SM Lee Hsien Loong at the Teck Ghee Chinese New Year Dinner 2026

Welcome everyone to the Teck Ghee Chinese New Year Dinner! Wish you all a very happy Chinese New Year, and a prosperous and healthy Year of the Horse.

This year, Chinese New Year coincides with the start of Ramadan. So let me begin by wishing our Malay friends who are joining us tonight, a blessed Ramadan dan selamat berpuasa.

Malay Remarks

Tahun ini, Tahun Baru Cina jatuh serentak dengan Ramadan. Saya gembira sekali kerana malam ini, begitu ramai anda, dapat bersama kami di Majlis Makan Malam Tahun Baru Cina ini – bukan sahaja untuk berbuka puasa bersama sempena Ramadan, tetapi juga untuk sama-sama memeriahkan sambutan Tahun Baru Cina.

Inilah ciri unik kita di Singapura – di mana pelbagai kaum, agama dan masyarakat hidup bersama dalam harmoni, dan bersatu hati untuk sama-sama meraikan perayaan kita. Ciri yang amat berharga ini adalah hasil kerja keras kita semua selama ini untuk mengekalkan dan memperkukuhkannya. Saya harap kita semua akan terus menghargai dan melindungi nilai-nilai murni ini – demi memperteguh jalinan antara kita tidak kira bangsa, bahasa atau agama. Terima kasih! I will now say a few words in English.

English Remarks

Good evening residents, friends, and community leaders.

I am very happy to join you for our annual Teck Ghee Chinese New Year dinner – to gather here as one big family to usher in the Year of the Horse.

Progress Made in Previous Year

We have had a good Year of the Snake.

Singapore did well, much better than we had expected, much better than we had reason to expect. The economy grew strongly by 5%, wages have gone up, inflation has come down.

External Uncertainties

This year, in the year of the Horse, I hope we continue to do well. But we cannot afford to take any of this for granted. The world remains very uncertain, and we have no idea what surprises lie in store.

Just this past week, the US Supreme Court ruled that most of the tariffs that the US Administration had imposed last year, under the Trump Administration, were illegal – struck down. But immediately, the Administration responded by invoking another law to impose the 10% tariffs back on everybody. We thought it was okay – we were at 10% anyway. The next day, President Trump changed his mind, and said everybody goes to 15%.  We watched with concern. But so far, the official US tariff rate is still 10%. So we have to watch very carefully, and we just have to be prepared if more changes happen.

On the security and defence side too, things are far from settled. For weeks, tensions between the US and Iran have been building up. The US had assembled a huge military force in the Middle East – aircraft, aircraft carriers, destroyers, missiles defences, missile attack weapons. Today, Israel and the US together attacked Iran jointly. The war has begun. Iran has struck back at cities and targets across the Middle East – Israel itself, Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE. This is going to affect energy prices, and impact countries far away from the Middle East, like Singapore. You can see how the war starts, but it is very hard to tell how the war will end.

The overall climate of uncertainty created by these dramatic twists and turns will dampen the global climate for trade and investment, for cooperation and prosperity. Because businesses and companies will find it impossible to plan for what will happen tomorrow; what they can rely on; where they can safely invest; what they should do to in order to make sure the company will be okay the day after tomorrow. And this is going to affect us too, as a small and open economy reliant on global trade and investments.

Key Help Under Budget 2026

We cannot tell what will happen in the world, we cannot help what will happen in the world. But we can make sure that within Singapore, we prepare ourselves, and make the best of whatever situation comes and meet us.

The government will do its part.

In his recent Budget statement, PM Lawrence Wong announced many such measures to help Singapore prosper, to help Singaporeans to cope and make progress in their lives.

We have help for businesses; help for workers; help for households on  cost-of-living concerns; help for the elderly and the vulnerable Singaporeans amongst us.

In particular, the Government is putting in a lot of resources to strengthen the economy, especially to encourage and support Singaporean workers in learning how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI). So I hope you will make full use of all these government schemes and measures, to learn new skills, to ease your burdens and to stay useful and valued in the workplace.

There will also be continued help for households to cope with the cost-of-living. We have implemented many schemes over the past several years to achieve this – to help. Many of these schemes will continue into this year, some of them enhanced. But in addition, we have announced a few more new schemes in the Budget. For example, adults will receive a new Cost-of-Living Special Payment of between $200 to $400 this year. Every household will receive $500 in CDC vouchers next January. There will be U-Save rebates again, more generous than last year. Most households will receive some form of financial help almost every month – whether it is U-Save or S&CC rebates, whether it is CPF top-ups, LifeSG credits, CDC Vouchers, or cash – all taken together, not at all ungenerous.

Securing Our Future Together

But we each have to play our part too. We must continue to upgrade ourselves − learn new skills like using AI. Our companies have to upgrade themselves – reinvent and transform their businesses to stay competitive. And I hope everyone makes full use of the support you are getting through our various programmes, work together to take advantage of these opportunities, overcome the challenges ahead of us, and build a bright future for ourselves.

Thank you to Mr Yeo Toon Chia and Dr Vasoo

Finally, I would like to say a few words to thank two of our very senior community leaders who have been with us for many, many years. And they are, Mr Yeo Toon Chia and Dr S Vasoo.

Recently they stepped down as Second Advisors to Ang Mo Kio Grassroots Organisations, after decades of service.

Both of them were MPs in the Ang Mo Kio area.

Even after retiring as MPs, both of them continued to serve as Second Advisors here. They helped me and my fellow GRC MPs look after the residents all this time in Ang Mo Kio, and especially in Teck Ghee.

As they now retire as Second Advisors, I wish to sincerely thank them – both personally and on behalf of all our residents, for all that you have done for Ang Mo Kio over so many years.

Thank you very much.

I would also like to mention and thank my fellow MP and Grassroots Advisor Nadia Samdin, who will be taking over Toon Chia’s and Vasoo’s responsibilities in Teck Ghee. Nadia is no stranger to us. You have seen her around at many community events. She is a part of my Ang Mo Kio GRC team, responsible for Cheng San Division. But now, she will also help me to take care of Teck Ghee. So thank you to Nadia too.

Let me now say a few words in Chinese.

Chinese Remarks

大家晚上好！祝各位在火马年里,马到功成、身体健康、心想事成、万事如意！今天是农历正月十二，十二如意，福到吉祥到。在这样一个吉祥的日子里，我们德义居民与家人朋友欢聚一堂，共庆佳节，意义非凡。

Progress Made in Previous Year

在蛇年里，虽然国际局势动荡不安、令人担忧，但我国的经济表现却一点也不错。去年的增长达到5%，比原本预期来得更强。国人的薪水有所提升，通货膨胀率也逐步下降。我们继续吸引不少外来投资来新加坡创业、扩展业务，为国人创造就业机会。

Measures to Help Residents Cope with Cost-of-Living

不过，我明白大家还是担心生活费，尤其是年长者和退休人士。

政府在近几年来，为了照顾好国人，帮助大家减轻生活费上的压力，推出了许多举措。今年，这些援助配套还会持续、也陆陆续续地，分发到大家手中。并且，因为去年经济表现不错，黄总理在最近的财政预算案上，又添加了几项新的以及好的措施。这包括：200元至400元的生活费特别补贴 (Cost-of-Living Special Payment) —— 每位新加坡成年人九月会收到，也包括500元的邻里购物券 (CDC Vouchers) —— 每户本地家庭明年1月就会收到，和水电费回扣 (U-Save rebate) —— 原本就已经有的、不过今年会额外增加，数额比去年高。整体来说，今年，每户本地家庭几乎每一个月都会收到不同的补贴来减轻生活费的压力。

在德义，我们的银发族不少。今晚的银发族也不少。老有所养是政府对乐龄人士的承诺，因此在新加坡的年长者会得到更多的照顾。去年，政府就改进了乐龄补贴计划 (Silver Support Scheme)。除了放宽受惠者的合格条件，也提高补贴金额。今年又有新的措施 —— 年满50岁、公积金储蓄低的年长者，可以在今年12月获得高达1500元的公积金填补。长期护理 (Long-term care) 和居家看护 (Home Caregiving) 的津贴，将显著地增加，帮助有需要长期护理的年长者。

能够处理好国家的经济，有足够的资源来给国人这么多的补助，很少国家做得到。

有了这些措施，我希望大家能够比较安稳地过好马年。

Securing Our Future Together

只要我们能够齐心协力，尽管国际局势不明朗、环境不稳定，世界动荡不安，我们依然能够一起克服挑战，能够一起让明天过得更好。

借此机会，我要感谢德义居民多年来给予我和团队的支持。

Thank you to Mr Yeo Toon Chia and Dr Vasoo

我要特别感谢两位宏茂桥的建国一代领袖 —— 杨敦清先生和华素博士（Dr Vasoo）。他们多年来是宏茂桥基层组织的第二顾问。 大家对他们应该都非常熟悉。几乎每个星期，都能看到他们的身影，走访居民，协助解决生活上的问题，关心大家的需要。尤其在德义，敦清和Dr Vasoo给予我鼎力的支持。他们给了我很多宝贵的意见，也付出了很多时间和心血，帮助我照顾好居民。

最早来到宏茂桥服务的是敦清。在1976年，他就开始在这里服务，比我还早。当年，敦清的选区，涵盖了整个宏茂桥市镇。当时，宏茂桥的居民还没有那么多。敦清整顿了宏茂桥的各各基层组织，为整个宏茂桥打下了坚实的基础。逐年，宏茂桥的居民增加，以前他一个人负责的工作和地方，现在已经由六、七位议员分担了。当我们这几位新的议员接替时，已经有了很好的发展条件，都是敦清同志帮助我们准备好的。他在宏茂桥当了二十多年的议员。即使卸下议员职务，他依然坚持为居民服务，初心不改。

Dr Vasoo是与我同一届的议员，在1984年一起踏入政坛。当时，他和我的头发都是黑的。现在，我们两个的头发已经是白的。他最初在博文做议员，后来转移到中峇鲁和丹戎巴葛服务。但一直以来，他从未放下宏茂桥。继续在徳义、宏茂桥服务，照顾居民。作为社会工作学学者，他在宏茂桥设计社区福利措施、推动福利机构发展，功不可没。更可贵的是，Dr Vasoo 捋起袖子、亲力亲为，与福利机构合作，与居民沟通，确保他们得到的帮助是实际的，是及时的、也是有效的。跟敦清一样，他离开政坛后，继续在基层服务，为居民谋福利 。

其实，敦清和Dr Vasoo 爱护德义和宏茂桥居民如同至亲。他们秉持着一份爱国爱民的精神，不辞劳苦，默默耕耘，激励了一代又一代的基层领袖、义工和社会工作者。两位前辈如今都已超过耄耋之年。上个月底，他们终于卸下了基层顾问的任务。以后不必每次都“报到”，轻轻松松地来探望我们就好了。我由衷感谢敦清和Dr Vasoo, 祝他们身体健康，生活充实 。

借此机会，我想向大家提一提宏茂桥静山的议员，Nadia。Nadia年轻有为，自从她在静山服务，无论是乐龄人士或是年轻居民，都与她建立了很好的默契与信任。所以，我邀请她帮助我把德义照顾好、把大家照顾好。我很欣慰她答应了。Nadia会继续在静山服务，但也会协助我处理德义的事务，为大家排忧解难。希望各位能够给予Nadia支持与鼓励。

Conclusion

过了农历新年，可以算是另一个新的开端。希望大家能够把握好各方面的机遇，提升自己，照顾好身体。我们能够平平安安就是给爱护我们的家人，最好的礼物。

希望这个马年，风调雨顺、国泰民安。

谢谢！