Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will deliver the National Day Rally speech this Sunday at the Institute of Technical Education.
He will commence the rally at 6.40pm in Malay. He will then speak in Mandarin, before starting his English speech at 8pm, the Ministry of Communications and Information said in a press statement yesterday.
The rally will be broadcast on local television channels and radio stations. It will also be streamed live on the Prime Minister’s Office YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/pmosingapore), Mr Lee’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/leehsienloong) and government feedback unit Reach’s website (www.reach.gov.sg/nationaldayrally2016).
There will also be multiple channels for Singaporeans to provide feedback to the rally, which is seen as the most important political speech of the year.
For the first time, Reach will be organising live Facebook chats in different languages in the week after the rally.
Through the video chat, Singaporeans can get their questions answered in real-time by panellists such as Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng.
Singaporeans can also share their views on the rally with Reach through e-mail, fax, SMS, WhatsApp, mail, over the phone or through its social media accounts from Aug 21 to Sept 4.
Mr Lee traditionally uses the National Day Rally to map out the nation’s future directions and announce policy changes.
In last year’s wide-ranging speech, he announced government initiatives that have made home ownership more affordable and the Fresh Start Housing Scheme targeted at helping families, who once owned HDB flats, to afford one again.
Enhancements to schemes such as Baby Bonus, Medisave Grant were announced, as well as longer paternity leave, to better support young parents.
This year’s rally will be the first after last September’s general election, which the People’s Action Party won.
It garnered 69.9 per cent of the vote.
MPs interviewed said a key theme for this year’s rally is likely to be the economy and the Government’s plans to help Singaporeans amid the gloomy economic outlook.
Mr Lee is also likely to stress the importance of staying united as a nation, given the growing frequency of terror attacks and near misses close to home, such as the blasts that hit five provinces in Thailand last Friday.
This will be the fourth year in a row that Mr Lee has chosen to deliver his speech at ITE College Central.
He had previously done so at the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore.
yanliang@sph.com.sg
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