Senior Minister of State for Defence, Mr Heng Chee How

Members of Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence,

Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to begin by thanking all of you here for your participation and support towards our National Servicemen (NSmen) and their contributions to Singapore's defence.

Our founding fathers knew the strict conditions that National Service (NS) would impose on its citizens when they passed the NS (Amendment) Bill in 1967 and the Enlistment Act in 1970. But they also knew that NS was crucial to Singapore's survival. As a small country with a small population, the only way that we could build a credible defence force was through conscription.

Today, even though we have enjoyed peace and security since our independence, the security landscape has become increasingly uncertain and complex. NS, thus remains equally, or even more, vital for our defence and security.

Now in its 52nd year, NS continues to be the bedrock of Singapore's defence and the cornerstone of Singapore's prosperity and progress. Since 1967, more than one million NSmen have dutifully served NS and one reason is the strong support for NS by the public; in giving due recognition to the many generations of Singaporeans who have served NS with pride and honour.

Over the years, various campaigns were launched to encourage the community to recognise the contributions of NSmen. This included the 'Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day Recognition Campaign', introduced by the SAF's National Service Affairs Department in 2013; and the 'We Support You in NS' initiative, launched by the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence's Family & Community Council in 2015.

This year, both campaigns were brought together to create the 'We Support NS' initiative, to bring a more comprehensive selection of discounts and benefits to NSmen across both the SAF and the Home Team.

We are very happy to see the participation of over 540 unique merchants, businesses and hawkers with more than 1,400 outlets across Singapore this year. Merchants, businesses and hawkers, like you, present here today and those who are not here today, play an important role in showing appreciation for the contributions of our NSmen. Your strong support goes a long way.

In return, this evening, we want to show our appreciation for your participation in the 'We Support NS' campaign. As shown in the video earlier, we have had such a wide variety of merchants and businesses supporting our NSmen. Participating businesses such as Nestle Singapore, Burger King Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa and Switzer Alliance are amongst us today. Entire hawker centres, such as the Redhill Food Centre and the Boon Lay Place Food Village, as well as, sports-related businesses such as True Fitness, New Balance, Zero Latency and Wave House Sentosa have also come on board to recognise our NSmen's contributions by offering discounts and benefits. In fact, this event itself, is also made possible because of the strong support from Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. I am heartened to see so many merchants and businesses showing appreciation towards our servicemen in their unique ways.

Over the years, we are seeing an increase in support for NS from the community. In addition to merchants, businesses and hawkers, the People's Association and their Community Clubs and Residents' Committees have also put up banners, posters and billboards in public spaces, to show their support for NSmen and their contributions.

Your presence here today is an affirmation of the role that you play in Singapore's defence and security. We are thankful to have partners like you alongside us in this mission and look forward to have more merchants, businesses and hawkers next year, who will join us to show appreciation for our NSmen and their contributions to Singapore's defence.

Thank you and have a great evening and once again, 'We Support NS' together.