Transcript of Remarks by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at Telok Kurau Primary Centennial Celebrations on 28 May 2026 at Telok Kurau Primary School Hall

Mdm Catherine Loh Phui Yee, Chairperson, Student Advisory Committee

Mrs Grace Leong, Principal, Telok Kurau Primary School

Former School Leaders,

And everyone who's here and part of this special community. A special community of people who, in different ways, carried the different schools that eventually became Telok Kurau Primary School.

Starting from the very early days when they were modest schools in Telok Kurau: Telok Kurau English School, Telok Kurau West, Telok Kurau Malay Girls’ School. Eventually, of course, the big mergers with Bedok Town Primary and most recently Eunos Primary, that brought us to today’s Telok Kurau Primary.

Behind each of these schools were leaders, teachers, parents, and the community leaders who got involved in the schools. Just looking around the room today, you see a special community. As I walked in, had a few words with a few of you.

And I found we even had someone, Mrs de Souza, whose mother had been the founding principal of one of those tributaries that led to today's Telok Kurau Primary School. So many different connections.

I really feel privileged to have had a chance several years ago to visit Telok Kurau Primary when you were having your 80th anniversary. Mr Wilbur Wong who is here was then the Principal.

And I fortunately got to visit Eunos Primary in 2003 when Mrs Ang Chin Du was the Principal. She's here as well.

So, a big thank you to all of you. You represent all the principals and teachers and the SAC members and parent groups who have built up this special community of people. A community of people, not just an institution.

We know that you are the only school on either side of the Causeway to have produced two Prime Ministers: our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Tun Hussein bin Onn, both being here in the 1930s. And I always remember Mr Lee’s reflection on his years in Telok Kurau Primary. He said: “it did me good,” Very simple, and very meaningful.

As we go forward, we should not lose sight of that. And we should think deeply about what our students will mean when they say “it did me good”. What do we mean by that? What good does it do our kids, future graduates of Telok Kurau Primary, what good is it to their families, and what good is it to our community?

That's something that's worth reflecting on as life changes, as life will indeed change.

We know that we are in the midst of a technological revolution. AI is going to unbundle and re-bundle many jobs. There are many other changes. Biotechnology will open up major new possibilities in healthcare, for people to live longer, healthier, and happier lives. But that is technology. And we have to remind ourselves as technology changes, as the economy changes, as jobs change, we have to remind ourselves about what doesn’t change. And most especially, what doesn’t change in our mission in schools and education.

And what doesn’t change is the way in which we shape human character, which is the principal mission of our schools. And all the more so as technology upends or transforms the world of work and creates a whole new set of opportunities. All the more that we have to double down on that mission of nurturing the human character, in every child.

Mrs Grace Leong spoke about many aspects of that mission that you are pursuing very well in Telok Kurau Primary.

We want our children to aspire, and to aspire with humility. We want them to have the confidence to learn, and find joy in learning at every stage of life, never intimidated by having to learn something new. We know it can be achieved - for every individual to learn through life, find some joy in it, and sometimes even want to master what we are learning.

But very importantly, we want them to have a heart for each other as they grow up.

And that's why I say we want them to aspire with humility, and aspire with empathy. To always want to help someone else who is struggling a little, our friend, our classmate, our fellow team member, and ultimately, our fellow citizen.

That’s our mission in education. And there is no tension or contradiction between wanting to aspire, to achieve excellence in each field, and having that humility and empathy, and the desire for everyone to be able to aspire together. There is no tension or contradiction, and that has to be the way we groom character.

You are doing it well in Telok Kurau Primary. You are lucky to have a group of students and parents who come from all backgrounds, and indeed from all races and religions.

And let me say Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all the Muslims who are present; for those who are not familiar, the celebration lasts for four days. And I want also to wish all those who are Buddhists, in advance, a very meaningful Vesak.

Human character is not something that we shape quickly. It is shaped by habits, and it is shaped over time.

It happens more easily when the school itself has a culture, amongst both the teachers and the students: the daily habits, the relationships, that involve taking an interest in each other. And particularly taking an interest of those who are having a bit of difficulty in what they are doing, or who on the playing field may be a little behind the rest. Take more interest in them, so that they eventually catch up and perhaps even become champions.

That is a culture. It's not about a manual; it's not about how you instruct people. And having that culture amongst teachers and students is something which I think you can be proud to have developed in Telok Kurau Primary, and I hope will outlast by a very long time your 100th anniversary.

So, when we say in future: “it did me good to be a pupil of Telok Kurau Primary,” what we ultimately mean is that we are able to do good for others.

I am happy to learn that three of your students were just recently awarded the Singapore Silent Heroes Student Award, which recognises individuals who have done something good for others. Not because they sought recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.

I am glad Telok Kurau Primary had three students who received the award: Nuur Aisyah Nazurah Binte Ahmad ‘Afif, Zayid Rafi Bin Muhammad Khairul – he was on the video earlier – and Amiliya Fariha Binte Azri Zulfarhan.

They've each been doing good - either as student leaders or in peer support, or in language and culture, or in care for the community, including care for seniors in the community.

For instance, Amiliya is deeply involved outside the school, in the community. She is always present in her quiet and consistent way at Eunos Community Centre amongst the seniors; she distributes goodies at kindergartens; she has been to a boys’ home to also assist in the sports and arts initiatives; and she's been helping to develop modified sports for the elderly.

Many different things, but these become habits of life when you start doing it from young. So, I thought Amiliya shows very well what we're trying to groom amongst our students.

Equally important: your teachers. They uphold, they grow, and they renew this culture of empathy, of taking an interest in each other, and of wanting to uplift each other.

And you're lucky that you even have some former students amongst your teachers today. Ms Melody Tan, who was also on the screen very briefly just now. She studied here in the mid-1990s and later returned as a teacher. She is now Subject Head of Chinese Language.

And something I read last night caught my eye: one of Melody's memories of school was a school T-shirt that bore the words ‘Home Away From Home’. Which is what Telok Kurau Primary was seeking to provide: a home away from home.

And Melody, in her own way, has been trying to renew that sense of home in Telok Kurau Primary. Including reaching out to former students, the alumni, across different generations, and ensuring that they remain bonded to the school.

Another example is Mr Shaharzad Bin Kasman. He was a student even earlier on, at Telok Kurau West School in 1974. And now, more than 50 years later, he is still part of the school family, and he is the discipline master.

Sometimes people find the discipline master intimidating, but Shaharzad’s whole approach is to help students reflect. Help them reflect, take responsibility, and see how they can become better versions of themselves. And that, too, is part of the culture. 

So, thank you very much, Melody and Shaharzad, for showing the way.

Finally, I believe Telok Kurau Primary, given your mix of students and parents, can be a microcosm of the deeper multiculturalism that we are evolving in Singapore.

We have to keep evolving our multiculturalism - not just accepting each other and our differences, but delving into each other's cultures, taking an interest, and sometimes even wanting to master another culture. And you can do this very well in Telok Kurau Primary.

I was reminded, as we were going around the tour earlier, when I saw Mdm Suhani - is she here? Yes, you're standing right at the back, Mdm Suhani. She's the Head of Department for the school’s partnerships.

Mdm Suhani was then with Maha Bodhi Primary School when I visited it many years ago. I walked into a Chinese class, and they were doing calligraphy. So, they surprised me and forced me to do calligraphy on the spot as well, which I happily did, before taking it back with me as it was a rather modest piece of work. But it was then Mdm Suhani who kept coming to visit me and urge me to give the calligraphy to the school, which of course I could not say no to.

So just imagine: Mdm Suhani, a teacher who was Malay, asking a minister who was Indian, to deliver his Chinese calligraphy to be kept by the school! A very Singaporean moment.

But those should become everyday moments. They make each of us full, and give each of us more joy in life.

So please continue doing that in Telok Kurau Primary, and I wish you the very best. Thank you.