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SPEECH BY MR A RAHIM ISHAK, SENIOR MINSTER OF STATE
FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND MP FOR SIGLAP, AT THE
LAUCHING OF “‘USE” YOUR HANDS” CAMPAIGN AT THE SIGLAP
SECONDARY SCHOOL ON 30 MAY 1978 AT 9.00 A.M
First of all, I would like to congratulate the Principal and
Staff of the Siglap Secondary School as well AD all the students for
getting togther to participate in this campaign to use your hands. Tho
students especially should bu commended for getting back from their midyear holidays to help clean up tho school for thu next few days.
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The USC Your Hands Campaign wnu first oonducted two years ago.
T,:,: response of the students of all the schools was heartening and tho
result most encouraging. The campaign showed that our young students
not only study hard and play hard, they can also work hard when called
upon to put shoulder to wheel or a hand to broom and changkol. Which
ir why IJO Larc once again having a similar campaign among all school
students tc UFO their hands to spruce Up their school buildings and
grounds. This campaign will bo? valuable experience for the students of
this school and all other schools in Siglap. iAt tho same time they will
be giving choir schools a newly-scrubbed look in good time for our next
National Day.
Keeping your schools clean is really an ox-tension of keeping
your hmos neat and tidy. It is the healthy home that is kept clean
by a?- its occupants. This habit of using your hands begin in the
Our parents instil in their children the habit of using their
hands to tidy us their rooms and helping in the,household chores, be it
mopping the floor or tending the garden or lawn, or painting the house.
(hr children learn to use their hands at home. They imbibe thdse basic
values in their upbringing. Tho campaign organised by the schools arc
110 more th?.n periodic spring cleaning of our common property. I know
that you, the students, arc thinking people and that you realise the
sigificance of what you arc about to do today,
..... . /2.
This campaign is not unrelated to the habit and practice of
placing the chair into position on standing up, putting on the hooks
on opening windows, putting shoes neatly in position in their proper
places, picking up litter and disposing it off even if somebody else
is responsible for littering, screwing, on the cap of the toothpaste
tube after the last user had forgotten to do. It is also good habits
to take care of your personal property -leather or canvas shoes,
your watch, pen, ring, bracelet, pendant, hair-dryer, electric iron,
radio aa cassette recorder - to have them cleaned or dust removed
away from thorn. Those are all good habits which need your little hands
to tend to.
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The schools in Singaporc belong to all their students just as
Singapore belongs to all its citizens. WQ are oc-owners, all of us, of
our schools, our parks, our roads, our public buildings. It is therefore
our responsibility to-look after our oommon property. We all share the
pride of ownership of a clean and green Singapore. I am sure the students
of Siglap Secondary School axe proud of their sohool's appearance andc
achievements, which are their achievements Similarly with the students
cf other schools in Siglap and tho rest of Singapore. Char schools aro
What we make of them, in as much as our Relublic is what we make of it.
Doing something about it through gotong royong' (oommunity self-help)
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clean-up
is one tangible contribution we can make
Let us ponder on the end purpose of this campaign to USC your
hands for manual work. 'pho process of evolution which led man to use
his hands anld brain seems to have been overtaken by man's scientific
achievements. It seems that today he is in danger of losing the use of
his hands as the electric and electronic products of his brain give him
creature comforts at tho touch of a button. There is a clangor that our
younger generation, growing up in such a technotronic environment, would
not be able to perform the daily chores of life, lot alone carn a living
with their hands, if the need arises. while WQ must keep abreast cf
tho latest scientific advances and loam to use the latest gadets, we
should strive to retain our basic qualities of hard work and discipline*
We should be able to work the shipyards, master the tools of industry
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and. acquire the skills of construction. Wa cannot afford to leave all
the hard jobs to others while becoming more and more dependent cn the
labour saving devices which make for a soft lif.
We should never forget our basic situation -that we own an
island country of only 585 sq kms which has no natural resources of any
kind, not oven enough water for all or us We are dependent on the
outside world for our food., our raw materials and markets for our
products. If the world economic situation takes a drastically bad turn,
or our access to the resources and markets we require is disrupted by
external causes, we would be in serious trouble. We must be ready to
put shoulder to wheel or hand to changkol if necessary to sweat and toil
for our very survival.
Our pioneering forefathers came out to a swampy island arCi built
it up with their hands and brain into the metropolis that Singapore is
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today. Cur young citizens should be ready and able to USe their hands
and brain to take Singapore forward to even greater prosperity and a
better life for all its people in the years ahead
This Use Your Hands Campaign is a modest but meaningful way to
further inculcate in thorn the resolve to wield the broom to sweep out
old cobwebs of the mind an& sweat away slot:~~.d. habits of indulgence.
It ig designed to stimpulate oven more a fresh approach to life and
work, for a healthier, happier Singapore. Sharpen your wits to meet
t!x new challenges ahead but prepared to use your hands to carve out
the future. With these few words, lot us get on with tha chores at hand