SM Lee Hsien Loong at the Reopening of Yio Chu Kang Community Club (Nov 2025)

Good morning everyone.

Happy to see all of you here at the newly renovated Yio Chu Kang Community Club. Please let me start in Mandarin.

各位居民，各位同胞，大家早上好！

很高兴今天和大家在一起庆祝我们杨厝港民众俱乐部的竣工典礼，开幕仪式。这个已经是耽误一段时间了。本来是两年多前就应该完成的工作，但是因为发生冠病疫情没办法继续，所以延误了一段时间。但是无论如何，今天大功告成了。谢谢大家的包容、关怀和支持。

杨厝港是我们宏茂桥整个市政的一个和重要的成员。在今年五月大选时侯，我就告诉了大家，我和我的团队，我们是宏茂桥集选区的。但是，我们也希望同时和我们宏茂桥集选区周围的单选区合作，跟杨厝港，跟哥本峇鲁，跟惹兰加由单选区。因为我们有悠久合作的历史，很多居民都是互相认识，并且有很多家庭都是分散在宏茂桥各个部分。所以，如果大选的成绩理想的话，每一个地方都有同一个政党的议员，那我们合作应该是更加顺利，更加方便，更加密切。

幸好大选没有发生意外，所以呢，大选之后，我们现在就履行承诺。我们宏茂桥，跟杨厝港，跟哥本峇鲁都是同一个家庭，都是互相组织活动，互相保持密切的关系。这些基成活动对新加坡来说是非常重要的。因为我们关心国家的前途，我们关心外在的环境。世界面临多事之秋，新加坡必须乘风破浪。我们有政策，我们有计划，我们有资源，有能力去办许多事情，让新加坡在这样的一个环境里，还能够稳定的过活，还能够保住生计，还能够争取一个更光明的前途。这是国家级的事情。

但是同时，在社区级，我们也必须关注居民的需要，居民所关心的，居民需要解决的问题。去处理它，去改善它，让居民有更好的设施，有更好的生活。这个民众俱乐部就是一个好的例子。旧的民众俱乐部在这边，我有一个很清楚的印象，因为很多年了。今天来看这个新的，不只是焕然一新，也吃了一惊。因为以前空空的地方，现在都起了高楼大厦了。所以我在想，什么时候轮到德义。可能还要一段时间，但是我为大家高兴。因为我们能够这样做的到，不只是政府有资源，也是大家的团结、合作和努力。大家去筹款，大家去支持联络俱乐部里的活动。所以这个建筑，这个设施，是有意义的，是有价值的，是为大家都能够提供好的服务。

什么服务呢？其中一项很重要的就是乐龄的服务。因为人家说新加坡很快就将变成一个超乐龄，超老年化的社会了。但是其实宏茂桥，尤其由杨厝港，很早就已经超乐龄化了。我们是超级乐龄社会。因为我们搬进来，是已经40多，将近 50 年了，大家在这边住了很多年。孩子长大了，自己成家了，有些搬出去了。但是老年人很多还留在这边。他们这边有眷念，有归宿感，有朋友，也要有活动，也要有适合他们的社区的设施。所以在杨厝港我们这一方面已经下了不少功夫，已经做了不少的工作。刚才议员就已经跟大家说过了我们所做的——用很明显鲜艳的彩色，让大家知道这个是我的邻里。用水果或者其它很清楚的标志，让大家知道这个是我这一座楼，我的单位就在楼上。所以老年人，尤其是已患痴呆症的，那么他们出门走走，不会担心迷路，家人也不会替他们担心出了事情，他们不会回家。并且，我们也安排了一些可以说是会照顾老年人的一些集中点。如果老年人出了事情，你带他去邻里的店，那你就知道这个人出事了，我有一个联络网，我会报告，我会跟他们，跟家庭联络在一起。这些都是应该做的事情。其实新加坡每一个角落都应该能够做得到的事情，所以我们陆陆续续地会在全新加坡这么做，使我们照顾到这一带的老年人，因为老年人为新加坡做了很多贡献。我们应该照顾你，应该照顾大家的生活需求，应该减轻大家的担忧，应该让大家能够安心、慢慢地过着有意义并且是活跃的生活。

所以这个做完了，现在交给大家。希望大家继续用这个设施，继续经常来这里参加活动。我也希望经常有机会在这里的时候跟大家联络、见面。谢谢大家。祝大家身体健康。

让我讲几句英语。

Friends, just a few words in English to say how happy I am that Yio Chu Kang CC has been renewed, completed, enhanced, upgraded and ready for everybody to use.

It is part of our improvements to our constituencies, to our townships, to our neighbourhoods, to the facilities which everybody enjoys, so that you can live in a happy, cohesive community and have good facilities. And be able to get along with friendly neighbours, with your colleagues and with your friends, and be able to look forward to a stable, safe, and comfortable life.

Yio Chu Kang is part of the Ang Mo Kio family. During the elections, I had promised that if we are returned with the same party in Yio Chu Kang, in Kebun Baru, in Jalan Kayu and in Ang Mo Kio, we would work together as one big Ang Mo Kio family in order to do projects together, in order to serve our residents better. Fortunately, the election results turned out okay. And so we are now working closely together. And this CC is something which we were working on before, and now it is completed. It is something which I hope you will appreciate and make full use of. It gives you a lot of facilities which are targeted at senior citizens, but also young people as well. But I hope young and old, whatever your community, whatever your ethnic group, you will come and participate here and make full use of what we have going on here for you. And I hope some of you will also come forward, and volunteer and help us to run these services for the rest of our residents.

Yio Chu Kang is already a super aged community. Singapore, we say next year will be super aged, but I think Yio Chu Kang will arrive first. In fact, in Ang Mo Kio a lot of parts also have arrived first because our residents are older than other parts of Singapore, among the oldest parts. And therefore, we must make sure that we have the facilities for you, and we must make sure that the environment is adapted, so that you can remain active, you can keep on going about your daily routines. You do not have to worry about safety so much. You do not have to worry that you have to go up steps, down steps, trip over little obstacles. As you grow older, you notice these things more and more. I am reaching the point where I am noticing these things also, but we can overcome this, and we encourage you to go out. Do not just stay at home and watch TV because after a while your eyes blur and your brain will blur. Go out, exercise, see friends, try something new. There is a cooking class upstairs, they are doing healthier cooking.

So, try something, learn something, enjoy something, and be part of our community. Be part of a Singapore which is vibrant, which is cohesive, which looks forward to the future and says, “Yes, here I build my home, here I have lived my life, here my children and grandchildren will grow up. And here tomorrow will be an even better place, partly because of what I and my friends have done”. 

So thank you very much. Congratulations once again to all of you, to the team which made this happen and let us work together to keep this going for a long time to come.

Thank you very much.