Speech by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the Swearing-In Ceremony of Mayors of Community Development Council Districts on Saturday, 5 January 2002, 12 noon, at the ballroom, Raffles Hotel

Good evening. I am happy to join you tonight to witness the appointment of councillors for Central Singapore and Potong Pasir Community Development Councils.

The Community Development Councils are more than three years old. They have worked closely with the grassroots organisations, town councils, voluntary welfare organisations and other civic groups to deliver a wide range of activities and programmes to benefit the residents in their respective communities. Many residents have also come forward to volunteer their time and services to assist others in need. We are seeing a strengthening of the community spirit. This is critical to the realisation of the Singapore 21 vision where all Singaporeans play active roles in shaping the future of Singapore both at community as well as national level.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge some outstanding achievements of the Central Singapore Community Development Council and Potong Pasir Community Development Council. In Central Singapore District, more than 900 projects have been organised since 1997 and they reached out to over 200,000 residents since 1997. The projects focused on three main themes: inter-generational, inter-divisional and inter-ethnic interaction. Breaking away from the narrow and rigid confines of solely providing welfare assistance, the Central Singapore Community Development Council has, with its partners, come up with innovative projects such as the High-Five Youth Awards, the Read and Reach Programme and the Central Singapore Joint Social Service Centre in Toa Payoh, which is a collaboration with the five self-help groups. They benefit residents from all ages, ethnic groups and walks of life. Eight centre-based facilities have also been set up to help the delivery of social services to the residents. It is heartening to see that the Council has over the years built up a large pool of dedicated volunteers to plan and run many of the activities within the Central Singapore District.

The Potong Pasir Community Development Council, under the able leadership of Mr Andy Gan, has initiated many meaningful activities and programmes for its residents. These include the setting up of a student care centre and a seniors' club for the elderly within the Potong Pasir District. During the economic downturn in 1997, a "Provisions Assistance Scheme" for the adversely affected families and the "Community Aid Package" which provided temporary relief for retrenched residents were set up. The Community Development Council has also partnered the schools within its District in the "Schools' Adoption of Welfare Homes Scheme". Besides doing community service at these homes, the students of the schools have also become active volunteers with the Potong Pasir Community Development Council.

After three years, the Community Development Councils are ready to do more. You know that the Marine Parade and Tanjong Pagar Community Development Councils have successfully taken over the frontline functions for social assistance schemes and the development and funding of student care centres and family service centres since July 2000. The other seven Community Development Councils will assume similar responsibilities from April 2001.

We envisage the Community Development Councils to evolve into local administrations with the authority and responsibilities to decide on various types of services and facilities for their respective Districts. These will not be confined to welfare services and social care facilities. They will include public health education, lifelong learning and skills training, community arts and culture and so on. However, let me assure all voluntary welfare and other civic and grassroots organisations that the Community Development Councils will not take over their work. Many of these bodies are currently partners of the Community Development Councils and the Community Development Councils will continue and may even expand the co-operative projects with them.

Why is the Government developing the Community Development Councils to take on additional roles? The simple answer is that Community Development Councils can perform many of the basic functions of looking after the residents instead of a big Ministry. Our aim is to minimise the inconveniences in getting access to services and facilities needed by Singaporeans. As Singapore become more globally connected and the Ministries have to handle more national and international issues, it makes better sense to delegate the programmes concerning local residents to the Community Development Councils to manage.

I am happy to note that the Community Development Councils have also been proactively looking at ways to deliver better and more innovative services to its residents. The Central Singapore Community Development Strategy (CREATE!) that will be launched this evening is one such effort. The Central Singapore Community Development Council has put together a comprehensive and integrated blueprint for community development within the Central Singapore District for the coming years. Besides establishing the vision of Central Singapore District as a cohesive, self-reliant and people-centred community, the blueprint also lists six strategic objectives to help realise this vision, which is consistent and supportive of the Singapore 21 vision. In the coming months, the Council will work closely with the community organisations and residents to review and refine the plan to allow it to remain relevant to the community's changing needs.

I am also pleased to announce that residents living in Central Singapore District can soon look forward to convenient access to infocomm technology (IT) right in their neighbourhood through the Central Singapore IT Community Plan. This plan is a comprehensive initiative undertaken by the Council and the Info-Communications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to create a "wired-up" Central Singapore community. Over the next two years (2001 - 2002), the Residents' Committees (RC) centres and the community centres/clubs in the District will be equipped with computer terminals and broadband access for residents to use at no cost. This will be useful for many of our residents who do not own a personal computer (PC) at home. Needy families who wish to own a PC can also apply for a refurbished PC under the IDA-Central Singapore PC Reuse Scheme. The District's e-Ambassadors will conduct courses at the RC centres and community centres/clubs for residents who wish to go online.

I am sure that more innovative and exciting programmes and services will arise from the CREATE! Plan and I encourage all residents to be actively involved in the realisation of the Central Singapore District's vision.

It leaves me to wish all councillors, including 22 new faces of Central Singapore and Potong Pasir Community Development Councils all the best in their term of office. I am sure that the residents of the two Community Development Councils will look forward to more exciting activities and programmes from these councillors.

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