Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to the Official Opening of Learning Expo 2001. In particular, I would like to thank DPM Dr Tony Tan for gracing the event. His presence here today is a clear indication of the Government's strong support for lifelong learning.

The Learning Expo is a major event in the on-going Singapore Learning Festival. The Learning Expo is in fact the last key event of the Festival which closes on Sunday, 25 November. Over the last three weeks of the SLF, a wide variety of interesting and hands-on learning activities were offered to all Singaporeans. I hope many would have participated in one or more of these activities.

This year, the SLF offered some 400 learning activities. These included innovative guided Learning Tours to various industry sectors, including aerospace, broadcasting, chemical, healthcare, hospitality, logistics, pharmaceutical, and social & community services. Hosted by learning institutions, economic agencies and private sectors companies, these tours offered participants invaluable insights into the career prospects, work nature and training opportunities within different industries.

So far, feedback from participants has been very positive. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the host organisations of the 30 Learning Tours and encourage more to come on board next year to showcase their work opportunities.

In organising this year’s Festival, we have once again adopted the people, public and private sector partnership approach. Our partners include private sector companies and training providers that have been very forthcoming in organising learning activities or playing host to the learning tours; community organisations which have offered many of their community-level activities as part of the Festival; and also public sector organisations, many of which have shown very strong support at today’s Learning Expo.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our 198 partners and tour host organisations and all of the exhibitors who are participating in this Learning Expo. At the same time, I would also like to thank our 26 sponsors for their generous contributions.

Without your support, this year’s Festival would not have been possible. Your support also clearly demonstrates the country’s collective commitment to nurturing a nation of lifelong learners.

The aim of the Learning Festival is to raise awareness in the value of lifelong learning and motivate Singaporeans to start their own lifelong learning journeys. For those who have not yet taken part in the learning activities, it’s not too late. The Learning Expo will offer you an equally interactive and enlightening experience. Over the next three days of the Expo, you will have the opportunity to explore what’s on offer here, interact with the exhibitors and get all the information you need to help you make an informed choice to continue learning.

I also strongly urge all Singaporeans to take time during or after the Festival, to ponder over what they want out of their jobs or personal lives, reflect on how they can learn the skills to achieve these goals and get started on their personal learning journey.

Thank you.