A Rally to Relish

A National Day rally is designed to report, encourage, enthuse, inform, inspire, unify and confirm control.? In most parts of the world such rallies end up asserting the power of the speaker and castigating the policies - and often the personalities - of the opposition.?

Anyone who watched Singapore Prime Minister Wong’s 2024 National Day Rally speech will know that it was quite exceptional. It achieved many things it is not easy to do in an hour - or, for many of today’s world politicians, in a lifetime.

PM Wong dealt with issues that are immediate, sensitive and practical for the voters of Singapore. Not in a ‘ tomorrow will be a new dawn’ rhetorical way but with very specific and detailed decisions. Singapore is small but it’s not that small. Of the 250 countries in the world, 142 have populations that are no bigger, and mostly smaller, than Singapore’s.?

But whether a population is in the thousands, the millions or the billions, the governance of any country is for the benefit of the governed.?

Good democracy recognises the individuality of every voter, whatever the ideological concept. That means very specific situations matter. The PM’s Rally Speech dealt with how the importance of this is becoming greater as the nature of the family changes, communications pivot and the populations of developed countries age rapidly.

One of the great Asian assets is pragmatism and this is being fully deployed today.

Housing, education, defence against climate change and territorial defence were all covered in Prime Minister Wong’s serious but cheerful and optimistic way. He worked into his speech references to individuals who have already contributed so much to the country’s development, to those who are leading the way, to young entrepreneurs displaying a vigorous, new approach to creativity and enterprise. His encouragement of Singapore’s increasing sporting successes is especially helpful to those who see a society planning to adapt to a new world order of health and life fulfilment. His personal references gave a sense of concern and understanding that many governments would do well to emulate.

Perhaps the most telling and reassuring aspect of the Prime MInister’s rally was his recognition of the part that awareness of Singapore’s success plays in its role in the world. Receiving applause for the country’s spectacular achievements so far imposes a demand for more innovative and imaginative developments yet to come.?

The WOW achieved to date requires an even greater WOW in future.

The Singapore PM’s Rally Speech is a heartwarming challenge. Not only for Singapore. The rest of the world should see it too.

Congratulations, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.