PM Wong tears up during May Day Rally while reading message by S'porean on Middle East repatriation flight

During his May Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was moved to tears while reading out passages from a message written by a Singaporean who returned to Singapore on a Middle East repatriation flight.

In his speech, PM Wong made the point that Singapore's solidarity is its strength in seeing through the energy crisis arising from the Middle East conflict and anxieties surrounding AI.

Concluding, he recounted how Singaporeans were brought home as the Middle East war broke out.

"When the Middle East crisis broke out and Singaporeans were stranded abroad, we acted quickly," PM Wong told members of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in the audience at the May Day Rally.

He went on to read out words penned by Nisar Keshvani but began choking up shortly after.

He then paused for a sip of water before continuing.

Some lines later, he appeared overwhelmed with emotions.

The audience applauded as the Prime Minister leaned on the rostrum with tears in his eyes.

He composed himself and continued with the quote before pausing again.

There were cheers after PM Wong finished reading the quote.

Here are the final paragraphs of the message.

"As the RSAF aircraft carried us home that night, the words “Welcome home” meant something entirely new. They were not just a greeting.

They were a promise. That wherever Singaporeans may be in the world, our nation will look after its own. And that is a promise worth protecting — generation after generation."

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Read about PM Wong's May Day speech here.