Mdm President, you are the first Malay to become President since our first President, Encik Yusuf Ishak, 47 years ago. You are also the first Malay to be elected President since it became an elected office in 1991, and the first President elected since the major Constitutional changes last year. You are also our first female President.
Your swearing-in today is therefore a significant moment in o...ur history.
Today, we reaffirm the pledge that Mr Lee Kuan Yew made on 9 August 1965, in the first hours of our independence, that this would not be a Malay nation, a Chinese nation nor an Indian nation. Everybody would have his place, equal, regardless of language, culture, religion.
When Mr Lee made this pledge, we had a Malay Head of State.
President Yusuf symbolised, visibly, that though we had been forced out of Malaysia primarily because we were a Chinese-majority city, independent Singapore would never in turn suppress its own non-Chinese minorities.
We chose the nobler dream: A multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore.
Mdm President, half a century later, you symbolise, visibly, that Singapore will persevere with this dream.
This has become all the more urgent considering the trends in our region and the rest of the world. In an age when ethnic nationalism is rising, extremist terrorism sows distrust and fear, and exclusivist ideologies deepen communal and religious fault lines, here in Singapore we will resist this tide.
Here, the majority will make extra efforts to ensure that minorities enjoy equal rights.
That is something special, precious and fragile. That is why we make sure that Parliament always has representatives from all ethnic groups.
And now we will regularly have a Head of State, the symbol of the nation, who can look like President Benjamin Sheares (a Eurasian), President SR Nathan (an Indian), President Tony Tan (a Chinese), and President Halimah Yaacob (a Malay and a woman). Indeed, that was the compelling reason the Government amended the Constitution last year.
Mdm President, Encik Yusof Ishak was President of all Singaporeans, regardless of race, language, religion or gender. You too will unify all of us. You too will strengthen our sense of nationhood. You too will be our President.
Thank you.
(Excerpt of PM Lee's speech at the inauguration of President-elect Halimah Yacob)
Your swearing-in today is therefore a significant moment in o...ur history.
Today, we reaffirm the pledge that Mr Lee Kuan Yew made on 9 August 1965, in the first hours of our independence, that this would not be a Malay nation, a Chinese nation nor an Indian nation. Everybody would have his place, equal, regardless of language, culture, religion.
When Mr Lee made this pledge, we had a Malay Head of State.
President Yusuf symbolised, visibly, that though we had been forced out of Malaysia primarily because we were a Chinese-majority city, independent Singapore would never in turn suppress its own non-Chinese minorities.
We chose the nobler dream: A multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore.
Mdm President, half a century later, you symbolise, visibly, that Singapore will persevere with this dream.
This has become all the more urgent considering the trends in our region and the rest of the world. In an age when ethnic nationalism is rising, extremist terrorism sows distrust and fear, and exclusivist ideologies deepen communal and religious fault lines, here in Singapore we will resist this tide.
Here, the majority will make extra efforts to ensure that minorities enjoy equal rights.
That is something special, precious and fragile. That is why we make sure that Parliament always has representatives from all ethnic groups.
And now we will regularly have a Head of State, the symbol of the nation, who can look like President Benjamin Sheares (a Eurasian), President SR Nathan (an Indian), President Tony Tan (a Chinese), and President Halimah Yaacob (a Malay and a woman). Indeed, that was the compelling reason the Government amended the Constitution last year.
Mdm President, Encik Yusof Ishak was President of all Singaporeans, regardless of race, language, religion or gender. You too will unify all of us. You too will strengthen our sense of nationhood. You too will be our President.
Thank you.
(Excerpt of PM Lee's speech at the inauguration of President-elect Halimah Yacob)
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