National Day 2025: President's Office, Mindef, SAF hold observance ceremonies , Singapore News
At the Istana, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was joined by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong for singing the national anthem and reciting the pledge.
They also viewed a performance by students from APSN Chaoyang School. Mindef, SAF National Day observance ceremony
Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing led around 1,000 personnel from Mindef and SAF in reciting the national pledge and singing the national anthem at the Mindef headquarters in Gombak on Friday.
The Music and Drama Company put up a performance to highlight this year's theme, "We are Singapore". It captures the nation's enduring spirit and aspirations for the past 60 years, intertwining the role of the SAF with Singapore's journey of progress.
The SAF also marks six decades of safeguarding Singapore's sovereignty and security in 2025 (SAF60).
A Mindef spokesperson said that all SAF units, including overseas training detachments, will be holding observance ceremonies to celebrate National Day.
[[nid:720908]]
editor@asiaone.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Better connectivity, amenities needed to complement new housing plans for northern Singapore: Experts
SINGAPORE: As part of efforts to rejuvenate northern Singapore, better transport options, more amenities and unique plans for smaller towns will be needed alongside new homes, experts said, following Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's National Day Rally announcement. In his speech on Sunday (Aug 17), Mr Wong touched on development plans for three areas - Kranji, Sembawang and Woodlands - noting how some people have described the north as being 'ulu' or remote. That perception may well change. The space occupied by Sembawang Shipyard, for instance, can become a 'new vibrant waterfront destination' with homes, dining and recreation, Mr Wong said. The 86ha site is about three times the size of Ang Mo Kio town, and shipyard operations will wind down in 2028. In Kranji, a new public housing estate is set to be developed at the former Singapore Racecourse site. To be ready in about 10 years, the 130ha site will likely have 14,000 new homes and amenities, including a neighbourhood centre around Kranji MRT station. Experts said the government's shift in focus to the north is hardly surprising following earlier efforts to develop other new towns, such as Punggol and Tengah. 'With the east and the west largely developed, the north is now, if I can call it, the next frontier, where we have a lot of space to redevelop. So naturally, it is time to direct attention and resources to building up this part of Singapore,' said Huttons Asia's senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck. Orchid Country Club near Mandai is another site that is prime for redevelopment, said Mr Lee, who estimates that more than 10,000 private and public homes could be built there. It is one of six golf courses that will not have their leases renewed upon expiry over the next 10 years, and has been rezoned for housing in the latest land-use masterplan. CONNECTIVITY IS KEY Given that Singapore is a small country that is fairly developed, the north is hardly 'ulu' or desolate. Experts CNA spoke to cited Yishun, Khatib and Woodlands as examples of decades-old housing estates with their own amenities and MRT stations. The sense of remoteness is hence a 'perception' partly due to the longer commute time to the city centre, compared with other regional centres such as Tampines and Jurong East, said Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property search portal More can therefore be done, experts said. There are already efforts to improve connectivity, such as the Thomson East-Coast Line, which reduces the time taken to travel from Woodlands to town. Plans are underway for an MRT station at Sungei Kadut, which will be an interchange connecting the North-South and Downtown MRT lines. This station – part of the Downtown Line extension project – is expected to open by 2035. 'This will be a game-changer to provide better connectivity in the Sungei Kadut and Kranji areas, and it looks like it has been timed to be ready together with the new homes (in Kranji),' said Singapore University of Technology and Design's (SUTD) Associate Professor of Practice Calvin Chua. Details of the new Seletar MRT line – one of two new rail lines under study by the authorities – will also be keenly awaited. First announced in March, the proposed Seletar Line could serve areas like Woodlands, Sembawang, Sengkang West, Serangoon North, Kallang and the Greater Southern Waterfront. Residents in parts of Yishun and Sembawang that are currently far away from the North-South Line – the only MRT line serving these northern neighbourhoods – are likely to benefit from the planned Seletar Line, said Associate Professor of Economics at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Walter Theseira. Mr Mak suggested having more accessible rental transport options, such as electric cars with various pick-up or drop-off points. On top of last-mile mobility options, Assoc Prof Chua said walkways could also be better designed to help bridge the gap between public transportation hubs and individual destinations. He cited the example of Chencharu, the new housing estate under development with Khatib MRT station nearby. 'Now, all you get is a cycling path and walkway underneath the MRT tracks. More can definitely be done to improve the walkability here,' said Assoc Prof Chua, who is from SUTD's architecture and sustainable design faculty. 'If designed well, for example, a sheltered area lined with shops and amenities, it can be quite a nice walk to the MRT station.' WOODLANDS AS A REGIONAL BUSINESS CENTRE Solving the issue of connectivity is not just about ensuring sufficient capacity to take people into the central parts of Singapore, but also about channelling 'flows in the opposite or other directions', said SUSS' Assoc Prof Theseira. 'Ideally, besides building more homes, what you also want to have is more economic activities to be centred around these homes, so that people who are living there can also work and play without having to travel all the way into the city centre or other parts of Singapore,' he said. Echoing that, Professor Sing Tien Foo from the National University of Singapore (NUS) said: 'Singapore will need to improve connectivity, which is an important strategy to support and encourage decentralisation, thereby helping to ease pressure in the CBD and central areas.' To that end, the government has been actively developing Woodlands as a regional centre, as part of its 'decentralisation strategy' to create economic areas beyond the city centre and bring jobs closer to homes. This comprises two distinct precincts – Woodlands Central and Woodlands North Coast – with over 700,000 sqm of new commercial space and more than 100ha of developable land for future expansion. The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone is poised to further enhance the role of Woodlands as a key economic node, said Professor Sing, who is provost's chair professor of real estate at the NUS Business School. The decentralisation strategy through the Woodland regional centre could also be enhanced with the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link, which is expected to start operations by the end of next year, he added. To foster the growth of new neighbourhoods, it is also important to 'create anchor nodes and institutions that can generate specific social-economic profiles', said SUTD's Assoc Prof Chua, citing the example of the Punggol Digital District in Punggol Coast. 'It is one thing to create nicer public spaces, but it is also crucial to create an anchor profile or institution where people would be drawn.' For instance, at the Sembawang Shipyard site, its existing large warehouses with high ceilings could be turned into innovation or education spaces with a focus on agri-food, leaning into the plans for an agri-food innovation park in the nearby Sungei Kadut, he suggested. More amenities might also be needed, such as shopping malls, affordable dining options, medical facilities and schools, said Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee-Realion Group.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
It's time vaping offences had tougher consequences
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox At the National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong made a vital and decisive move by declaring vaping a 'drug issue'. Despite Singapore's current comprehensive framework, vaping devices pose unique challenges, says the writer. The scale of Singapore's vaping crisis has become starkly clear in recent months. Between January 2024 and March 2025, more than 17,900 people were caught for possession , while seizures of devices worth S$41 million exceeded five times the value of all confiscations from 2019 to 2023.
AsiaOne
6 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Using CDC vouchers to buy durians, rock and roll: Some light-hearted moments from PM Wong's NDR2025 speech, Singapore News
The National Day Rally (NDR) speech is mostly about policies, planning and the serious matters of governance. During the NDR speech on Sunday (Aug 17), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had all of that, but he injected some light-hearted moments that had the audience in stitches. Here are some of those light-hearted moments: Durians over daily necessities During his Mandarin speech, PM Wong brought up the CDC and SG60 vouchers given to Singaporeans as part of relief measures amid cost-of-living pressures. He pointed out how durian sellers had quickly put up posters announcing that vouchers can be used to purchase their Musang King durians. "The media reported that a couple had in a single purchase, spent $800 worth of vouchers to buy durians," he said. "I know many people love durians. I like them too. However, after satisfying your durian cravings, please don't forget to save some vouchers for your daily essentials," he said, half in jest, much to the laughter from the audience. A small umbrella There's a forecast of rain in the near future and Singaporeans may need an umbrella to weather the storm. Addressing how Singaporeans will need to work together to share this 'umbrella', PM Wong recalled the 1980s hit Hokkien song Cit Ke Sio Ho Sua (For A Small Umbrella). The song, which tells the story of two people sharing an umbrella in the rain, had two people soaking wet with the path ahead barely visible. However, the duo continued to sing: "As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you will take care of me." "While there will be stormy weather on the road ahead, I firmly believe that we will look out for one another, weather the storms together and usher in a new era as one," PM Wong explained. "As long as we stay united and forge ahead, we will be able to write a new and more exciting chapter of the Singapore story," he enthused. Built on rock and roll On the topic of music, the Prime Minister highlighted how every generation worries about negative influences. Prior to his time, he said, bad influence was believed to come in the form of comic books and rock music. "Rock music was frowned upon — it was seen as a corrupting Western influence that promoted a decadent lifestyle," PM Wong said. "We cut back on broadcasting rock music on the radio, we banned jukeboxes. In the early 70s, we didn't allow rock band Led Zeppelin to perform here," he shared. Some members of the audience were shocked to hear this, with some, including Aljunied GRC People's Action Party candidate Daniel Liu, who was seen sporting a quizzical look. PM Wong added: "If you don't know Led Zeppelin, you're missing out on the good stuff." Eventually, the restrictions were relaxed, and PM Wong grew up with both comics and rock music, of which the latter was a key part of his upbringing. "We all turned out fine," he said. Trick question? Being Singapore's Prime Minister doesn't mean you have to be a math whiz. PM Wong spoke of the developments in artificial intelligence (AI), and how it used to be incapable of solving simple mathematical equations. Showing one such question on screen, PM Wong commented: "It's not a trick question, everyone can answer it." Many members of the audience laughed knowingly, some even shaking their heads at how simple the basic arithmetic question was. Instead of solving the question, AI would answer obliquely, giving a nonsensical response, he said. Recently, AI took part in the International Math Olympiad, earning a gold medal. Flashing one of the questions from the examination on the screen, PM Wong admitted: "It's so complex I can't even understand the question, but AI got it right! "I won't show you the answer, I don't think anyone even understands the question, let alone the answer!" The 'ulu' north He also took the opportunity to speak on the northern region of Singapore, which has been addressed less than other regions, he said. "Some people say that the northern part of Singapore is more ulu (remote)... I assure you, it's not," he asserted, promising to focus on the northern region in his speech. This elicited cheers and applause from members of the audience, with some — presumably from the northern parts of Singapore — expressing enthused approval at his statement. True to his word, PM Wong highlighted three areas in the north: Woodlands, Kranji and Sembawang. He shared goals for redeveloping Woodlands Checkpoint, building a new housing estate in Kranji and repurposing Sembawang shipyard among other plans. "Just as we transformed Punggol, these plans will take shape in the years ahead, and they will become reality," PM Wong said. He added: "That's how we make sure every part of Singapore shines — each with its own character, and a place we can all be proud to call home." khooyihang@
