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PM Lee honours volunteers who advocated pioneer package

SINGAPORE — Despite working hard to familiarise himself with the details of the Pioneer Generation Package, Nick Low, 18, had doors slammed in his face by seniors who thought he was a salesperson.

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SINGAPORE — Despite working hard to familiarise himself with the details of the Pioneer Generation Package, Nick Low, 18, had doors slammed in his face by seniors who thought he was a salesperson.

Still, he was undeterred and went the extra mile for the pioneers he visited. During one such visit, Nick learnt that the elderly man was bleeding and required further medical care. After some persuasion, the pioneer agreed to be taken to hospital, and Nick later visited him with some friends. 

“Some pioneers may be uneducated, so I want to help them make full use of their benefits,” he told TODAY.

Volunteers, such as Nick, who signed up to help members of the pioneer generation familiarise themselves with the Pioneer Generation Package were honoured at an appreciation event tonight (July 27), with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong saying they embodied the spirit of the pioneers themselves.

To do so, they had, in Mr Lee’s words, the “difficult job” of mastering the content of the package and details of policies such as MediShield Life and Medisave.

Addressing the ambassadors, he said: “You have been reaching out widely to the pioneers. There are just 3,000 of you, you’ve been doing it for less than a year, but you already reached 120,000 people altogether and collectively, every day we’re reaching 400 more.”

Mr Lee added: “But our progress is not just about numbers. Because to serve each and every pioneer takes passion, takes patience, it takes commitment.”

Expressing his gratitude towards these ambassadors, Mr Lee urged more Singaporeans to join them and to “keep the Singapore spirit alive”.

Mr Lee also paid tribute to the sacrifices of the pioneer generation, saying: “In less than a fortnight’s time, we’ll be celebrating National Day ... so it’s a good time for us to reflect on what kind of society we want to build.

“Our pioneers sacrificed for one another and for the nation, and we need that spirit to continue in this generation and into future generations,” he added.

A Pioneer Generation commemorative book was also launched at the event. Entitled Their Past: A Present for the Future, it is a compilation of 50 stories of the pioneers who were discovered through the ambassadors’ interactions with them.

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