Two out of every three pre-schoolers will have a place in government or government-supported pre-schools by 2023

The PAP Government will tackle inequality robustly by intervening upstream early in a child's life.

Minister of Social and Family Development, Mr Desmond Lee said that to give young Singaporeans a good start in life, MSF will press on with the transformation of the early childhood sector, enabling more families to benefit from ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE and GOOD QUALITY early childhood services.

“We will expand full-day pre-school places to provide a place for every child who needs one.

Two out of every three pre-schoolers will have a place in government or government-supported pre-schools by 2023 in centres run by Anchor Operators and Partner Operators, as well as MOE Kindergartens,” said Mr Lee.

Building for our seniors

WHAT OUR SENIORS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO...

Singapore will always be a work in progress, said Minister for National Development, Lawrence Wong in his addendum to the President's Address.

Mr Wong said MND will pay special attention to the housing needs of particular groups of Singaporeans.

1. For our SENIORS, MND will pilot a NEW MODEL of ASSISTED LIVING that COMBINES HOUSING WITH CARE SERVICES 👍👍 to enable them to live independently and with dignity.

2. The EASE programme will also be updated to add new items including items such as accessibility solutions for flats with multiple-steps entraces. 👍👍

3. More will be done to help seniors who wish to monetise the value of their flats for retirement.

Ministry of Defence's Addendum to the President's Address

Ultimately, Singaporeans are responsible for our own defence.

Our strongest weapon against external forces is our unity and resolve to protect our way of life and keep Singapore independent and sovereign.

No amount of tanks, planes, or ships – no matter how sophisticated the systems we build – can make up for a divided nation.

In this new era, where hybrid warfare can be waged first through cyberspace before any physical means, potential aggressors will seek to turn one Singaporean against the other to weaken our social compact.

More than ever, Total Defence is needed and every Singaporean has to play his or her part to safeguard Singapore.

Only together, can we continue to keep Singapore safe and secure for another generation.

A strong Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) safeguards Singapore’s security, independence, and sovereignty.

Without security and stability, we cannot achieve economic or social progress.

Excerpts of speech by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen in Parliament, 8 May 2018.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

Ultimately, Singaporeans are responsible for our own defence.

Our strongest weapon against external forces is our unity and resolve to protect our way of life and keep Singapore independent and sovereign.

No amount of tanks, planes, or ships – no matter how sophisticated the systems we build – can make up for a divided nation.

In this new era, where hybrid warfare can be waged first through cyberspace before any physical means, potential aggressors will seek to turn one Singaporean against the other to weaken our social compact.

More than ever, Total Defence is needed and every Singaporean has to play his or her part to safeguard Singapore.

Only together, can we continue to keep Singapore safe and secure for another generation.

MHA's ADDENDUM TO THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

ADDENDUM TO THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

The security environment remains complex.

The terrorism threat to Singapore continues to be at a high level. We will continue to strengthen our counter-terrorism capabilities.

Criminal syndicates exploit technology and the Internet, and operate across national boundaries. Online scams and online trafficking of drugs have become more prevalent. Our society has also been impacted by the worsening global drug situation, with new psychoactive substances emerging, and some countries adopting a more liberal approach towards drugs.

We need to guard against attempts by foreign parties to exploit fault lines in our society and influence developments in Singapore to advance their own agenda. It is for Singaporeans to decide on our domestic politics and policies. We must defend our sovereign right to make choices for ourselves.

Our racial and religious harmony has been a pillar of our peace, prosperity and progress. We must defend this vigorously, reject unequivocally teachings and practices that would divide us, and instead take active steps to grow our common space.

The Home Team will have to deal with these security challenges even as we grapple with manpower constraints.

- Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam in Parliament.

Our racial and religious harmony has been a pillar of our peace, prosperity and progress. We must defend this vigorously, reject unequivocally teachings and practices that would divide us, and instead take active steps to grow our common space.

- Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam

MOT's Addenda to President's Address

MOT's Addenda to President's Address:

Boosting Singapore’s global connectivity to bolster economy, create jobs.

Good connectivity bolsters the economy, creates good jobs and raises the quality of life for Singaporeans, says Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

To secure Singapore’s position as a world-class city and key transport node between Asia and the world, MOT will continue investing in transport infrastructure.

These include the expansion of Changi Airport and the building of the “next-generation” Tuas port.

The aviation and maritime sectors , Mr Khaw said, are “the lifelines of Singapore’s economy”.

Together, they contribute more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 250,000 jobs, but this cannot be taken for granted.

“Many in the region are working hard to replace us, with shipping and flight routes bypassing Singapore,” said Mr Khaw.

The future Tuas mega port and Changi Terminal 5 will strengthen Singapore’s edge “to seize new opportunities and capture greater growth”, he added.

New connections with Malaysia, including the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail, are also underway. These will create opportunities for work and play, while giving both countries a greater stake in each other’s success, said Mr Khaw.

Making Singapore’s public transport more inclusive

All public buses wheelchair-accessible in two years.

By 2022, the number of pedestrian overhead bridges with lifts will be tripled, while 50 locations with customised senior-friendly road safety features, also known as the “Silver Zones”, will be ready in 2023.

Technology will also be tapped to enhance transport operations. These involve the use of data analytics to pre-empt faults in the rail network, and the adoption of predictive analytics, machine learning and other data tools in areas like air and vessel traffic management.

Another 130km will be added to the rail network by 2030, with ongoing construction of the Thomson-East Coast Line and upcoming projects, such as the Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.

There will also be an extension of cycling networks and bike parking facilities to all HDB towns by 2030, as well as the introduction of a licensing framework for bicycle-sharing operators and mandatory registration for e-scooters by the end of this year.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/president-address-addenda-singapore-economy-jobs-10213028

The Defence of Thum Ping Tjin

Thanks to the trustees of Project Southeast Asia who accidentally copied Parliament Secretariat in their email exchange, we now know that PJ Thum himself was involved in the statement of support for himself. 😂🙄😒

And the show of support from all over the world was not spontaneous as it appears. 😌

Dr Kreager's defence of Thum's credentials is a facepalm moment. Really.

He does not use the word 'historian'.

A member of University of Oxford?? What does it mean to be a member of the university? The description is so vague that it raise more questions and doubt than anything.

Woah, Oxford University must be feeling the need to defend their own reputation and the quality of their exams, seeing that they are out in force to defend Thum's thesis. 😂😂😂

Or they are trying to hookwink people. 🙄

They said Dr Thum's doctoral thesis, CHINESE LANGUAGE POLITICAL MOBILISATION IN SINGAPORE, 1953-1963, was "written to the VERY HIGHEST STANDARDS of historical research that Oxford expects of its doctoral students", and his thesis was "successfully examined".

Hey, but why are they talking about his thesis and his exams? 😂🙄

NO ONE IS QUESTIONING HOW HE OBTAINED HIS PhD. LOL

THUM WAS ASKED TO CLARIFY THE ACADEMIC POSITION CURRENTLY HELD BY HIM.

He was asked to clarify because he gave 3 different versions.

Apparently it is such a tough question to answer that he has to mobilize such all of Oxford and the world to his defence.

As an illustration, if you are looking to change job and your prospective employer ask you for your currently held position in your present company, do you tell them where you obtain your degree with flying colours?

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/oxford-academics-defend-historian-thums-academic-credentails

Imagine.

You are an engineer looking to change your job. At the interview, you were asked by the interviewers for the position that you are holding in your current company.

You replied by producing testimonies of your examiner and supervisors in university praising your academic performance in the university. 😂😂😂

Guess you won't be getting the new job with that response.

Are the Oxford academics really so dense that they have gone totally off tangent in their defence of Thum?