PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech: Covid, tudung, race issues

Singapore—Even as the country departs from a Covid-zero policy and heads toward the realities of living with an endemic infection, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanked Singaporeans in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday night (Aug 29) for how they have coped and pulled together over the past year.

Notably, he touched on several significant issues that have arisen recently, including the wearing of the tudung, or head scarf, for Malay Muslims, as well as issues surrounding race, underlining that there is no Chinese privilege in Singapore.

He made these points in the first two of three speeches, which he delivered in Malay and Mandarin.

Speaking before a hybrid audience of socially distanced attendees and online participants, he first addressed the Malay Muslim community, expressing his appreciation of their determination and cooperation over the past year.

He noted that Census 2020 has shown the progress the community has made in the past decade, especially in education and job advancement, but noted that there are areas where the government will still continue to provide support to the community, such as helping families acquire their own homes to secure their future.

PM Lee touched specifically on the tudung issue, which he said Muslim leaders have approached him about. While he acknowledged the importance of this issue to the community, he emphasized the need to balance Singapore’s racial and religious harmony, a balance he called “very fragile and needs to be carefully maintained.”

However, he added that “over time, a new balance can be carefully and incrementally struck,” and because he had promised to announce a decision on the tudung issue by this year’s National Day Rally, he will be expounding on changes regarding nurses wearing the tudung in his speech in English later on Sunday night (Aug 29).

During his speech in Mandarin, his second for the night, he also touched on racial issues, noting that there have been a number of incidents of this nature this year. However, he said that it is entirely baseless to claim “Chinese privilege” in Singapore. 

He underlined the importance of maintaining racial harmony, and for Singaporeans to reject racism and discrimination. 

PM Lee added that because the past decades have been very peaceful, some may have taken racial harmony for granted, and therefore lose some sensitivity.

He talked of instances where Chinese-speaking people were specifically sought to fill job positions, or looked for in renting out homes, and appealed to listeners not to allow their preferences to evolve into prejudice and discrimination that would be felt by ethnic minorities.

The Prime Minister said that support would be given to all ethnic groups  to promote and retain their culture.

/TISG