Get to know one another and be active citizens

Both new and existing citizens should get to know one another, and new citizens should actively contribute to society. This was the call from Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister, Prime Minister's Office to all Singaporeans.

22 August 2009

Both new and existing citizens should get to know one another, and new citizens should actively contribute to society. This was the call from Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister, Prime Minister's Office to all Singaporeans, as he addressed about 400 of them, including 127 new citizens and Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) from Holland-Bukit Timah constituency, at the third annual National Citizenship Ceremony (NCC).
About 3,600 people became new citizens of Singapore today at citizenship ceremonies held at 13 Group Representative Constituencies (GRCs) and at the NCC. Throughout the day, they took the significant step in their journey to becoming a Singaporean, witnessed by their Singaporean friends, relatives, grassroots advisers and leaders. In total, more than 8,000 people came together to celebrate this significant rite of passage of our new Singaporeans.
Speaking at the NCC, Minister Lim urged both new and existing Singaporeans to take the effort to get to know one another, as they were now part of the same Singaporean family. To the new citizens, Minister Lim urged them to participate in local cultures so that they can learn more about the rich and diverse traditions of the different communities. Minister Lim also invited this year's new citizens to join their Muslim counterparts in the breaking of fast, as it was the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Minister Lim also called on new citizens to become active citizens and volunteer their time and skills. The National Integration Council, led by Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, will also look into more ways for new and existing members of the Singaporean family to interact, strengthen relationships, accumulate collective memories and build a common destiny.
The NCC is organised by the Ministry of the Community Development, Youth and Sports and supported by the People's Association. It is rotated amongst the GRCs annually. This year, the new citizens participating in the ceremony came from Holland Bukit-Timah GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC.
For more information on programmes organised by People's Association mentioned in Paras 3, please see Annex below.

MCYS Media Release No: 25/2009
Date Of Issue: 22/08/2009

Annex

People's Association Integration Programmes

People's Association and the Grassroots Organisations (GROs) implement a series of programmes and initiatives to help new immigrants better integrate with the local community.

Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs - 国民融合主导员) - extending community welcome and initiating bonding.

Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) are grassroots leaders initiating and spearheading integration and naturalisation programmes in their local community. INCs were first appointed in 2007. At present, there are around 640 INCs in the 84 constituencies.

The INCs visit and invite new immigrants to join grassroots activities and help them settle in the community. For a start, INCs invite new immigrants to join in grassroots activities such as Welcome Tea Party, Block Party and festive celebrations, which would help new immigrants settle in their new living environment and form new bonds with local residents. They also take the lead in the following programmes:

Singapore history and heritage

District Tours for New Citizens help to familiarise new citizens with their community through a fun learning journey to places of interest/ historical value in the district where they live.

The tours cover Singapore's development as a nation and includes visits to the places highlighting our rich multi-social and cultural heritage.

Some of the highlights include visits to the fish farms, Seletar Airport, Bukit Chandu, Air Force Museum, Nicoll Drive - Sook Ching Massacre Site, Marine Barage, NeWater Visitor Centre, Mandai Agro Technology Park and heritage places such as Kampong Glam and Katong.

Visit to Army Museum and Singapore Discovery Centre helps new immigrants understand the history and development of Singapore and the challenges faced by the nation. Such visits help new immigrants understand our national values.

Sharing interests, expanding social network

Interest Groups
Joining Interest Groups enables like-minded residents to gather and interact with one another on a regular basis. Through a wide array of activities such as ball games, adventure and sea sports, performing arts to hobbies like gardening, new immigrants are drawn in to the local community pursue their interests or learn new things. This creates opportunities for interaction and engagement between local residents and new immigrants and also helps to promote a sustainable community bonding.

GRC-Level Citizenship Ceremony
Citizenship Ceremonies are held at the GRC level to offer an opportunity for new citizens to get to know and mingle with grassroots leaders. Grassroots leaders start to engage new citizens well before the ceremony. They visit the new citizens to establish contact, interact and follow-up with them before, during and after the Citizenship Ceremony. Through this process, new citizens better integrate to their local community. A total of 81 ceremonies were organised by 14 GRCs on a quarterly basis for about 17,000 new citizens in 2008.

Press Statements 2009

Last updated on 11 April 2019