PM Lee: Let's unite and build towards SG100

BY HELPING one another and working as a team, Singaporeans can shape the nation's destiny and forge a future that is inclusive and united in diversity, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of The Future Of Us exhibition at Gardens by the Bay, Mr Lee looked back at how the nation had overcome uncertainty and racial tensions during independence, as he cast an eye on what the future of Singapore will be like 50 years from today.

Singapore as it is now is the "work of more than one generation, each standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before", he said, crediting pioneers for their sacrifice and for building Singapore up brick by brick.

Likewise, Singapore's future "depends on what we make of it together", he added. "It is up to each one of us to voice our hopes and future dreams, to make the choices to realise these dreams."

The free Future Of Us exhibition, which opens to the public tomorrow at Gardens by the Bay, is the capstone event of the year-long SG50 Golden Jubilee celebrations. It has seen overwhelming response with more than 85 per cent of tickets booked for the opening month.

The exhibition, which will end on March 8 next year, envisions how daily living will be like in 2030, with possible innovative developments in areas such as transport, housing and healthcare.

The SG50 celebrations have "been an extra special year for all of us and I am sure each of us has his or her own special memories", Mr Lee noted.

He said looking forward will involve "coming together as one people, one nation, one Singapore, re-dedicating ourselves to build a better Singapore (and) looking forward to the possibilities ahead of us".

Mr Lee also said that it was fitting to have taken part in the SG50 Jubilee Big Walk earlier yesterday morning, going past historic and iconic sites in the Civic District.

Some 25,000 people took part in the 5km mass walk, organised by The New Paper and the People's Association.

It included part of a permanent 8km commemorative trail, known as the Jubilee Walk that Mr Lee also launched yesterday, which connects more than 20 historic and iconic locations within the Civic District and Marina Bay precinct.

The event was flagged off by Mr Lee at the National Museum of Singapore, the walk's starting point.

The mass walk's route took participants past key landmarks and sites that mark significant events in the nation's development, including the Padang and Parliament House, before ending at the Meadow at Gardens by the Bay.

Mr Lee - who took selfies with some participants, shook hands with others and exchanged high fives with young children - also launched the 220m Jubilee Bridge that connects the Merlion Park and the waterfront promenade by the Esplanade.

He then made a brief visit of the SG Heart Map Festival at the Marina Bay floating platform.

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