President Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Mr Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister
Mr Moses Lee, Chairman, SG Enable
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
- It is indeed a pleasure to be here at this meaningful event again, recognising extraordinary individuals whose grit, passion, and tenacity inspire us all.
- Today, three outstanding individuals will be presented with the Achievement Award, that recognises and celebrates the significant accomplishments of persons with disabilities[1]. Another ten remarkable individuals will be presented with the Promise Award, that encourages those who have shown promise to pursue greater heights in their areas of talent and a willingness to serve the community.[2]
- I am personally very inspired by the resilience of all our awardees. Take Mr Alan Pek, one of our three Achievement awardees, for instance, who was born with cerebral palsy, which not only affected his ability to move and maintain balance, but also impaired his speech. Despite these challenges, Alan persevered to overcome them. Today, Alan can walk, drive, play soccer, cycle, swim and even dance! With tireless practice, he has also honed his speech, enabling him to advocate for inclusion across various engagement platforms.
- Alan is also committed to uplifting the disability community. Since joining Deutsche Bank, Alan has been championing for a more inclusive culture by contributing actively to dB Enable, a personal and professional development programme giving students with disabilities an opportunity to gain professional experience across various divisions in Deutsche Bank. Currently serving as the Vice President of HWA (previously known as Handicaps Welfare Association), Alan has also been advocating for and leveraging his IT expertise to enhance the welfare of the disability community for more than a decade. Congratulations, Alan!
- Our second Achievement awardee, Mr Andrew Tay, coined the term - Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) - a distinct language that has been adapted to reflect our local culture and multilingual environment. Born deaf, Andrew was determined to change how he and other Deaf individuals perceive their Deaf identity and sign language. He brought together like-minded SgSL users on a platform to build and strengthen the Deaf culture. He initiated a Deaf parent support group and created videos to raise awareness on how Deaf parents can teach their hearing children sign language to build stronger familial bonds with each other. As a lead SgSL curriculum developer at Equal Dreams, a social enterprise, Andrew contributes significantly by working behind the scenes to promote inclusion, closing the communication gaps between the Deaf and hearing communities. Heartiest congratulations, Andrew!
- Our third Achievement Awardee is none other than Ms Cassandra Chiu. Diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease at the age of eight, leading to progressive vision loss and eventual blindness, Cassandra is a fighter. Although she faced difficulties in school due to her vision impairment, she excelled in her studies. She is now a professional psychotherapist and accredited coach, running her own practice. As one of the pioneers in Singapore to use a seeing-eye dog, Cassandra paved the way for greater acceptance of assistance dogs to support persons with disabilities to lead a fulfilling and independent life. In her capacity as President of the Disabled People’s Association and Executive Director of K9Assistance, Cassandra champions for greater inclusion in Singapore. Cassandra, congratulations!
- By now, I am confident that you feel the same way as I do - deeply inspired by the awardees’ mission and spirit of contribution. They are paying it forward because they are driven not only by concern for their own well-being, but also by their commitment to a greater cause, to serve our community. I am truly heartened by this. After all, as a society, we are not just concerned about how we progress individually, but also about how we progress as one community.
- Next, the Promise Award. This award encourages our promising and talented awardees to continue in contributing their talents and skills to serve the community. I will share more about two of our Promise Award recipients today. First, we have Ms D G Carole Ann, who collaborated with engineers and volunteers to develop 3D-printed gadgets that are designed to assist persons with disabilities. She is also one of our lead talents in the well-received public education Campaign “Unawkward” by SG Enable, that used humour to break down the social barriers faced by persons with disabilities. Well done, Carole. Second, we have Ms Amal Husnah Jamaludin, a keen advocate for inclusive spaces, who contributed to the consultation efforts by an arts centre and a visual art institution to incorporate accessible performances and facilities in their respective premises. Her advocacy at her former workplace also led to tactile flooring and automatic doors installed for the visually impaired and those with mobility issues. Congratulations Ms D G Carole Ann, Ms Amal Husnah Jamaludin and all Promise Awardees!
- The efforts of our awardees are truly heartening. As a nation, we have made strides over the years towards becoming a more inclusive society for persons with disabilities. A recent report by the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the National Council of Social Service on disability trends revealed improved quality of life and better employment outcomes for persons with disabilities – more are now in full-time roles and earning higher incomes. This progress reflects our collective commitment to build a more inclusive society.
- However, there remain areas where we as a community, must and should continue to make progress on. We can do more to improve public attitudes towards persons with disabilities, especially at workplaces and towards those with less visible disabilities, such as intellectual disability and autism. At this juncture, I thank all employers for their support in our inclusive employment journey. We hope that more will join the ranks of our inclusive employers to support inclusive hiring and shift public mindsets to view persons with disabilities as individuals who have their own unique set of talents, skills and capabilities. We will continue to push on with our inclusive employment practices and initiatives, including the provision of job coaches to integrate persons with disabilities into our workplaces.
- To be sure, disability inclusion is a shared responsibility and a whole-of-society effort, with public attitudes playing a very key role. By recognising the capabilities of persons with disabilities, fostering inclusive and accessible workplaces and shared spaces, and equipping the public with skills to support persons of all abilities, we can build a society where everybody can succeed. The Government remains committed to empowering persons with disabilities to achieve their dreams, reach their full potential, and contribute meaningfully as valued members of our society.
- Our awardees today remind us that there are no limits to what persons with disabilities can achieve, when given the right opportunities and support. As a society, we must deepen our collective commitment to build a more compassionate and inclusive Singapore. I look forward to making further progress, with all our partners and all of you here today, to build a more caring and inclusive Singapore as envisioned in our Enabling Masterplan 2030.
- To conclude, I want to thank Mediacorp, SG Enable and the Evaluation Panel led by Mr Michael Ngu, for your contributions to our Award ceremony today. I would also like to acknowledge Low Tuck Kwong Foundation Limited and Tote Board for their support and contributions to our awards. My sincere gratitude also goes to all families, caregivers and nominators of the awardees, for being their pillars of strength, providing unwavering love and support to our awardees. Finally, I would also like to express a word of thanks to Ms Ku Geok Boon, the founding Chief Executive Officer of SG Enable, for her 11 years of stellar and dedicated service to build a more disability inclusive Singapore. Today is Geok Boon’s last day at SG Enable and Ms Lee May Gee, the current Deputy Chief Executive, will take over from Geok Boon from tomorrow onwards. Thank you, Geok Boon!
- Once again, I congratulate all our awardees this afternoon and wish all of you continued success. May you continue to inspire others to pursue their dreams, to contribute and to serve a larger cause beyond ourselves. Thank you very much.
[1] Individuals are awarded $10,000 each. In recognition of their contributing role in the persons with disabilities’ success journeys, nominating organisations which are Institutions of Public Character and government educational institutions will each receive $5,000 should their nominee be selected as a winner of this award category.
[2] Individuals each receive $5,000. Nominees for both award categories must be persons with disabilities i.e. with physical disabilities, sensory disabilities (visual impairment and deafness/hearing loss), intellectual disabilities or autism. They must also be Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and aged 18 years and older for the first award category, or aged 12 years and older for the latter.