a mental health advocate.

Visnu and Sheldon are just two among many whose lives have been touched and transformed. We are proud of all of them – well done everyone!

Of course, behind every success story are hours of dedication by volunteers, job coaches, employers, and community partners. And today, let me also express my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your unwavering commitment! Thank you very much!

Vista – Strengthening Support

This morning we open Vista. It is a new extension in the Enabling Village, and as Chairman said just now, it is not just an extension of space, it is an extension of purpose.

 With Vista, we will build on the strong foundations laid over the past decade, enhance service offerings, and create even more opportunities for persons with disabilities. We will expand training to new sectors like IT, finance and the creative industries – including music and media. The recent addition of MS Academy in the Enabling Village is a good example. MS Academy is a music school that provides training in performance, in recording, and even instrument repair and maintenance – all things that are close to my heart! So I look forward to learning more about what they do later on. Partnerships like these help us to widen the range of career pathways available to persons with disabilities, and better reflect their diverse aspirations and talents.

Employment is important. But it is just one part of inclusion. Ultimately, we want to enable persons with disabilities to participate fully in society.

And that is why Vista will significantly expand space for social and community integration. That means more programmes – from music lessons to digital tools; financial literacy to mental wellness; and beyond. It will bring together persons with disabilities, their families, and the wider public. Vista in the Enabling Village will be a place where Singaporeans of all abilities can connect, learn from one another, and form lasting friendships and relationships.

Vista will also provide space for new initiatives that strengthen support for caregivers. Our caregivers are the unsung heroes who give so much of themselves to care for their loved ones. Many caregivers worry about the future: What will happen when they are no longer around? How will their loved ones be cared for? How should they start planning for this eventuality? So to help address these concerns, Vista will house a new Future Care Planning Resource Centre. The centre will work with social service agencies and community partners to help caregivers develop comprehensive plans for their family members. It will provide guidance on financial planning, including the setting up of a special needs trust account. It will offer support on legal matters like deputyship and Lasting Power of Attorney. And it will assist with planning long-term living arrangements and caregiving transitions. And through all of these efforts, we hope to give caregivers greater assurance and peace of mind.

Building a More Inclusive Singapore

The work we do here at the Enabling Village is part of a broader national effort — a national effort to build a more inclusive Singapore.

And while we have made progress in this journey, we all know that there is still much more to be done.

We know many parents are concerned about post-18 transition for their children – what comes after SPED schooling. Will their children be work ready? Can they live independently? Is there longer-term support for them?

We hear these concerns. Under the Enabling Masterplan 2030, we have a series of recommendations that the team is working on to strengthen post-SPED and post-18 support. But there is still more that can be done, because in Singapore, we are never satisfied with the status quo, and we are always looking to improve. So even beyond the recommendations in the Enabling Masterplan 2030, we are looking at what more would be our next bound. And one key area of priority is to improve employment outcomes for persons with disabilities. We know that students with disabilities graduating from our SPED schools and IHLs – our institutions of higher learning – need more support to transit from school to work. Some of them need a longer runway to shine, and can benefit from a more customised learning arrangement and curriculum to help them prepare for work. Others have higher care needs and will require more structured pathways to transit from school to society – so that they can stay active and engaged in the community for as long as possible. And our efforts to help them must go beyond the short-term – it is not just about transiting them to their first job, we have to support persons with disabilities and their families across the entire life stage, and journey with them on a continuing basis – to help them upgrade and learn new skills, and to live independently for as long as possible. That is how we ensure that they are not just recipients of care, but integral, and dignified contributing members of our society.

MSF has been looking at these issues for some time. But it is really a whole-of-government and, more importantly, a whole-of-society effort. Because it is not just about what the government does alone – it is also about how all of us, including employers and the community at large, respond.

So we intend to give this a further push. As we talk about EV2.0 and our next phase, we also will give this a further push particularly for post-18 transitions and for our persons with disabilities to transit from school-to-work and through life more effectively. MSF will set up an inter-agency taskforce which will be chaired by Minister of State Goh Pei Ming together with other representatives from different ministries. We will look holistically at how we can strengthen our support and assurance to persons with disabilities and their families across life stages. The taskforce will be engaging persons with disabilities, caregivers, community partners, and employers, and all stakeholders as part of their work. And MSF will share more details when they are ready.

Conclusion

We are doing a lot for persons with disabilities, but we will do more. But at the end of the day, it is not just about policies and schemes, we know it is about attitudes and mindsets. And over the years, we have made strides in changing attitudes and mindsets. Just last month, I attended the Purple Parade. I remember being at the first parade in 2013 – it was then a small but passionate gathering of advocates and supporters. And this year’s parade drew more than 15,000 participants! It has grown into a vibrant, national movement for inclusion – a vivid symbol of the We-First society we are striving to build. A society where everyone has dignity and respect; where everyone has a meaningful role to play; where every Singaporean truly belongs.

We can all take heart in the progress made. But we still have work to do.

So as we celebrate this milestone – this 10th anniversary of the Enabling Village – let us renew our commitment to our shared goals. And I thank all of you – our partners, volunteers, employers, caregivers, and friends who have walked alongside us towards this shared endeavour.

Together, we can give dignity, hope and opportunity to every Singaporean, and together we can and will build the inclusive nation we aspire to be. Thank you very much.