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Building and Maintaining a Caring Society

Singapore continues to work towards equal rights to people of all races and religions, forging a national identity that brings Singaporeans together, and building a society that is inclusive and caring

Last updated 6 October 2025

Building and Maintaining a Caring Society

Quote from then-Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong as he was sworn in on 12 August 2004
Once the escalator that carries everyone up stops, the problems of inequality and all the problems of “me against you”, “this group against that group”, become much sharper, and this is what has happened in a whole range of advanced countries.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at IPS' 30th anniversary on 25 October 2018
Former Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam
But if it is not like that, if people who are poor say there is no hope, the doors are closed, that they will always remain poor, and their children too, no matter what they do, then I do not think people will accept it.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the post-National Day Rally dialogue on 14 Oct 2018
Portrait of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Group of children and adults playing games

Image: National Archives of Singapore

Image of Skillsfuture Fellowships & Skillsfuture Employer Awards 2018

Image: National Archives of Singapore

Working towards a multi-abled society

Image of Kindle Garden booth

Images: National Archives of Singapore

Image of a student playing a traditional Chinese instrument

Images: National Archives of Singapore

Striving towards a multi-abled Singapore

How have we fared in creating a multi-abled society and what more else has been done?

We will continue to work hard, to foster an inclusive society through sports where people of all abilities can come together to experience, to play, and to excel in sports, and through sports, to build deep social connections.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Edwin Tong, in a speech to celebrate the achievements of Olympians and Paralympians on 5 October 2021
People with autism account for about one-third of the 53 employees at UOB's Scan Hub.

Image: United Overseas Bank (UOB). People with autism account for about one-third of the 53 employees at UOB's Scan Hub, where customer documents such as credit card application forms are scanned, classified and archived.

The Purple Symphony

Image: The Purple Symphony Facebook page

Volunteerism in Singapore

Please add an alternate text for this image
Please add an alternate text for this image

Volunteerism in Singapore

Acts of Care

Case study

Singaporeans came together in our fight against SARS

Messages of Thanks for the Staff at Tan Tock Seng Hospital during the 2003 SARS Crisis

Image: Messages of Thanks for the Staff at Tan Tock Seng Hospital during the 2003 SARS Crisis

Left: I Will Be Your Shelter. Right: 3000 masks, 1 Singapore.

Left: I Will Be Your Shelter; Right: 3000 masks, 1 Singapore

Case study

Singaporeans' Covid-19 responses

What starts as a person-to-person relationship leads to benefiting the larger society. We build a society, one tie at a time.
Professor Vincent Chua, a researcher behind "A Study On Social Capital In Singapore" by the IPS released in 2017

Conclusion

If we rely too heavily on the individual, their efforts alone will not be enough, especially among the vulnerable [...] And there are some things which individuals cannot do on their own and there are other things which we can do much better together. So we must shift the balance.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally 2013 speech on 18 August 2013
Portrait of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong