As the world is in chaos facing many challenges, Singapore remains a safe harbour for the world, said Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing.

The deputy chairman for People's Association (PA) was speaking at PA's Community Seminar 2020 which was held this morning (Oct. 10).

He said that Singapore can stand out from the world as a "shiny red dot" if Singaporeans can maintain its cohesion as one united people, and if Singaporeans can demonstrate to the world that they still can do things with a long-term perspective.

Seize opportunity of generation from a crisis

Chan added:

"And because we can stand up as a shiny red dot, more people will come here to put their investment and create better jobs for our people. So we need to watch the changes around the world closely even as we fight Covid-19 globally. We need to have a global mindset to know where the challenges are and where the opportunities are."

He also said that Singapore will set itself apart from the rest of the world if it is able to maintain its position and come up stronger as a people.

"There are tremendous opportunities for us to do the right things and convince people to come on board and be part of our network. If we can do this, then from a crisis of a generation, we will seize the opportunity of a generation to make Singapore emerge stronger and for us to redefine a better Singapore and better future for every one of us."

Focus on helping fellow Singaporeans amid Covid-19

In the next six to 12 months, most of PA's focus will go towards helping the country to overcome Covid-19.

Some of these activities include community initiatives like the development of the Simply Eunos App for volunteers to provide essential support to residents in Eunos.

First virtual community seminar

The Community Seminar is an annual event held by the PA.

This year, the seminar was attended by more than 1,500 participants virtually via Zoom and physically in smaller groups at over 150 sites across Singapore.

These participants include grassroots leaders and community leaders.

During the seminar, participants discussed how PA can help fellow Singaporeans and the country get through Covid-19.

Some of the questions raised include whether some activities can be done in larger groups as well as how to combine digital and physical capabilities to have hybrid events.

They also discussed longer-term issues such as the challenges of trade tensions and reorganisation of the global and regional supply chains.

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Top image from Chan Chun Sing's Facebook page.