Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered his annual National Day Rally Speech at the University Cultural Centre on the 19th of August.

Here are some reactions from bloggers.


Did the PM mention the old flats in Potong Pasir and Hougang? – No Fear
Singapore

“Punggol 21-plus with its water feature seemed so fantastic and it must have mesmerized many of you. But did any of you hear the PM mention Hougang and Potong Pasir, eh? You must have.”


National Day Rally 2007 – Yours Truly, Singapore

“The PM says that we cannot hold down top salaries for otherwise talent will leave. We can do an experiment and hold down the salary of say Mah Bow Tan and see if he leaves. For the experiment to work, we have to ensure that no government linked company would employ him and see if he can make it just as good in the private sector.”


National Day Rally – Resounding Love Melodies

“I’m really inspired and impacted by the speech and I believe that while we, students, are busy with our schoolwork, we should not ignore or be ignorant about social issues.”


Initial thoughts on National Day Rally 2007 – Hear Ye Hear Ye

“I think that credit should be given to the government for trying to tackle all the various problems through policy changes. Whether these are necessary the right tools to solve impending problems facing Singapore is another question, but at the very least, they are aware, and they are trying.”


NDP Rally : Blue shirt, blue heart? – The Anti-Neo Democracy Theorist

“PM Lee has stuck to a close script of the tangibles – the CPF scheme as well as HDB upgrading. It was a winning formula for most Singaporeans looking for solutions to the widening income gap, although those looking for comments that contribute to his former promises of an “open and inclusive” society might find this year speech disappointing.”


PM Lee shines – Blowing In The Wind

“But Singapore can be proud of itself. The development plans PM Lee unveiled — more parks and recreation facilities and even better public housing designed to look like condominiums — are really something to look forward to.”


Post national day coital bliss/blunder – Confessions Of A Critic

“I must say that I sat and kept my mouth shut while watching the live telecast of the rally. As it turns out, my prime minister has a pretty decent sense of humour and I am most impressed by his ability to speak to the people. I liked him tonight. Which is, really, the most positive thing I’ve said about the you-know-whos in a long while.”


City Of Possibilities – I Will Not Say Anything

“i think we’ve grown somewhat into a nanny state, where the government has a hand in almost everything. from education, to housing and even retirement. it’s evident isn’t it? everything has been thought of, and taken care of by the government.”

 

Shirt cuffs : Emperor’s new clothes? – Urbant Rant

“There was the usual nifty sweep away camera work to zoom in on a section of the laughing audience, who is so tickled by Hsien Loong’s humour was all on display. It all looked great. With the economy booming (albeilt under a cloud of sub-prime loans’ overcast), the prime minister had many things to cheered about.”

 

A good speech – but some points to keep in mind – theonlinecitizen

“It is good to see the PM of the country almost moved to tears by the acts of our young people. It showed a very human side of the leader – something which perhaps all other politicians can learn from. That though hard statistics and policies are sometimes necessary, it is the human and humane quality of being a leader that can move hearts and inspire spirits.”

 

Notes from the National Day Rally 2007 – Too Many Thoughts

“Reason #7924 why Singapore will never get its act together like a real society: the prime minister is happy to operate at the level of “Singaporeans like incentives”, and toss more incentives at them.”

 

Singapore National Day – PM LHL Rally: budding tensions? – Beat The Red Light

“Imagine if recession hits. The Government forces you to buy annuities, forces you to be unable to draw down what you have in your CPF account, forces you to do this and that. I think people will be very angry. So the Government better pray that they are right that the “winds are in our sails”.

 

Of ministers caught sleeping during national day rally speech – Lancerlord

“The usual must-have topic after every National Day Rally speech. VR-Forummer Christine posts 2 snapshots of ministers caught sleeping.”

 

Learnings from National Day Rally – how to justify pay increase – Yuhui

“Bottomline: you must pay for the best. Therefore, the best must earn stratospheric incomes that are much more than what the next tier earns. Not happy? Blame globalisation.”

 

Natinal Day Rally Speech 2007 – Songb

“Now, we cannot use the first $60,000 in the combined accounts to invest under the CPFIS. So most people can forget about actively trying to grow their CPF funds by themselves till they’re middle-aged and have that surplus to work with.”

 

I feel so loyal tonight! – Marcus Dot Chan

“After listening to the “changes” to be made for the HDB housing of Singapore, one thing came up to my mind, is it so easy? All dreams and empty-talk? But I think it can be done.”

 

City Of Possibilities – What to look forward to – Without reason

“This, we hope, can create a new style of living in Singaporeans- but more importantly, still retain our brand name as a clean, green city powered by highly efficient and self-motivated individuals. That is- Singapore 21.”

 

PM Lee charms at National Day Rally – The Mad Mad World

“Welcome to the new face of political leadership in Singapore. With the PAP trying to portray a “hipper” image to the younger crowd, this attempt takes the icing on the cake. Lee Hsien Loong is fast setting himself apart from his predecessors with a willingness to engage his audience and establish a more relatable and engaging form of leadership”

 

PM National Day Rally Speech 2007 – The Itch To Write

“I would love to work till 67 or 70 if my health allows me to. But who will hire me? Yes, we’ve got jobs such as cleaners, dish-washers, etc… So everyone will be competing for such jobs and will there be jobs available for everyone? Are most companies in Singapore really relunctant to employ people of that age?”


Of the PM’s speech – Winter Is Coming

“Yes, it is indeed time to upgrade the two wards. The funds are under the purview of the Minstry of National Development. Unless Hougang and Potong Pasir are not considered part of the Nation then by all means, withhold upgrading. In that case anyone who lives there should not serve National Service, should not pay any taxes to the government, should not contribute to CPF…etc…”


Extreme makeover, CPF edition – Hear Ye Hear Ye

“The whole bunch of measures to reform Singapore’s retirement scheme are pretty big steps. Of course, we know that in Extreme Makeover, after the agony of liposuction, dental operations, nose, eye, jaw and sometimes boob job, the end result is usually worth it. Will our attempt to do an extreme makeover be worth it?”

 

PM Lee and the ageing population – Mr Wang Says So

“As the population ages, the combined wealth of a relatively greater number of old Singaporeans will become concentrated (after they die) in the hands of a relatively lesser number of younger Singaporeans. This is in contrast to countries with a young population, where the wealth of the recently-deceased will be divided among a greater number of living people.”

 

No need for annuities and CPF minimum sum schemes – My Singapore News

“The alternative and the best solution to this group of people is the newly created HDB leasebuy back scheme. With this scheme the income generated should be able to see them through their golden years.”

 

Aging population :The main concern of PM Lee – Ed Investment Corner

“The most attention grabbing strategy is the one percent interest hike on first $20 000 of ordinary account and on a total of $60 000 in special, retirement and medisave accounts. This is a bold move by the government..”


City Of
Possibilities? – Andrew Ong

“Not that I am against nation progress, but this comes at a time where Singaporeans are already playing the ‘catching-up game’ in order to get by with the ever-increasing cost of living. This vision easily translates to us, Singaporeans having to study, work and serve even harder then before.”


Killing me softly with his words – Reverie 122

“Delay the CPF withdrawal age one more year, I will have to suffer one more year. (sigh!) The government announced it will delay the retirement age as well. In future I may have to work until die!!”

 

National Day Rally afterthoughts – Joslyn Gua

“I liked a part of what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last night at the National Day Rally. It is true that we cannot simply pass a law to force our people to retire at a later age. A truly wise man will know that force doesn’t ensure compliance at all nowadays.

 

Set pieces and set lunches – Singapore Sojourn

“I found Lee Hsien Loong’s address interesting as he set out the path the country needed to follow over the next decade or two. The information was clear and succinct and punctuated with well chosen multimedia presentations and the odd dash of humour thrown in.”

 

Resurrection and NDP Rally – Rwarihateu

“The only decent joke was the one about a lack of babies in singapore. “I shall not discuss about the baby problem today. As Nike says, Just do it.” The rest of them are really lame and i believe that the audience is only laughing because the son of the Almightly MM Lee Kuan Yew looks like he expects laughter. Yup that’s all. More commendatory stuff coming up soon.”

 

More thoughts on PM’s National Day Rally Speech – Good Moorning Yesterday

“When he started to talk about housing, I went to take a shower. It’s not just that I find it difficult to be excited about what else of the old Singapore they are going to tear down. I am actually somewhat disappointed with last night’s speech.”


CPF changes – Chan TC

“All in all, apart from the confusion, the changes to the CPF is quite okay. It’s budget friendly, and yet help the lower income earners.”


Pay in, pay out – Princeszlim

“I heard recently from PM Lee’s national day rally that the cpf interest rate will go up by 1% to 3.5%. Im not sure whether to be happy or not coz i am concerned that it would mean that my HDB loan rate would increase too!! to 3.6% from the current 2.6%.

 

30% of each cohort to get into uni – is this good enough? – Vadhog

“The PM said the objective is to allow 30 percent of each cohort to get into publicly-funded universities by 2015, compared to 23 percent today. but 30% means out of a class of 40, only 12 will get into university! i can accept 30% if it is 10 years ago but 30% today is too low! and 30% in 2015 is even worse!!”

 

National Day Rally – Tequila And Lemon

“The prime minister,the supreme,delivered his powerful keynote state of the union address @ the NUS cultural centre… It was really really excruciatingly magnificent! I was touched moved comforted ,everything!. He is a great leader, and we,as Singaporeans,ought to be proud that we’re under safe hands and leadership.”

 

The unconventional colours of politics – Soulcast

“Just as desperate housewife Gabrielle Solis was courted by mayor Victor Lang in a strategic gambit by the mayor to ensnare the Latino vote, the PM’s green top could perhaps have a certain sociopolitical significance to it, viz. that of assuaging, if not appealing to, the minority Malay-Muslim ground that National Day is not all about having the country awash in all things incarnadine.”

 

My thoughts on the National Day Rally Speech 2007 – Minor Epiphany

“One glaring issue that he did not address was the problem of increased cost of living. I was very surprised that he chose to avoid this topic as it is one of the main reasons why the aging population and the less well off are having problems.”

 

This page will be updated periodically.

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