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Values, not just GDP, also ‘a measure of success’

SINGAPORE — The Government cannot and should not try to do everything when it comes to helping the less fortunate, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, as he lauded the work of voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Singapore Children’s Society’s charity dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, yesterday evening. Photo by ERNEST CHUA

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Singapore Children’s Society’s charity dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, yesterday evening. Photo by ERNEST CHUA

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SINGAPORE — The Government cannot and should not try to do everything when it comes to helping the less fortunate, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, as he lauded the work of voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore.

Reiterating that the Government will always do its part, Mr Lee said he hopes Singaporeans will participate in and support good work, “because this is the sort of people we are, and because this is the kind of society which we want Singapore to be”.

Speaking at the Singapore Children’s Society’s (SCS) 60th anniversary dinner, Mr Lee said a government that is too involved would make the gesture of helping too impersonal and bureaucratic, such that “help then becomes a matter of social administration, not of care and compassion”.

This would lead to “an entitlement mentality, instead of a sense of mutual obligation and of gratitude between the helpers and the helped”, he added.

“We can’t just measure our success by GDP growth, as important as it is, but also by the growth of our values — compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens,” Mr Lee said.

Adding that he was happy more Singaporeans were supporting good causes, the Prime Minister said this was important as income gaps widen and communities change.

Mr Lee said the SCS, which was established in 1952, is a good example of a vibrant civic society which has contributed greatly to children’s welfare.

A 97-page commemorative book was given to the 670 invited guests. Titled Every Child a Gift, it pays tribute to the society’s past and present volunteers and staff. Amir Hussain

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