Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information & The Arts, #36-00, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963, Tel: 3757794/5

SPEECH BY DR LEE BOON YANG, MINISTER FOR LABOUR, AT THE PRESENTATION OF EDUSAVE CCC BURSARY AND SCHOLARSHIP AT KAMPONG KAPOR CC AT 7.00PM ON SUNDAY, 15 DEC 96

Good evening Dear Residents and Students

This evening we are presenting CCC and EduSave Bursaries and Scholarships to a total of 432 students. These students come from primary and secondary schools, Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and Universities.

2 May I congratulate all the students for your effort and good performance. In particular, I would like to commend the 143 students who will be receiving the EduSave Scholarship and CCC-ITE Scholarship. I hope that this recognition of your good work will encourage you to work harder to achieve even better results in the coming year.

3 Education is the key to progress and success. Investing in education is a corner-stone of government policy. We will upgrade older schools, improve the training of teachers and provide more opportunities for tertiary education. Today out of every group of school leavers, 20% go on to University and 40% to Polytechnics. This is a far-cry from the small number who made it to tertiary education 20 years ago. In the past 6 years, we have increased poly and university intake of students by 40%. A sound education system producing more and better educated people will enable Singapore to keep up with technological changes and maintain economic competitiveness.

4 Singapore is indeed fortunate. Education is not only a Government priority but also a top-priority for all parents. Witness the queues each year during the school registration exercise or the concern of parents during the end of year examination period. Some parents even move to a new home, new address, to be nearer to their school of choice, to stand a better chance of enrolling their children in the school. After PSLE parents also take great care in helping their children to choose the right secondary school.

5 Parents know that a good school can given their children a headstart in life and provide a better foundation for their children's future. That is why they are concerned and take great care when it comes to education. They scrutinize the school's past results. They ask their friends and neighbours for opinion and assessment of the schools. Some schools have built up solid reputation. Year after year, they score highly at PSLE, or "O" or "A" Levels. These are the schools that parents make a bee-line for. They come to see me at my Meet-the-People session to ask me to write to Principals of such schools for their children to be given a place

6 Choosing a good school for your children is an important duty of parents. But this is not the only important responsibility. We are very near a General Election. Soon you will have to vote for a new government and MPs to represent Jalan Besar GRC. I believe that choosing a good government and reliable MPs is in fact more important than choosing a school for your children. Your electoral choice will have greater impact on you and your children's future. In the case of schools, if you discover that you have not made a good choice, you can still look around to transfer your child to a more suitable school. But once you voted in the wrong MP or government, there is no transfer. A bad government could ruin Singapore in a few short years before you have the opportunity to vote for a change. Incompetent or worse dishonest MPs could seriously affect the Town Council's operation and the values of flats in the Town.

7 At the coming General Election, I urge you to assess carefully the quality of the candidates seeking your votes. As in past General Election, you will suddenly be faced with all kinds of people seeking your support. Examine their arguments and credentials carefully. Picking the right school for your children is important. Picking the right person to be your MP is even more important. Vote for the honest, capable and dedicated candidates whom you can trust to look after your interest and who will not only maintain your housing estate but improve it so that your home will appreciate in value.

8 Over the past 5 years, my colleagues and I have represented Jalan Besar GRC and also managed your Town Council. We have ensured that the fees you pay are kept at modest affordable levels. We have carried out many projects to upgrade and beautify your housing estates. For example, we upgraded nearly 200 lift lobbies, built many covered linkways and residents corners. Time does not permit me to name every improvement work tonight.

9 Despite investing in many improvement works, we have been able to accumulate a surplus of $6.9 million. This surplus will come in handy for implementing the 5-year development plan to beautify Jalan Besar Town and provide even more amenities to residents. You will not only enjoy better living environment but also higher value for your flats.

10 We have also initiated Main Upgrading for more than 3000 flats. We are even upgrading 1600 rental flats. We know that many residents are looking forward to upgrading their flats. With your continued support, we will be able to implement more Main Upgrading projects for the benefits of residents.

11 So at the coming General Election, I urge you to support me and my colleagues. Then we can continue to serve you and improve Jalan Besar Town. Finally, congratulations again to all the bursary and scholarship winners here tonight. May I wish you even better results next year.

/speech.JBbursary.doc