PM Lee delivered his 2015 National Day Rally speech on 23 August 2015 at the Institute of Technical Education College Central. He spoke in Malay and Chinese, followed by English.
Here is the transcript of the English speech in full:
For the video with sign language interpretation, please scroll to the bottom of the page.
My fellow Singaporeans, good evening.
First, let us thank Kit Chan again for her beautiful singing and also for dedicating her song to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I am very glad I invited her to the rally, and I am very touched that she offered to sing “Home”, which is a fitting tribute to Mr Lee and a good start for the SG50 National Day Rally. Two weeks ago, on the 9th of August, we celebrated our Golden Jubilee with a parade at the Padang. For everyone who took part at the Padang, at the Floating Platform, around the Bay, watching at home or overseas, that night was something special to remember. It was not just a birthday bash, we were celebrating something far greater.
First of all, we celebrated our resolve to defend ourselves and to survive over the last 50 years. We started out at independence with only two infantry battalions in a rough neighbourhood. But our pioneers were determined to defend ourselves - we built up the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Within four years, we paraded a few of our units on National Day in 1969.
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National Day Rally 2015: 11 announcements from PM Lee's speech you should know about
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on Sunday was a wide-ranging one that was in equal parts a look back and a look forward.
He also announced policy changes that drew cheers from many in the audience. Here's a recap of the 11 key ones:
- The income ceiling of buyers of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will be raised from $10,000 to $12,000, and that for executive condominiums (ECs) from $12,000 to $14,000.
- To make flats more affordable, the income ceiling for the existing Special Housing Grant (SHG) will be raised from $6,500 to $8,500.
- Parents and married children who want to live near each other will get more help under the new Proximity Housing Grant.
- A new scheme will be launched called the Fresh Start Housing Scheme.
- The Baby Bonus scheme, which helps parents defray child-raising costs, will be extended to every child instead of just the first four children.
- Newborns will get more grants in their Medisave amount so that it's enough to cover the new MediShield Life premiums for the child till he or she reaches 21.
- Fathers will get more paternity leave. It will be increased to two weeks from the current one.
- The Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore's fifth university, will have its campus in Punggol.
- The Government will work with Muis to strengthen the teaching of secular subjects like mathematics and science in madrasahs, or Islamic religious schools.
- The re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67. This will be implemented by 2017.
- PM Lee said he will call for a general election "soon", but stopped short of giving a specific date.
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