From time to time, people say the pace of life is very fast. Quite often it is because they feel stressed. But do people really want Singapore to slow down? I don’t think so! Just look at how fast Singaporeans upgrade their homes!

Today we are here, because of the upgrading of Yuhua Community Club. How old is it? Eleven years old! To many Singaporeans, this is not unusual. More than ten years? That is old! Must renovate, or rebuild! This is happening for not just for Yuhua Community Club, but for others as well! But does this happen in other countries? Do they upgrade civic buildings after ten years? I don’t think so!

But we are upgrading. Yuhua Community Club is not old, or run-down. In fact it is well kept. The problem is: there are so many active groups using Yuhua Community Club, there just isn’t enough space! Yuhua has won awards in the past three years. I think the grassroots leaders were disappointed last year only to receive a Merit Award from the People’s Association. So all of them want to get back to the very top, and for that, they want the facilities in the Community Club to be among the best in Singapore!

So they have worked hard, under the energetic leadership of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, to raise funds. I don’t think it is easy to raise nearly $1.4 million within one year. And it is not an ordinary year - it is a year when the whole region is hit by a financial crisis, and Singapore’s economy is affected. I wish to commend all the donors for your generosity, and the grassroots leaders for their hard work!

You may ask: Is this so that Yuhua can win a top prize? I think that would be missing the point. Winning a top prize is only a measure of the work being done by the grassroots leaders. The real task is nation building. The activities we organise are to bring people together, to strengthen the bonds that bind us. That is the mission of our grassroots organisations. The community club is a place they use for this objective. The work of grassroots organisations supplement what we do in the schools, in the armed forces, and at workplaces.

How well have we succeeded? We have just had a long debate in Parliament on Singapore 21. I am particularly pleased with one outcome. It is how well we have cope with our multi-racial, multi-religious character.

Prime Minister reminded us how strong the primordial forces of race, language and religion are, how after hundreds of years, they can rip countries apart. It bewildered some people, mostly younger Singaporeans. I supported the Prime Minister, that we should be conscious of the fault lines in our society. I said perhaps there is a different appreciation of the issue between the older and younger generation.

After I spoke, our fellow MP Ravindran spoke to me. He said he had also been puzzled by Prime Minister’s speech. I had asked whether we have so succeeded in blurring the ethnic lines that younger Singaporeans no longer regard race as an issue. Ravindran told me he is a post-independence Singaporean. He, and his friends, feel Singaporean, not Indian Singaporean or Chinese Singaporean or Malay Singaporean or Eurasian Singaporean. I am cheered by this. It means that we have made substantial progress. The work of our grassroots organisations have contributed to this. If we continue to make progress, then one day we can safely and truly say we have succeeded in building a multi-racial, multi-religious society where people live in harmony.

Discussing this with other young Singaporeans, I was chided: "We should not carry the historical baggage of racial riots with us." I am also pleased with this attitude. It shows that young Singaporeans want to move forward, develop larger common ground whilst allowing each other more non-overlapping space.

What older generation leaders want is that young Singaporeans be aware of the fault lines, develop the sensitivity to accept and respect each others’ differences. When we can all eat our separate food on the same table, discuss all issues openly without dividing us, then we have arrived.

History tells us what we are, and guide us to the future. But the future should be shaped by the young. Therefore there should always be renewal of leadership. This takes place regularly in our political leadership, because it is now in the culture of the PAP.

Likewise, we should encourage the young to be more active in our grassroots organisations. It should be the duty of long-serving grassroots leaders to spot young talent, and encourage them to take up leadership roles. No doubt, some of the young will say they find problems with time, and are afraid of making a long-term commitment they cannot keep. I would say that we should also encourage them to do something, even if it is on a one-project basis. There is a diversity of interests. We should cater for these interests, get those who are keen on these to organise activities. If we leave it to long-serving leaders alone, then we run out of fresh ideas, and old activities may not attract people.

Therefore, as we extend and renovate Yuhua Community Club, let us also pay attention to the other extension and renovation, that of grassroots leadership. Then what we are doing here tonight, raising the funds for the new Yuhua Community Club, will reap us higher results.