Views on How S'pore can stay 'Forever Young'

My views on this topic is that all the five points raised in Mr Teo's speech are quite relevant as to how Singapore can stay forever young as a City.

One point i especially agree with in his speech is that we need a strong culture of education and learning to stay "Forever Young". This is because the country is going to be in the hands of these current batch of students one day, therefore it is necessary to build up the students' foundation on different levels, both education and learning wise, so that they can develop into "all-rounders" and the country will be in very capable hands in the future. Thus, Singapore have done a very good job with the education system in this aspect because according to Mr Teo himself, our students receive a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy and consistently do very well in international comparisons in science and mathematics. This is very positive as this shows that our students are very competitive and are able to match the knowledge of students on international level, which would mean that Singapore is able to match up to other established countries such as USA or China in the long run, keeping Singapore young and relevant in the process.

The fact that Our universities, polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education are among the best in their class in the world and people come from all over the world to study here also shows that our education standard is high and efficient. In addition to this, by also encouraging lifelong learning for all Singaporeans through various schemes offered by the government, it would also make Singapore "Forever Young" and relevant no matter what ages its citizens are because its citizens are the only form of resource for Singapore. Thus, it is essential for its citizens, young or old, to continue learning and upgrading their skills to keep up with the rest of the world and ensure our competitiveness at the same time.

My other views on making Singapore stay "Forever Young" as a city besides Education and Learning is also through organizing world-class activities such as the Youth Olympics and F1. This is because through organizing these activities, Singapore would get a lot of media exposure and publicity which would allow it to establish itself as a "Hip and Trendy" city. As a result of this, people would gradually take note of Singapore and take notice of it and some may even be tempted to come to Singapore and experience it, just like cities such as New York and London where they are centuries old but have stayed young and energetic by constantly reinventing themselves.

In conclusion, I am very hopeful and optimistic that all these building blocks to provide us with a strong foundation to make Singapore a "Forever Young" City will pay off in time and Singapore would still be known as a young, relevant,vibrant,trendy and a great city to live in through the years ahead.

WEI JIE