President-elect Halimah Yacob's acceptance speech

First of all I would like to thank all my supporters who are present here today. I really feel very appreciated, and I am deeply grateful to all of you who are here today. Members from the trade unions, community groups, religious groups, and also members of the public. I know you’ve been waiting here for a few hours and it’s really very hot, under the hot sun.Thank you. I am really very grateful to you because you’ve taken time off from your work, you really made the effort to come here and I am really very grateful. Let me first of all say that I want to, from the bottom of my heart, I want to say a very big thank you to all Singaporeans for your support, for your encouragement, and for your well-wishes. Over the last two weeks I’ve been walking the ground very extensively. I’ve met many Singaporeans of many backgrounds, young, old, in many many places. I’ve spoken to them. And I’m so heartened and I’m so really very grateful for their well-wishes, for their encouragement and support.

Many of you not only gave me words of encouragement and support, many of you came and patted me on the back, many of you also hugged me. And many of you also told me you would support me even without my asking or saying anything. So that tremendously warmed my heart, that also made my journey here to this Nomination Centre all the more pleasant, warm and most encouraging. So once again, thank you to all Singaporeans. Thank you, all Singaporeans for your support. I feel really very blessed, it’s the start of my journey.

I know that some have some doubts about the reserved election, and I want to tell you as your President-elect, I promise to work with everyone. I am President for everyone, and I am here to serve all, without any hesitation or doubt. I also want to tell you that although this is a reserved election, I am not a reserved President. I am a President for everyone, regardless of race, language, religion or creed. I represent everyone. My duty remains only to Singapore and Singaporeans, and my duty remains only to you. Although there is no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same. There is no diminution even one bit of my desire, passion, commitment to serve you. My resolve to work hard, to work tirelessly and with great sincerity, is even greater. These are values which I hold very dear to me when I perform my public duties, my public service, and I will do it, and it means even greater to me now I have become your President-elect.

Well, I also stand before you as the second Malay President in the 47 years of our history. I believe that this is a proud moment for Singapore. This is a proud moment for multi-culturalism, for multi-racialism in our society. This shows that multi-racialism is not just a slogan, something that is good for us to say or for people to here, but it means that it really works in our society. That everyone has a chance to reach the highest office of the land. And this is not just good for now, but it is also good for generations to come because it shows very positively how Singapore practices multi-racialism.

I also stand before you as the first female President of Singapore. I can see that many of our sisters here are delighted, and I am delighted with you because it shows that this is not just tokenism. When we talk about gender diversity, we are not just chanting slogans again, but we really mean it! Every woman can aspire to the highest office of the land, if you have the courage, the determination and the will to work hard. Before I proceed, just let me say a few words in Malay.

Saya ingin mengucapkan ridhuan terima kasih kepada anda sekelian yang berada di sini. Saya tahu bahawa ramai daripada anda telah berada di sini tengah jam jam di bawah panas tering. Ini tentu sekali menunjukkan pertapa banyak sokongannya yang anda berikan kepada saya. Saya selama dua minggu kebelakangan saya telah banyak berjumpa penduduk-penduduk Singapura dari berbagai rakan berakang, dari usia muda, dari usia emas, dari warga emas, dari semua rakan berakang. Dan banyak juga sokongan yang telah saya terima. Ramai yang memeluk saya, yang memberikan saya kata-kata perangsang, yang menyatakan bahawa mereka akan menyokong saya, tanpa saya meminta sokongan mereka.

Saya berasa amat bersyukur. Terima kasih saya ucapkan kepada semua warga Singapura. Sokongan yang anda telah berikan membuatkan perjalanan saya ke Pusat Nomination ini begitu mudah. Jadi terima kasih sekali lagi. Saya berupakan Presiden kedua, Presiden Melayu kedua dalam empat puluh tujuh tahun sejarah kita di Singapura. Presiden pertamam merupakan Presiden Yusof Ishak, dan saya merupakan Presiden kedua. Saya rasa ini menunjukkan bahawa di Singapura, kita memberi peluang kepada semua, tidak kira bangsa atau agama.

Dan ini adalah suatu contoh yang baik bagi Singapura. Yang mununjukkan bahawa jika beri peluang, jika ada sokongan tidak kira apa saje bangsa kita, kita dapat menyapai ke tara yang kita kehendaki, insya’Allah. Saya juga merupakan Presiden wanita pertama di Singapura. Dan saya rasa tentu sekali, ramai di kalangan wanita kita merasakan gembira kepada masa yang sama yang menunjukkan bahawa wanita boleh meningkap ke mana kesetaraf, ke mana saje kedudukkan selagi mereka mempunyai kemahuan, selagi mereka diberi peluang. Ini juga sesuatu yang saya rasa adalah satu princip yang baik, bagi negara kita, negara Singapura yang kita sayangi.

Saya akan teruskan dalam Bahasa Inggeris, tetapi saya ingin berakhir ucapan dalam Bahasa Melayu, dengan mengatakan bahawa masa untuk memilih Presiden telah berakhir, dan sekarang adalah masa untuk kita sama-sama memusatkan focus kita kepada bagaimana untuk membina Singapura supaya ia menjadi sebuah masyarakat yang lebih maju, yang dapat berikan lebih banyak kepada meninggkatkan tarap kehidupan rakyat kita. Dan kita harus bekerja sama dalam usaha ini, tidak ada seorang pun yang boleh katakan mereka dapat lakukan ia sendiri, kita perlukan kerja sama semua rakyat, dan saya berharap dapat mendapatkan sokongan bekerja sama anda sekalian dalam usaha, kita sama-sama meningkatkan, memajukan negara Singapura yang kita sayangi ini. Terima kasih.

Let me now proceed in my concluding paragraph in English. I want to say dear Singaporeans, dear Singaporeans, we have a lot of work to do together. We know that many of you here who are workers, you know we have both internal challenges and external challenges that we need to overcome. I ask you now, dear Singaporeans, that the election is over, to stand together so that we can focus on our core priorities. To ensure that Singapore remains a great home for everyone. Dear Singaporeans, no one person or persons can achieve this task. We need every Singaporean to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to achieve for ourselves the best that we can be.

We have not reached the peak yet. You think we have reached the peak? We have not reached the peak yet. The best is yet to come. But the best can only be achieved if we work together, so that we can go on improving on our lives and that of our children. I ask that you focus on the similarities that we have, and not on the differences. I ask that you focus on the similarities that we have, and not on the differences. In 1965, when we became independent, no one thought that we could survive, but look at us today, look at us today. We are Singaporeans, we are in a country that we are really proud of.

We have come a long way but we have an equally long way ahead of us. No one owes us a living, we owe it to ourselves to build a great nation that we all can be proud of and that we can hand over to our children and grandchildren with great pride. We must stay united, we must beat with one heart, we must move in one direction. I am deeply humbled to be given this opportunity to serve all of you. I look forward to working very closely with you. I believe we can do good together, we can do good together. We can do good together, and I invite you to do good together with me.