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4 Key Themes in Prime Minister's National Day Rally 2010

Tonight, Singaporeans await the most important speech of the year: the National Day Rally by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. As a keen watcher of the political, social and economical developments of Singapore, I have always been glued to the TV screen yearly watching the rally, except in one year, when I was invited to attend the actual rally as well.


As reported in today's 'the Sunday Times', the 4 key themes Prime Minister would touch are Education, Economy, Immigration and the Singapore Spirit. The newspapers have noted that education is the surprise inclusion in tonight's National Day Rally, while I do not really think so.

While I think PM Lee would still touch on the mainstream basic education most Singapore children would go through, I think he would also highlight the importance of Continuing Education and Training (CET), an important aspect for the growth of our Singapore's economy as we continue to equip Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians with the skills required in this changing era. PM Lee might also introduce the soon-to-be opened CET institutes to Singaporeans in this rally.

On the Economy front, Singapore has done well with possibly the fastest economic growth in the world this year, and I believe PM Lee might reiterate the need for Singaporeans to continously learn new skills in line with the aforementioned CET strategy that the government is adopting. Some new industries such as the creative industries might also be in the radar for growth.

With foreigners, high housing prices the current bugbear for Singaporeans, it is most highly probable that PM Lee would touch on these points and explain the rationale for these policies once again.

What might also be included in today's rally would be the Internet and the new technology. With Internet being the ubiquitous feature of today's life and the recent spate of incidents whereby careless online chatterers were being questioned by the police over their words online, I think PM Lee might touch on the issue of engagement with the public in today's Internet era.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts of a very ordinary Singaporean folk, on what the rally would be like tonight.
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