Securing Our Future Together

Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid 
Channel NewsAsia
23 April 2011

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed has confirmed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's intention to appoint him as the next Speaker of Parliament.

He said he was informed of this personally by Mr Lee on Tuesday.

Mr Zainul said the prospect came as a surprise and he thanked the prime minister for the confidence.

He said he is open to taking up the post, adding "it is difficult to say no".

Still, Mr Zainul stressed he wants to focus on winning the General Election first - as part of the People's Action Party (PAP) team for Aljunied GRC.

Speaking to MediaCorp, he said "I thanked PM for his confidence. But I still need to win this election. And I am looking forward to getting the support of the people, before I can even be elected as Speaker."

He added: "It came as a surprise to me, because I was focusing on the elections, and I was also looking forward to attending unfinished business in the Ministry since I am handling relations in Southeast Asia, Middle East and South Africa, and I wanted to continue on building the good relations."

On what he thinks of the role, Mr Zainul said from his experience in Parliament, the Speaker can play a difficult yet sometimes challenging role in trying to be fair but firm.

The last Speaker of Parliament, Abdullah Tarmugi, has retired from politics.

The 25th Anniversary Celebrations for Young PAP was held at NTUC Centre on the morning of 17 April 2011.

The theme "Rooted in Values, Embracing Our Future" was apt in showing how younger PAP members remained rooted in the party core values while being forward-looking and progressing.

Party Secretary-General Comrade Lee Hsien Loong launching the Manifesto

Besides launching the Manifesto, the new candidates for GE2011 were also introduced.

YP Eunos Activists

New Media team for the event

With Comrade Chan Chun Sing

Let's Secure Our Future together!

SIX MPs and two ministers yesterday gave upbeat views on the state of racial cohesion in Singapore and, in particular, the Malay-Muslim community's efforts to integrate.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the budget of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade GRC) said he shared Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's view that the Malay-Muslim community has made great efforts to integrate with others to join the mainstream.

PM Lee spoke in the wake of views expressed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in a new book, that Malay-Muslims here did not integrate, causing some unease.

Said Mr Seah: 'My Malay friends eat with me, shake hands with me and we speak in the same mix of Malay, Hokkien and Singlish that we do with all races.

'We have had four decades of national service, economic ups and downs, our children have been schooled in the same language and, by and large, they share the same world view.'

He noted that Malay grassroots groups in his GRC had non-Malay members, and two key grassroots leaders in his Braddell Heights ward are Malays even though Malays form less than 6 per cent of residents there.

By Heather Marie Lee
The Sunday Times
6 March 2011

Muscat Street, home of the Masjid Sultan mosque, may not be as busy as some other byways in Kampong Glam, but the Singapore and Omani governments believe that it holds a lot of promise.

Hence, the Muscat Street Project.

It aims to upgrade and beautify the street so as to enhance its overall attractiveness, provide more community space and add to the area's distinctive ethnic character.

Work on the $5.3 million project will start in November, after Hari Raya Haji.

The project was the brainchild of Mr Abdulla Abbas, former head of the Muscat Municipality, when he visited Singapore in April 2007. President S R Nathan signed its memorandum of intent during his state visit to Oman in March 2009.

Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, hailed it as an opportunity not only to 'look at the past, but also to look at the future in terms of what it holds for Singapore-Oman relations'.