SINGAPORE — Knowing this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) is the last she would preside over had been going through her mind, and outgoing President Halimah Yacob said she felt a “terrible sense of sadness” as she departed the Padang on Wednesday (Aug 9) night.

Speaking to reporters at National Gallery Singapore following the parade, Mdm Halimah noted that she has been the presiding officer of NDP for the past six years.

“These are emotions which you cannot control,” she said. 

“A terrible sense of sadness, but at the same time, a sense of inspiration when I look around me and see the crowd and how people are standing together and celebrating as one — remembering that this is an important moment regardless of who we are, what we are, what we believe in.”

The 2023 parade marks Mdm Halimah’s last attendance as President, after she said in May that she will not be standing for re-election. She will conclude her six-year term on September 13.

Mdm Halimah, who spent several minutes mingling and taking selfies with several performers at the close of Wednesday’s parade before stepping into her presidential car, said that despite the mix of emotions she feels, the parade gave her a “sense of confidence and conviction” that Singaporeans will stay united and progress towards the future together.

This year’s NDP theme, Onward as One, also reminded her that although Singapore is a “small country with lots of challenges and difficulties... we should not be mired by those constraints and difficulties (and) we should always look forward”.

When asked what her favourite moment at the NDP over the last six years was, Mdm Halimah said that because every NDP had been special, she could not “pull out one NDP and say this one is more special than that”.

Having said that, Mdm Halimah noted that this year’s NDP was the first full-fledged parade at the Padang since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

'PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES'

A common thread across the six NDPs she had presided over was seeing how Singapore integrated its disadvantaged communities and people with disabilities, she said.

Doing so makes a statement to Singapore and the world that “people with disabilities are actually people with different abilities”, said Mdm Halimah.

“It’s wonderful — as a country, on the most important day that we celebrate our nationhood, we integrate our people with disabilities, our disadvantaged communities.

“We bring them to the fore. We tell Singaporeans we’re all in this together, not those who can run the fastest, but everyone must run together as a team,” she said.

Mdm Halimah also said she believes the Covid-19 pandemic experience had “brought out a great deal of humanity in us”.

“Covid shows we are all vulnerable… and therefore, articulating, speaking up, raising awareness for people with disabilities or different talents have been something that I’ve seen happening quite a lot in the last six years.”

Nevertheless, she said that there is more to do when it comes to integrating people with disabilities into the workforce. To this end, she appealed to employers to “continue their hard work”.

“Many are doing so already in so many different sectors. But there’s still a lot more that we can do, because the percentage of employment of people with disabilities is still lower than those who are without such disabilities,” she said.

Championing inclusive hiring in Singapore is a pet topic for Mdm Halimah, who has previously sounded the call for employers to do more. 

In 2020, for example, she launched the President’s Challenge Enabling Employment Pledge, which was signed by 148 organisations to affirm their commitment to inclusive hiring.

Asked to look back on her six-year term, Mdm Halimah added that she would continue to feel a sense of pride and satisfaction, and not just because she is the parade’s presiding officer or Singapore’s President.

“Even as an ordinary Singaporean after this, I’m sure I will feel the same sense of pride, same sense of participation, same sense of togetherness,” she said.