g4-r~J.5Release No. 03/OCT
06-2/89/10/02
SPEECH BY DR SEET AI MEE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENTAND EDUCATION AT THE CHILDREN'S DAY CELEBRATION
AND COMBINED PRIZE-GIVING AT THE NANYANGTECHNOLOGICAL
INSTITUTE AUDITORIUM ON MONDAY, 2 OCTOBER 89 At 9.30 AM
0
special
today
Boys and girls,
one for all children.
is your special
day and a very
It is Children's
Day.
Besides the
Children
in Singapore are very fortunate.
comforts of good homes, parents and grandparents,
you have
good schools and caring teachers and live in a peaceful
and
My one wish for all of you
prosperous country - Singapore.
here today is that you will
continue
to grow up in peace and
prosperity
and be the best you can be.
a
When I was about 10 years old, and that was a long
time ago, there was a very popular hit song made famous by
It was called
"Que Sera Sera" and it want like
Doris Day.
this:
When I was just a little
girl
I asked my mother
"What will
I be?"
Here's what
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?
she said to me "Que Sera, Sera, whatever will be will be, The
future's
not ours to see, Que Sera Sera".
I loved that song and sung it
with verve and vigour
was caught up with the beat, the
and like all young children,
caring what the words meant.
tune and the music - not really
When I grew a little
.
meaning of those words and I
(I'm sure if all of you here
of the words of popular
rock
0
older,
I began to think
on the
realised
how wrong they Were.
stopped to think on the meanings
songs, you'd stop singing
them).
"Que Sera Sera - whatever will be will be" - it isn't
true.
We can make a difference
to our future
- if we are
greedy and eat fries
all day, we'll be as fat as Japanese su1no
If we don't walk and don't exercise;
e'll
get
wrestlers.
weak and flabby.
If you boys carry weights and exercise
daily
- you may develop muscular bodies and be Mr Singapore
of the
year 2000.
Strive
to do well
mentally
in your studies,
physically
- in sports and ECA and socially
- with friends
and family
and
you will
grow up to be good all round adults
and citizens.
Do
your best and you stand a good chance of achieving
your
dreams.
a
When Abraham Lincoln
was President
of the USA, to
the newspaper printed
a special
commemorate his birthday,
cartoon.
It showed a little
log cabin at the foot of a
mountain and the white House (the US President's
Home) at the
top of the mountain.
There was a ladder connecting
the simple
At the base of the
log cabin to the Presidential
White House.
cartoon there were these words "The ladder is still
there!"
The newspaper was trying
in the cartoon
to firstly,
congratulate
Lincoln
on his birthday
for succeeding
in the
long hard climb from being very poor, born and raised
in the
a Congressman and finally,
to being a lawyer,
log cabin,
President
of the USA. He made it to the top of the ladder
the newspaper was telling
through sheer hard work.
Secondly,
all Americans that they too could still
go from lag cabin to
white House if they ware prepared to toil
and sweat as Abraham
Lincoln
did.
l
3
.
In Singapore, we have only a 170-year history
and that
.
is very short:
but in these 17 decades, there have been many
Rags to Riches, Poverty to Prosperity
stories.
Like in
America, in Singapore it is
possible
to achieve success
through hard work.
.
Let
and I know
of our own
not ours to
m e return to the song "Que Sera Sera" - I believe
that we can shape and determine same, if not much,
I'd like to change the words "The future's
future.
see" to "The Future is ours to see!".
the future
Boys & girls,
the most of your tim e in school.
involve
yourselves
in purposeful
achieve excellence
for yourselves
My special
Children's
Day.
MS4/MSl/Pgs.l-3
wish
for
is yours.
I urge you to snake
Study well,
play well,
activities
and together
and for your nation.
you this
day is:
Have a Happy
I