Engagement With The President Of Singapore
Heavily urbanised states or city-states with cutting-edge economies as their engines have to think on their feet, adapt quickly new challenges, and be adept at empowering their people to keep growing.
This belief struck a chord between President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam and I as he hosted me as part of his state visit to Malaysia on the invitation of His Majesty The King.
President Tharman reminded that I visited Singapore only a month ago in which I had meaningful conversations with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Minister Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Education Minister Desmond Lee, and National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat.
We covered a vast array of pressing issues in which I found President Tharman's decades-long experience in government incredibly profound, as he zeroed in on education and skills as two key pillars to equip a society to face any challenge, through lifelong learning.
This enables each person to feel they have a stake in national development, contributing in their own ways to achieve national advancement and hitting national goals.
This principle is something I hold closely and is embedded in the 'Kita Selangor' concept introduced in 2021, that Selangor's strength as a multicultural society is collective. Some may think of it as a cliché, but our diverse makeup of different races and religions should be a strength, not a weakness for certain parties to prey on.
President Tharman and I expanded on similar grand challenges ahead as both Singapore and Selangor are facing ageing societies; birth rates are in decline while lifespans have grown to 80 years old and beyond.
Strategies to offer more spaces for our seniors to interact, engage in activities, and learn new skills can help them age healthily and gracefully, not be bogged down with non-communicable diseases common in societies which are less active.
I thank President for his time, his encouragement for both Selangor and Singapore to elevate cooperation in these areas, and I wish him the very best in his time visiting Malaysia.
