{"id":84666,"date":"2026-09-13T21:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T13:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84666"},"modified":"2026-09-13T21:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T13:09:01","slug":"in-an-uncertain-world-with-many-problems-singaporeans-must-help-each-other-sm-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84666","title":{"rendered":"In an uncertain world with many problems, Singaporeans must help each other: SM Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary article-summary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->The world is an uncertain place with many problems, but Singapore keeps its people safe and makes sure that they get help when they need it, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sept 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said the Government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/over-20000-families-on-a-key-govt-financial-aid-scheme-in-2024-a-five-year-low-in-spore?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">will help people with their difficulties<\/span><\/a>, and encouraged residents to do their best to help themselves and each other, to keep taking Singapore forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SM Lee was speaking to 200 residents of the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang ward<b> <\/b> who took part in a 7.5km community walk around the neighbourhood, passing through 13 Residents\u2019 Network centres. He is an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Called Go Connect, the walk was part of the annual Ci Yuan Day hosted by the Ci Yuan Community Club. Most of the participants were in their 60s to 80s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SM Lee addressed residents in Mandarin and English near the end of their walk, saying the event not only promotes exercise, but also allows participants to connect with each other and build community spirit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Darryl David, who also attended the event, said the walk was designed so that anyone could join from a starting point convenient to them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cWe have tried to make this year\u2019s celebrations more accessible and far-reaching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">More than 1,000 residents showed up at Ci Yuan Community Club, where Ci Yuan Day\u2019s main event was held, themed \u201cCelebrating a Caring and Inclusive Community\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Residents played games designed to raise awareness for persons with disabilities. In one booth, participants tried sorting expired food while wearing blurred-vision goggles to simulate living with visual impairment. Another booth challenged them to convey a food order without speech, to understand the barriers faced by those with speech or hearing difficulties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SM Lee said he was happy to see the young and the old gathering at the event.  \u201cThat\u2019s what makes a community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Under the GRC\u2019s annual flagship Bag-to-School programme, 79 children received $50 in mock currency to \u201cbuy\u201d stationery at a mock marketplace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">They earned the \u201cmoney\u201d at game booths run by student volunteers from Bowen Secondary School and ITE College Central, before using it to make \u201cpurchases\u201d with their parents\u2019 guidance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The activity is designed to teach financial literacy and decision-making skills to Kindergarten 2 and primary school pupils from lower-income families living in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The initiative was launched in 2018 to support K2 children in their transition to Primary 1 by providing them with school bags filled with essential supplies. Since 2025, the programme has expanded to include primary school pupils preparing for school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Children under the programme continued to receive the school bags. They also got a LEGO set, meant to reinforce the connection between learning and play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SM Lee cited findings from the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025, that ranked Singapore\u2019s 15-year-olds first in the world for reading, and second for mathematics and science. \u201cWe will make sure you have the opportunity&#8230; to grow, and to excel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Bowen Secondary student Ng Leyi, who planned and ran game booths for the Bag-to-School children, said the experience was fun and satisfying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The Sec 3 student worked with three other students to set up booths for the kids to learn to identify recyclable items, to form words using letters, and to match job roles to their job descriptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ng is part of the Ci Yuan Mentorship Programme, which allows upper secondary, ITE, junior college and polytechnic students to learn from mentors through workshops, leadership talks, and organising community events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The 15-year-old also volunteers with the AWWA Special Student Care Centre under a tie-up with her school  which brings modified sports like \u201cballoon badminton\u201d to students with special needs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cVolunteering is very fulfilling and fun. You get to meet a lot of new people with different backgrounds,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/community\/in-an-uncertain-world-with-many-problems-singaporeans-must-help-each-other-sm-lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 The world is an uncertain place with many problems, but Singapore keeps its people safe and makes sure that they get help when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}