Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day message on Tuesday said that he believes three areas - - improving preschool education, preventing diabetes and making Singapore a smart nation - - will benefit the country in the long run.
Lee said Singapore needed to prepare young people for the new world, and for every child "to have a good start in life and a bright future" and the government will found more preschool places, raise the quality of these schools and upgrade the profession of preschool teachers.
He said that he wanted Singaporeans to live long and stay healthy, but the elder Singaporeans experience an average of eight years of poor health at the end of their lives, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Prime Minister, diabetes is a big reason for the ill health of elder people.
He called on Singaporeans to take responsibility for their own health by watching lifestyle and diet, exercising regularly and drinking plain water.
As for the smart nation, Lee said Singapore needed to learn from, catch up with and get ahead of other countries, which are using electronic payments to go cashless, building sensor networks to enhance public security and analysing big data to improve public services.
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