Speech by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Ngee Ann Kongsi's 180th Anniversary Gala Dinner at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay on 5 November 2025

Senior Minister of State Mr Tan Kiat How, and your government and parliamentary colleagues,
Dato’ Seri Chia Chor Meng, President of The Ngee Ann Kongsi,
Members of The Ngee Ann Kongsi,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good evening. My wife and I are very happy to join you in celebrating The Ngee Ann Kongsi’s (NAK) 180th Anniversary.

   1. I had the privilege of attending your 170th anniversary dinner a decade ago, in a different capacity.

   2. It is a pleasure to be back, to share in your reflections on an institution whose role is deeply engraved in Singapore history, which continues to evolve with the times, and the changing needs and aspirations of our people.

2. What has remained constant since 1845 is the ethos of mutual support at the heart of The Ngee Ann Kongsi.

   1. For many years, this was about looking after the needs of Teochew migrants to this new land.

   2. Most were poor, but those who succeeded in enterprise felt it was their responsibility to help their fellow-travellers from the towns and villages in the Teochew homeland in Southern China. (The Kongsi’s identity, “Ngee Ann,” came from the ancient name for the Teochew homeland, before it came to be known as Chaoshan in modern times.)

   3. With Singapore’s independence, and our collective efforts to build a new nation, the Kongsi’s ethos of mutual support was extended well beyond the Teochew community.

   4. While never losing touch with your origins in the community spirit of the pioneering Teochew migrants, you have grown into one of our most significant philanthropic institutions, serving not only the Teochews, but also the Chinese community and Singaporeans at large.

   5. Your contributions have also expanded to many areas of social life, beyond welfare, to every level of education, and to developing the arts and culture more broadly.

3. It is in education that the Kongsi’s contributions to the nation have been widest and the most enduring.

   1. Starting with what was then called the Ngee Ann Girls School in 1940 (later Ngee Ann Primary School), to Ngee Ann Secondary and the Kongsi’s major contributions to the technical college that eventually became Singapore’s second polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

   2. The Kongsi has gone on to contribute generously across the higher education and research sector.

      1. For example, your donations have enabled students in all our polytechnics to benefit from exposure to enterprises overseas.

      2. And helping to nurture future healthcare professionals through the Duke-NUS Medical School and NTU’s Bachelor of Chinese Medicine programme.

      3. You have also supported a major programme of research on how we can age successfully as a society, through SMU (Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA).

4. The Kongsi is also contributing actively beyond our educational institutions. You are supporting our broader, community-led efforts to develop every individual, especially who face disadvantages at different stages of life. 

   1. You are taking this a step further tonight with your significant donation to the President’s Challenge, which will support many of these community-based initiatives for social upliftment.

5. I come now to the growing role The Ngee Ann Kongsi is playing in enriching our social fabric, through the arts and culture.

   1. You are keeping Teochew and Chinese traditions vibrant, and relevant to a new generation of Singaporeans. We should never let up on this effort, as each of our cultures in itself contributes to the heartbeat of a multicultural society.

   2. And beyond Teochew and Chinese culture, the Kongsi is also helping to deepen our sense of common identity, and to nurture our blossoming multicultural scene.

      1. Through major contributions to Lasalle College of the Arts, NAFA, and the National Gallery for example.

6. I should add that this focus on culture goes hand in hand with the ethos of mutual support.

   1. Mutual support is ultimately not a matter of charity, but of shared identity, and a shared interest in each other.

   2. And that sense of shared identity is itself evolving in Singapore.

      1. It was our central ambition at time of independence: becoming a place where everyone was accepted and had an equal place regardless of race, language and religion.

      2. As we mature as a nation, we are deepening our multiracial and multicultural identity

      3. Taking it beyond living peacefully in the same neighbourhoods and studying in the same schools.

      4. To developing a deeper interest in each other and our different cultures, and exploring their overlapping roots in many cases

      5. We are also borrowing influences anew from each other, as we evolve each of our cultures in a distinctively Singaporean, multicultural context.

      6. We cannot force the development of a multicultural identity. But we know that it will be important for us to go forward as a society, and must therefore, expand the opportunities for interactions and shared pursuits, so this multicultural identity grows and deepens naturally.

      7. The efforts will add up over time, in our schools and in the community. They will give us a more confident sense of our shared identity, proud of each of our own roots and proud of a multicultural Singapore.

7. To conclude my remarks, let me once again commend The Ngee Ann Kongsi for your significant contributions to Singapore. May you continue to renew your heritage with creativity and purpose: so that the spirit of service and mutual support that motivated the Teochew pioneers is not only held in memory, but lives on and contributes to the Singapore of tomorrow.