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Speech by Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee at the Citizenship Ceremony on 27 October 2007Date : 27 October 2007 SPEECH BY ASSOC PROF HO PENG KEE, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND HOME AFFAIRS, MP FOR SEMBAWANG GRC AT THE CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY HELD AT THE WOODLANDS COMMUNITY CLUB ON SATURDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2007 Distinguished Guests, New Citizens, Grassroots Leaders, Ladies and gentlemen I am happy to be here this evening for this Citizenship Ceremony, jointly organized by the People’s Association (PA) and Grassroots Organizations of Sembawang GRC, Nee Soon Central and Nee Soon East Constituencies. On behalf of your Advisers, Grassroots Leaders and residents, I extend a warm welcome to you. 2 Let me first congratulate and welcome you, as new citizens, into our community. It will be a place where you and your family can build your hopes and dreams. You have all decided to plant our roots here as Singapore citizens. By becoming a new Singapore citizen, it demonstrates your willingness not only to be part of this vibrant community but also to share your new responsibilities in taking up the challenge of nation building. 3 Volunteerism is one avenue where you can contribute to both the cementing of our multi-racial ties as well as to the development of the community. You will find joy in not only meeting more people and making new friends, but also in developing a sense of self-fulfilment and belonging to the community in which you live. I am heartened to know that some new citizens from the earlier ceremonies have started to volunteer their services to our local grassroots organizations. 4 I would strongly encourage all new citizens here to get to know your community by participating in the activities organised by your local grassroots organisations such as Block Parties, Forums / Dialogues, Karaoke Competition and join our local community organizations such as the Residents’ Committees (RCs). We have invited the leaders of our grassroots organizations here this afternoon so that you can interact with them and find out why and how they have served the Community. You can also become a member of your Community Club so as to be kept abreast of upcoming CC enriching courses and sports activities. Come and make friends. 5 As new Singapore citizens, you come from different backgrounds and bring with you different expertise and experiences. I would like to urge all of you to be active citizens, to share and to contribute in whatever ways you can. We will have to embrace change and adopt an open mindset towards training and retraining in order to stay employable or to take up better jobs. I am sure that we will all work together towards Singapore’s continued growth and prosperity. 6 As part of our Community Engagement programme, we hope that through this localized ceremony, it will help to integrate our New Citizens better into the Community. I hope that we will continue to build on the emotional bonds or attachments and together help each other in times of crises or emergencies 7 Thank you |
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