Chairman

National St. John Council

Dr Ho Nai Kiong,

Chief Commissioner

St. John Ambulance Brigade

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Today, St John Ambulance is a familiar name in Singapore because of your active role in national and community events as well as emergency exercises. Your 6,700 strong Brigade membership has been very dedicated in serving the people of Singapore through your efforts in providing support in national and mass participation events, helping out in old folks’ homes, nursing homes and other welfare organisations and organising blood donation campaigns. All these are indeed most commendable. Your Chief Commissioner, officers and I are indeed very proud of your achievements.

Although you have achieved much in the last 60 odd years since your founding, I believe you can make your work even more challenging and satisfying in the years to come. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on this.

be committed to care for people of all ages and in all circumstances. As a member of the Brigade, you have been given the necessary training to administer first aid in a wide range of situations – from caring for someone in their own home or the workplace, to performing public duties at major events such as the National Day Parade and the Singapore Youth Festival Opening Ceremony. To be more proficient and effective in your service, you should continually seek to upgrade your skills and knowledge.

Besides being able to serve the community at public events, you are also given the opportunity to have fun and make new friends at Uniformed Groups’ events like the just concluded National Camp 2002 and the National Heritage Trail. We hope that this active participation in the Brigade’s training and activities will greatly contribute to developing you into responsible and caring citizens.

As a charitable organization serving the community, the Brigade must be able to project itself to the public as one that is vibrant, dependable and efficient. This will not only enhance your image but you will also be able to gain public support for your activities. It is therefore important that you keep up to date and be well trained in the most current first aid and nursing methods. Also with the ever-changing needs of the community, you will have to constantly review your services to meet the needs of the community.

I am also glad to note that besides being actively involved in services, St John Ambulance Brigade is also very involved in promoting and conducting training in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and nursing. This is a very important initiative to spread the knowledge of first aid to Singaporeans. Having a trained first aider at hand can make the difference between life and death in an accident and mishap. We hope to soon see the day when there will be a trained first aider in every home, at every workplace and in every classroom.

I understand from the Chief Commissioner that you have a busy schedule for Public Duty this year and next year. I wish you success as you continue to serve the community.

To the recipients for the awards today, my congratulations to all of you. I am confident that you will continue your untiring effort to serve the community and uphold your motto ‘Service to Mankind, regardless of race, colour and creed".

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