SPEECH BY DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG AT THE LAUNCH OF MERCY RELIEF ON 19 SEP 2003, 5 PM, RAFFLES TOWN CLUB

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Speaker of Parliament and Advisor to Mercy Relief
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Community Development and Sports
Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, Chairman, Mercy Relief
Hassan Ahmad, Executive Director, Mercy Relief
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am happy to be here today to celebrate the launch of Mercy Relief.

Year 2003 has been a very eventful year. The War in Iraq, the continuing threat of terrorism in the region, the bombing at the Mariott Hotel in Jakarta, all these external events cast a pall of uncertainty over the global and regional economies, and also tested the trust and understanding between the different races in our society. We also have had to deal to SARS, a deadly virus that threatened our lives, disrupted our daily activities, and plunged the nation into a grave crisis. Singaporeans of all backgrounds and walks of life shared the same fear. But in crisis we showed courage, grit and unity, and eventually stamped out the virus.

The consequences have been painful and we have gone through some trying times. But we must not lose heart. Singaporeans have weathered tougher times before, but we always managed to adapt to circumstances and emerge stronger, fitter and more united as a people. Similarly, amidst today’s challenges, we are responding sensibly and rationally. We are cutting taxes and CPF to keep costs low. We are strengthening our external linkages through FTAs, which will be even more important now that the WTO talks in Cancun have failed. We are encouraging entrepreneurship, to create new businesses, and new job opportunities for our people. We are developing and upgrading our industries, so that our workers can continue to improve their lives. We are training our people to equip them with the skills they will need in the future.

External conditions are gradually getting better. The US economy is picking up quite strongly. The Japanese economy too is expecting positive growth this year. This favourable backdrop will support the measures we are taking to overcome the present challenges, and get our economy moving again.

It is especially heartening to know that at a time where many are tightening their belts and bracing themselves for an uncertain future, a group of Singaporeans have been selflessly engaging in humanitarian work.

Mercy Relief has played a part in bringing out the kindness of Singaporeans. It was started by Perdaus, a charitable Malay/Muslim organisation. Within two years, the movement recruited 440 volunteers, who have been actively involved in many fundraising and humanitarian relief programmes.

For example, the volunteers raised funds together with the Singapore Red Cross Society in aid of the Afghan refugees. They also provided doctors, nurses and logistical personnel for the medical relief missions to Afghanistan. They donated food, and helped run schools for the child refugees there. For Cambodia, they raised funds for the flood victims, and helped build wells and sanitation systems in villages. After the war in Iraq, Mercy Relief also raised funds to help Iraqi refugees and victims of war. And back home, the volunteers are also helping out orphans and under-privileged children.

I commend Perdaus for launching Mercy Relief. Their initiative reflects the humanitarian aspect of Islam. It also shows how the Muslim/Malay community has upgraded and improved itself over the years. The community’s contribution is not just to our economic development, but also our social development, in promoting kindness and the spirit of volunteerism amongst members of our society.

Although Perdaus is a Malay/Muslim organisation, members of other communities responded to its call. Currently, more than one-third (37%) of their volunteers are non-Malay/Muslims. This is a commendable achievement. In a diverse society such as Singapore, we must constantly enlarge the common space amongst people of different races and bring them together to share the same experiences. What Mercy Relief has achieved is all the more precious, because it has brought together the different races to perform humanitarian relief work and do something meaningful.

So it is not just spending time together, but joining hands to give to the less fortunate and witnessing first hand the hardship and tribulations that others have to go through. I hope that the volunteers have brought home valuable lessons from these expeditions, as well as a keener appreciation of how fortunate we have been in Singapore, why what we have built is special, and why we cannot take what we have for granted. We must continue to stay united, and work hard, to improve what we have got.

Mercy Relief is now constituted as an organisation in its own right, and with its own Board of Directors, who are also from different backgrounds. This change should put Mercy Relief in a better position to attract a wider variety of volunteers, and broaden its range of volunteer work.

I hope the new organisational structure will help Mercy Relief to continue its good work. We are part of the global and regional community. While taking care of the poor and needy in our midst, we should do our part to help the less fortunate in other countries. Because we are such a small country with limited resources, the physical impact of our work is usually not very significant. But it is the sentiment and spirit of volunteerism and mutual help that matters most. If Singaporeans are prepared to put in time, money and effort for humanitarian relief work abroad, they will be able to touch the hearts of many unfortunate people around the world, and help them gain the strength and resolve to overcome their difficulties.

I would like to congratulate Mercy Relief for its accomplishments, and for establishing itself as a new organisation. I am sure that even as Mercy Relief acquires a new personality and outlook, its roots will remain in the Malay/Muslim community. It will always be a movement which the Malay/Muslim community started, can call your own and be proud of.

I am confident that under the able leadership of its Chairman, its board and management team, Mercy Relief will grow from strength to strength. I wish you every success.

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