Why Singapore must not be complacent in her achievements-Xin Qian

"We have got to build on this culture. We can do more and we need to do more as our environmental challenges grow. For example, climate change. You will remember this year earlier in February, we had our longest dry spell ever. The reservoir water levels dropped below normal; everywhere the grass in our parks turned brown. We had lalang fires all over Singapore and even one or two forest fires in the nature reserve. Fortunately, our lives were not disrupted because we ran our desalination plants at 100 percent and we increased our NEWater output to meet our needs. First of all we had desalination plants and we had NEWater plants, and that is why we could respond. We did not have to ration water as we have planned for a margin of safety, so we endured the draught and eventually the rains came and Singapore became green again. But we cannot become complacent because climate is changing. I think we can expect more such extreme episodes, more draughts, more heavy rains at different times, and we must be able to cope with it." This was quoted from Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong. Mr Lee Hsien Loong addressed the time when we had our longest dry spell. It was an achievement to us, a country with limited water resources, and yet, due to the many solutions and preparations beforehand, we were not disrupted by the change of climate. Even though we have gotten through it, we must not be complacent as we never know what more may come our way. Obstacles while continue to rise but if we remain humble, we will steadily go through them as a nation