Intergenerational Harmony Day 2004 (Salvation Army)

21 Jul 2004

By Dr Balaji Sadasivan , Minister Of State For Health

Venue: Singapore EXPO

SPEECH BY DR BALAJI SADASIVAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND TRANSPORT, ON WEDNESDAY, 21 JULY 2004 AT 12.10PM AT THE SINGAPORE EXPO

Mrs Veronica Ong

Chairman of the Organising Committee

Supervisor of The Salvation Army Bedok  Centre

Organising Committee

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for inviting me to the inaugural Intergenerational Harmony Day.  It is my honour and pleasure to grace and witness this very unique event. I would like to congratulate members of the organising committee for putting this event together.

The Salvation Army has a long and distinguished history of serving the needs of Singapore. It has worked to meet human needs without discrimination. Hence, it is no surprise that the concept of a project promoting intergenerational ties in conjunction with Racial Harmony Day was mooted by The Salvation Army in December last year.  Today is the culmination of the combined efforts of seven eldercare agencies.

It is heartening to see people not just from different age group but also representing the various ethnic groups congregating here for the common purpose of bridging the so-called generation gap and culture divide.  I see children from childcare centre, youths from a secondary school, adults from all walks of life and elderly from various nursing homes and rehab centres.  What's even more uplifting is that a Christian day rehab centre has Hindu clients and a Buddhist nursing home counts Muslims in its intake.

With the disturbing rising trend of people leaving their elderly parents in nursing homes all too readily, community events such as these play an important role in fostering closer family bonding among the young and old across culture and beliefs.  One cannot understate the importance of a harmonious family unit, be it Chinese, Malay or Indian.  The gentle fabric of our society depends on it.  The soul of our society should prosper even as our nation prospers.  A nation's success story is very much dependent on the richness of its soul.  The wealth and accolades we accumulated would amount to nothing if our people forget our roots, heritage and cultures.  Thus it is never too young to inculcate a sense of community spirit in our young ones.

This event is a fine example of a mutually beneficial platform where there's learning and sharing across age, culture, and language.  Indeed the organising committee has taken pains to organise original and challenging games such as 'harmono' to allow active interaction between the young and senior participants.

A healthy lifestyle goes beyond an individual's physical state of health.  It is also important that one is healthy mentally and socially.  The recent crises in many parts of the world have reaffirm the need for social cohesiveness in Singapore based on trust and understanding.  Your presence here signifies the continuing support of community bonding and relationship building.

I would like to thank the good people of Ministry of Community Development and Sports, the Southeast Community Development Council and all the sponsors, supporters and volunteers for making this event possible.

On this note, I applaud every one of you for embarking on this very meaningful project.

Thank you.