I pledge to continue this journey of service to our country. I call on all Singaporeans to join me in this endeavour. Our goal must be to leave behin… - Halimah Yacob

We must also re-examine how society rewards different skills and talents, and recognises the full range of pathways to success. We should accord greater value to those who are skilled with their hands and contribute through their technical and practical abilities, as well as those with the social and empathetic traits to excel in jobs such as caregiving or community service. Every Singaporean must have the opportunity to take on work they find fulfilling and meaningful, build on their talents, give of their best, and be rewarded fairly for it.

The raison d’etre for meritocracy is clear. The economic advantage that accrues to a person should depend on capabilities and effort rather than family background. Meritocracy allows the most talented to succeed through equality of opportunities and fair competition leading to a more equitable distribution of income and wealth. Meritocracy facilitated social mobility in Singapore, enabling the growth of an expanding middle class. We now agree, however, that the very conditions that contributed to meritocracy can also result in inequality.

If I have succeeded in actually making people look at the presidency as not something that is distant, not attached to people, but at least as one that’s more engaged, close to the people, I think that would be something that I would be very happy about.