2020年对新加坡而言，是极具挑战的一年。年初的时候，我们满怀憧憬，筹划出国旅游、拓展业务、陪伴亲人及结婚成家、或希望顺利毕业并找到第一份工作。但是，突如其来的2019冠状病毒疾病却令我国深陷一场前所未有的危机，漫长而艰辛的抗疫历程更让我们的资源和毅力受到极为严峻的考验。尽管病毒仍在世界其他地区肆虐，但我们付出了巨大的努力和牺牲，排除万难，让我国疫情得以稳定下来。
我们成功保障国人的生命和安全，完成了首要目标。我国的冠病死亡率一直保持在极低的水平，每日新增的本土感染病例也降至个位数，许多日子甚至没有新增本土感染病例。我们仍有境外输入型病例，他们多数是回国的新加坡公民和永久居民、以及为我们兴建住房的建筑工人，或是帮我们照顾家人的外籍女佣。他们一般抵境后就立刻履行居家通知，没有与他人接触。这降低了他们把病毒传入社区的风险，但这个情况仍有可能发生。
现在，我们已经进入解封第三阶段。首批疫苗已运抵新加坡，我们已经开始疫苗接种。在这漫长艰难的抗疫之路，我们终于能够看见希望的曙光。这是一件值得庆幸的事。但是要让足够的人接种疫苗，以防止疫情再度暴发，还需要一段时间。因此，在这期间我们必须保持自律，继续与他人保持安全距离，以及采取防范措施。
现在还不是庆祝胜利的时候。我们终将战胜疫情，但那一天还没到来。我吁请大家继续谨慎防疫，不要在关键阶段功亏一篑。
在经济方面，我们也尚未走出阴霾，但已开始看到回稳的迹象。我国就业率已经有所改善，同时也成功吸引跨国企业前来投资不少新项目。在经历了建国以来最严重的经济衰退之后，我们期待经济能在2021年回弹。但是，复苏之路将不均衡，我国经济也可能很长一段时间会继续低迷，难以回到冠病疫情前的水平。
这一年来，政府竭尽所能帮助我们工友和企业，避免大规模失业和企业倒闭。我们史无前例地通过了5个预算案，总共拨出了近1000亿元。我们不得不动用多年来积累的国家储备金，以推出雇佣补贴、自雇人士收入补贴、冠病疫情薪金补贴等多项计划，支援企业和工友。我们也开设新渠道，通过网上和实体平台，帮助求职者找到工作。
我们的雇主和工会同样功不可没。尽管业务深受疫情影响，许多雇主还是尽可能不裁员，他们加紧重组业务，并为员工重新设计工作。全国职总工会及各工会也竭尽所能的协助工友们保住工作，学习新技能，并帮助失业的工友重返职场。在这艰难的时期，我们将继续确保新加坡人都会得到所需要的支援。
在我国对抗冠病期间，最可贵的一点是国人对彼此和体系的信任。在其他国家，疫情不但加深了原有的社会断层线，甚至产生新的矛盾，造成关系紧张。庆幸的是，国人仍能保持团结一致，没有像其他国家的人民那样陷入悲观情绪，对彼此和体系失去信任。
国人对我国的制度保持高度信任。大家之所以配合政府的抗疫工作，遵守有关条例，是因为政府始终秉持公开的原则，不隐瞒任何事实，从而获得大家的信任，相信政府正全力以赴，应对这场危机。国人有信心，这个领导班子能够带领大家渡过难关，也能够领导国家继续前进。因此，在今年的全国大选中，人民再次给予我们委托，让人民行动党政府继续执政。
我和我的团队必将再接再厉，不辜负人民的委托，不断加强我们的社会契约。我们会恪守承诺，让新加坡继续是一个公平和公正的社会，并帮助大家实现希望与梦想。我们也将致力于让所有国人有同等的机会取得成功，并让你们都做好准备，把握住后冠病时代带来的新机遇。我们也会帮助大家克服人生中无可避免的一些挫折，帮助你们渡过难关。
后冠病的世界充满着未知数。但是，我们全体国人一同经历这场危机之后，誓必越战越勇。新加坡能否成为更有活力的经济体，以及更强韧的社会，在于我们，也取决于你我在这场危机和以后所作出的决定。
面对我们这一代人的危机，我们团结一致，共同应付冠病疫情所带来的种种挑战。同样地，我们也必须携手同心，让我国在危机后更稳定、更强韧。新一代新加坡人已经通过行动，向世人展示了我们不仅有能力和决心让这个小岛国生存下去，而且还能迎难而上，取得成功。对抗冠病疫情的战役还未结束。在接下来的几个月，甚至几年里，我们将面对一些意想不到的新挑战。这期间，也可能发生一些事情，迫使我们改变计划，但只要我国上下一心，我有信心我们一定能砥砺奋进，迈向更光明的未来。
让我们以坚定的信心，怀抱着希望，迎接2021年。祝大家在新的一年，平安快乐！
2020 has been an exceptionally testing year for Singapore. At the beginning of the year, all of us had big plans to travel, grow our businesses, spend time with loved ones, get married and start a family, or graduate and take our first jobs. But soon we faced an unprecedented crisis. COVID-19 has been a relentless fight that has tested our resources and resolve to the fullest.
Through enormous effort and sacrifice, we have stabilised our situation in Singapore, even as the virus continues to rage on elsewhere in the world. We have achieved our primary objective to protect lives and keep our people safe. We have kept our fatality rate very low. The number of new local infections has come down to a handful a day, and zero on many days. We do have imported cases, comprising mainly returning Singaporeans and PRs, as well as construction and foreign domestic workers, whom we need to build new housing projects and to take care of our people. These have generally been isolated on Stay-Home Notices (SHNs), and thus pose less danger of spreading the virus to our community, although that can still happen.
Now, we have entered Phase 3. The first batch of vaccines has arrived in Singapore, and vaccinations have already begun. We can now see light at the end of the tunnel. But it will still take some time for enough people to be vaccinated before we are safe from another major uncontrolled outbreak. In the meantime, we must maintain discipline, and continue with safe distancing and all the other precautions that we have been taking.
Now is not yet the time to celebrate. That time will come. Meanwhile, I ask for your support to keep up our efforts, and not to falter in this final stretch.
Economically, we are not yet out of the woods either, but we are beginning to see signs of stabilisation. Employment has picked up, and MNCs are making significant new investments in Singapore. After our most severe downturn since independence, we look forward to a rebound in 2021, although the recovery will be uneven, and activity is likely to remain below pre-COVID-19 levels for some time.
The Government has gone all out to support our workers and companies, to prevent massive job losses and business failures. We passed five Budgets, totalling close to $100 billion. We drew heavily on our past reserves to help businesses and workers through the Jobs Support Scheme, the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS), the COVID-19 Support Grant, and many other schemes. We set up new channels, virtual and physical, to help jobseekers get matched to employers that were still hiring.
The tripartite partners deserve full credit too. Employers did their best to keep their workers employed, and pressed on with transforming their businesses and re-designing jobs for their workers. NTUC and the unions did their utmost to help workers hold on to their jobs, learn new skills, and find new jobs if they lost their existing ones. We will continue to make sure that in these difficult times, Singaporeans get the appropriate support they need.
What has stood out in our response to COVID-19 is the trust our people have in our system and in one another. In many countries, COVID-19 has deepened old fault lines and created new tensions. Singapore has thankfully avoided major divisions among our people, and the pessimism and loss of trust that have happened elsewhere.
Trust in our system remains high. Singaporeans have cooperated with the government and complied with the COVID-19 rules, because the government has been open and upfront about the facts, and justified your faith that it is doing its very best to deal with the crisis. In this year’s General Election, Singaporeans returned the PAP government to power and renewed your mandate, because you were confident that this team would see you through this crisis and take the country forward.
My team and I will strive to continue deserving your trust, to keep on strengthening our social compact, to sustain the promise of Singapore as a fair and just society, and to help you achieve your hopes and dreams. We are determined to give every Singaporean equal opportunity to do well, to prepare you to take advantage of opportunities in a different world, and to help you deal with life’s inevitable setbacks.
What the world will look like post-COVID-19 is far from certain. But Singapore must emerge strengthened by the shared experience of this crisis. Whether we indeed become a more vibrant economy and resilient society will depend on us, and on the decisions that you and I make in this crisis and beyond.
Just as we have come together to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, the defining crisis for this generation, so too we must come together to rebuild better and stronger. A new generation of Singaporeans has shown we have what it takes to make our small island nation survive and succeed, but the fight against COVID-19 is not yet won. In the months and years ahead, we will face new and unexpected hurdles. Things may happen that force us to change our plans. But as long as we stay together as one Singapore, I am confident we will blaze a path forward.
Let us meet 2021 with renewed confidence and hope. I wish everyone a safe and happy new year.
