.Saturday, May 22, 2010 ' 3:19 PM Y
From the excerpt of Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean's speech, there are two out of five points raised, which in my opinion, speaks strongly about how Singapore can remain an everlasting young and vibrant city, constantly adapting to changes in this modern and advancing society.
The second point Deputy PM Teo raised: a culture of seeking knowledge, innovation and ideas. Singapore strives hard to seek more knowledge and new creative ideas. In this aspect, Singapore is considered a young and vibrant city. Citizens are encouraged to have a hunger for knowledge by upgrading themselves instead of remaining stagnant and being clueless, while other countries continue to progress rapidly. Despite being a tiny red dot on the map, Singapore has grown into a research and development hub in many areas involving the use of technology. A good example will be the NEWater production which enabled Singapore to be self-sufficient in its clean water supply. Singapore may only house a small population. However, it is the human resources which play an important role to promote her economic status to a higher level. This also draws foreign multinational companies to locate their businesses in Singapore, creating more jobs for Singaporeans. As a result, Singapore benefits and her economic growth progresses to greater heights. New innovations and ideas never ceases in this world. Likewise, Singapore should never be trapped in the past but look forward to developments in the future. In this way, she can be ahead of others, never to be left behind while other countries continue to advance and achieve economic goals.
The fifth point raised: a strong and forward-looking leadership.
Within each country, city, organisation, school and group, there is always a leader to take charge of matters. Capable leaders are well sought after by every country. Strong leaders are the ones who can lead the people to greater heights and reach their ultimate goals. Singapore needs to have outstanding and trustworthy leaders to make the right decisions for the country. Leadership qualities can be cultivated, but one's morals and values is based on the character and personality of their inner self. Despite how capable one may seem, in my opinion, leadership is not the sole factor in determining the right leader. Countries face setbacks and challenges when they possess leaders who are corrupted and incapable. There are countries whereby government leaders accept bribes and close an eye to the wrongdoings of the citizens who shower them with monetary gifts. In this case, regardless of how capable the leaders may be, it is considered useless. Singapore hopes to groom potential and able leaders to lead the country in terms of making major decisions on behalf of Singapore and implementing new policies that help and benefit the people. Essentially, under the guidance of the leaders, the people will feel safe and are happy to live in Singapore.
Singapore CAN stay 'forever young'. This is POSSIBLE in age wise, which can be achieved by increasing Singapore's population so that more babies will be born to reduce the rate of Singapore's aging population. Singapore is currently facing a declining birth rate, 1 in 12 Singaporeans are 65 years old and above. By encouraging married couples to have more children, Singapore need not face the fear of having a rising aging population every year.
Besides the suggestion mentioned above, Singapore can stay 'forever young' by upgrading the skills and knowledge of older workers so that they can keep up to today's technological advancement such as using computers to surf the internet and keeping an instant messaging account. This promotes lifelong learning and also reduces the generation gap between the older citizens and their grandchildren. Thus, there will no longer be any communication barrier between the two generations. Imagine a grandparent discussing Facebook issues with his/her grandchild, how interesting will that be?
All countries hope to stay 'forever young'. Humans live to learn, regardless of academic, sports and technology wise in school, company, country level or even globally. The learning jouney is endless as people continue to improve themselves and maintain their 'youth' in this modern world.
-Pearlyn :D-
Labels: How Singapore can stay 'Forever Young'
