Speech by President Halimah Yacob at Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards Ceremony 2022

Mr Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister

Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development, and Culture, Community and Youth

Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon. I am delighted to welcome all of you at the Istana, for the fourth consecutive year, to witness a new group of outstanding individuals who will be receiving the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards.

The Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards is one of Mediacorp Enable Fund’s key initiatives, sponsored by Tote Board and UBS to recognise and celebrate the accomplishments of persons with disabilities in Singapore. The awards inspire Singaporeans to be more caring and inclusive, while appreciating persons with disabilities as integral members of our society. The Achievement Award recognises the stellar contributions of persons with disabilities. The Promise Award encourages persons with disabilities to take their talents to the next level.

Today, we will see another 15 outstanding individuals - three Achievement Awardees and 12 Promise Awardees - join 42 past awardees in being recognised for their achievements and potential to pursue greater heights. All of them will concurrently be known as Inclusion Champions or iChamps who advocate for disability inclusion and who promote awareness of the abilities of persons with disabilities. I understand that the Evaluation Panel has a harder time each successive year selecting the awardees with so many inspiring individuals showing great tenacity in life to pursue their dreams and aspirations.

I would now like to introduce our Achievement Awardees this year. We start with Ms Lim Lee Lee. Lee Lee was born prematurely with congenital cataract that caused total blindness. Lee Lee was the first blind graduate at the Open University Degree Programme in Singapore. She saw the arts as a powerful medium to raise awareness and promote inclusion and the Sync Singapore programme inspired her to produce, write and perform her first film, Perspectives. Lee Lee also honed her artistic skills by initiating and collaborating with other local and overseas theatre practitioners.

Lee Lee also contributes actively to training and education. Driven by her mantra: “An educated mind cannot be enslaved”, she is currently developing a certified curriculum to train persons with disabilities to stay positive and keep their skills relevant. Congratulations Lee Lee on your award!

Next, I introduce someone who has contributed much to the community as a grassroots leader – Mr Palani Samy Avaday. Having contracted polio when he was seven, Samy did not let his disability stop him from leading a fulfilling life. He not only co-founded the Handicaps Welfare Association, but also built a career at Bizlink Centre as a Workshop Instructor where he trained other persons with disabilities in different skills to be more employable. An active individual, Samy also tried his hand in various sports, including swimming, basketball, archery, wheelchair racing and tennis, despite disability sports being virtually unheard of by the public in the mid-1970s.

Today, Samy is still active as a sportsman and encourages other persons with disabilities to believe in themselves and pursue their interests and dreams. Samy truly leads by example to show that a person with disability can be an integral part of the society not only in the workforce but in giving back to society through community work. Congratulations Samy on your award!

Our third Achievement Awardee is no stranger to most Singaporeans having represented Singapore at the Paralympics – Ms Theresa Goh. Born with spina bifida, Theresa has problems walking, some physical deformities and is deaf in her left ear.

Many of us have followed Theresa on her journey - growing up as a young athlete representing Singapore in the Asean Para Games in the 2000s. Throughout her journey of close to 20 years in para swimming, her story has inspired countless Singaporeans to open their eyes to para sports, and for everyone to persevere in life, despite challenging circumstances. In 2021, Theresa was appointed as the Chef de Mission for the Asian Youth Para Games. In 2022, Theresa joined the Singapore Disability Sports Council as a member of its Pathway and Performance to give back directly to the system that supported her. Using her experience, Theresa excels as a mentor to younger athletes and a consultant for coaches new to para athletes. Congratulations Theresa!

In each of the Awardees today, you hear their challenges, goals and hard work to achieve their dreams. What truly stood out is their steely determination not to be defeated by their setbacks. Time and again, each of them faced trials and tribulations but they never gave up. They persevered despite their difficulties and today, they stand united in advocating for inclusion and educating everyone on what it means to have an inclusive society.

The same goes for our 12 Promise Awardees today. Many of them are just beginning to show their budding talents and what they can achieve with equal access to opportunities. All of them are already contributing towards the charity scene and social sector in their own ways, giving back to society using their abilities.

Today’s Awardees prove to us that there are no boundaries to what persons with disabilities can achieve, when given the opportunity. As a society, we must strengthen our collective efforts to build a more caring and inclusive Singapore – one where persons with disabilities are enabled to pursue their aspirations, achieve their fullest potential, and participate as integral and contributing members of society.

A whole-of-society effort is needed whereby the community, and employers can play an important role to ensure that opportunities are accessible to persons with disabilities. I would like to take this opportunity to call for more employers to adopt inclusive hiring practices – this will go a long way to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and contribute meaningfully to society. Under the Enabling Masterplan 2030, or EMP2030, which sets out the vision for Singapore as an inclusive society in 2030, a key focal area of EMP2030 is inclusive employment. I am heartened that the President’s Challenge Enabling Employment Pledge and the Enabling Mark act as key enablers to systematically guide employers to develop their inclusive hiring roadmap. To date, more than 230 companies have made the Enabling Employment Pledge. In addition, inclusive employers receive consultancy support and recognition by SG Enable when applying to be accredited as an Enabling Mark company.

Organisations that wish to hire persons with disabilities can tap on the Open Door Programme, or ODP, administered by SG Enable. The ODP provides grants to employers to cover the costs of job redesign, workplace accommodations, as well as subsidies for workshops that allow employers and their employees without disabilities to interact, hire, integrate and retain persons with disabilities in their organisation. I am glad to see many stakeholders and community partners working together with the Government to build a more inclusive Singapore. Together, we can nurture and build lives together.

Let me conclude by thanking the key partners: Mediacorp, SG Enable, Tote Board and UBS, for making today’s celebrations possible.

Most importantly, I thank all nominators, their families and caregivers. None of this is possible without your extraordinary love and support.

Once again, congratulations to all 15 Awardees. I wish all of you every success and look forward to more of your inspirational achievements.

Thank you.