Opening Remarks by President Tony Tan at Dinner Reception with Singaporean Community in Myanmar

Mr Robert Chua
Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Evening

        My wife, Mary, and I are delighted to have this opportunity to meet with fellow Singaporeans in Myanmar. We look forward to interacting with you and hearing about your experiences over the course of this evening.

        The world has changed tremendously over the last decade. With globalisation, expanding air links and advancements in technology, countries are now interconnected and people around the globe are plugged-in to domestic and international developments.  More Singaporeans are now living, working and studying overseas.

        Our overseas Singaporeans play a crucial role in furthering Singapore’s relations with the countries in which they are living and working. The Singaporean community in Myanmar is no exception. Some of you have been here for decades, while others moved here recently. All of you help to strengthen the friendship between Singapore and Myanmar through the work that you do, the friends that you make, and the links that you establish. These exchanges boost people-to-people ties, which form an important aspect of our longstanding relationship with Myanmar. 

        Myanmar’s prospect as “a frontier economy” has attracted much excitement and visitors.  But it is also a challenging environment. I am heartened to see so many of you venturing out of your comfort zone to work and live here, and learn the Myanmar language. Many of you have established close and lasting links with many Myanmar friends and colleagues. Ambassador Robert Chua told me that the Singaporean community in Myanmar is closely-knit, and that many of you contribute to various local organisations through the activities and charity work of the Singapore Association of Myanmar. I am very glad that you have brought with you the Singapore spirit of Gotong-Royong to the community here.

        All of you are integral to Singapore. All of you are important to Singapore. I encourage you to remain connected to home and to keep up to date with the latest developments in Singapore. There is a saying, that you could take Singaporeans out of Singapore, but you could never take the distinctive “Singaporean-ness” out of Singaporeans!

        Mary and I wish you all good health and success in your endeavours in Myanmar. Thank you.