OPENING ADDRESS BY DR JANIL PUTHUCHEARY, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MDDI & MOH, AT THE SINGAPORE HEALTH AWARD 2024 CEREMONY

Chairman of the Health Promotion Board, Mr Wong Kim Yin

CEO of the Health Promotion Board, Mr Tay Choon Hong

Distinguished partners and guests

A very good afternoon to all of you. We gather here today to celebrate our partners’ and stakeholders’ efforts and achievements in promoting healthier lifestyles. These collective efforts drive healthy and positive changes across Singapore, and we are excited to recognise your achievements, and hopefully they inspire us to do more together.

Recognising stakeholders in Community, Preschools and Workplaces

2.               Promoting healthy living is more than just implementing programmes and initiatives; it requires our ongoing joint commitment to improve lives by empowering individuals and organisations. The Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) Singapore HEALTH Award recognises the efforts of those who create supportive environments for healthy living in the community, schools and workplaces. The organisations and individuals we honour today have worked across different partners and stakeholders, displaying innovation and dedication to catalyse a healthier future. Congratulations to all our 125 recipients. Your efforts have been inspiring to all of us, and show us what we can do when we work together.

3.               51 preschools will receive the Healthy Preschool (Platinum) Award for their exceptional efforts in encouraging our young ones to embark on healthy living habits, providing them with a healthy head start in life. Never too young to start. Little Skool-House is one such example. They hold annual training sessions for their cooks, and craft new recipes using healthier ingredients for their preschoolers. Introducing our young ones to healthier food choices from an early age supports their healthy growth and can shape their habits for the rest of their lives. This is very impactful to all of us.

4.               The Singapore HEALTH Award also recognises our remarkable volunteers - the HPB Health Ambassadors, who spent time and effort to engage residents on how to live healthily. The recipients for the Health Ambassador Recognition Award this year are Veronne Tan and Patti Ho. Veronne is an active HPB volunteer who conducts exercises such as yoga at various Active Ageing Centres and hospitals. She also mentors other Health Ambassadors who, like herself, are interested in contributing to the community. Next, we have Patti, who is a dedicated volunteer with HPB. She conducts functional screening activities for elderly in the community, educates seniors on age-related health conditions, and teaches health tips and skills to help and empower them better manage their health. Patti also oversees Health Ambassadors deployed at Healthier SG roadshows and guides them in the promotion of healthy living amongst fellow Singaporeans. Nothing like having a peer, someone of your own age and experience, explain to you the importance of this. Our volunteers help to train seniors who then pass on the message to others. Both of you have been an inspiration to other volunteers. You are catalysts for change in our communities, motivating your peers in reaching out to their communities to promote healthy lifestyles.

5.               It is heartening to see how our workplaces are evolving as well. Organisations increasingly understand how to better support their employees’ physical health and mental well-being at the workplace which is important. The employers are implementing more workplace support measures, with more employees taking on peer support roles and employing techniques to help create a safe and supportive space in the work environment. Among them, four companies are recognised with the Achievement Award for their exemplary efforts in workplace health promotion. For example, SingTel provides a range of health programmes to ensure the health and well-being of the employees, and evaluates these programmes to ensure that they continue to be beneficial. Very important to continuously evaluate to make sure we do it right. One such effort they have is the chronic disease intervention programme, which includes health coaching on lifestyle modifications. Mr Koh Wee Liang, who is here today, is one of the employees who has experienced a significant improvement in managing his own health conditions after going through this programme. He now eats healthier, exercises more regularly and is less dependent on his medication. Having had this experience, going through this programme, understanding the importance, and seeing the facts himself, he goes around to rally his peers to embark on healthier lifestyles by sharing his own success story.

Closing

6.               All these examples and many others demonstrate our concerted effort towards healthier life and healthier living. All our award recipients today have inspiring stories on how we can build a healthier future together. All of these efforts align with Healthier SG, our national initiative aimed at preventive care and empowering Singaporeans towards better health. We have made great progress, with over one million residents enrolled, and many have already completed their Health Plan with their Healthier SG doctors. I encourage you to remind your friends and family who are eligible, to enrol in Healthier SG, follow through with the Health Plan, and start their preventive health journey. If our preschoolers like Little Skool-House can do this, looking after our preschoolers and making sure they enjoy and understand importance of healthier meals, then those in middle age can certainly take ownership of our own health, and playing our part.

7.               Your efforts have shown us the important roles we have, as individuals, as members of our family, and as peers, in helping those around us achieve healthier lifestyles and work towards a healthier future. Once again, my heartiest congratulations to all the recipients. Together, we can create a society where health is not just an individual pursuit, but a shared goal for all of us together for a Healthier Singapore.

8.               Thank you.