Speech by Minister Chee Hong Tat at Garden of Reunion Community Dinner

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
Mr Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman, Gardens by the Bay,
Mr Felix Loh, CEO, Gardens by the Bay,
Ladies and gentlemen

Good evening. I am happy to join everyone for the Garden of Reunion Community dinner. We are very honoured that President Tharman is here with us, thank you Mr President for gracing the event. Tonight, we celebrate and show our appreciation for the many donors, partners and volunteers of the Gift of Gardens programme.

Earlier this month, we announced at MND's Committee of Supply Debate that Gardens by the Bay will welcome a new Wetlands by the Bay, which is slated to open by the end of 2028.

This new area is part of the next phase of our expansion of Gardens by the Bay.

Together with Bay East Garden and the Founders' Memorial, these new attractions will elevate the Marina Bay precinct and provide Singaporeans with an exciting and memorable waterfront experience.

I hope that all of you and your families and friends will enjoy these new attractions as they open progressively over the next few years.

Building Inclusive Heartware

Beyond developing infrastructure, we also focus on nurturing our "heartware" - and by these, I refer to the social bonds, the shared values and the sense of community that make Singapore our home.

In support of the Enabling Masterplan 2030, Gardens by the Bay has been looking at ways to make its offerings more inclusive.

Since its inception, Gardens by the Bay set out to be a People's Garden, a garden for everyone, where everyone can enjoy greenery and recreation in the heart of our city, and through that process, build connections with one another.

In 2024, Gardens by the Bay was the first attraction in Singapore to pilot sensory tours for the visually impaired - featuring tactile guidebooks, the use of descriptive language by trained guides and real plant samples and 3D models.

Innovations for Accessibility

To further enhance these efforts, the Gardens will serve as a testbed for local companies to refine accessibility solutions for Singapore's public spaces.

These new technologies can empower visitors to experience its spaces with greater autonomy and confidence.

Later this year, Gardens by the Bay will introduce a Robotic Guide Dog for visually impaired visitors.
President Tharman and I earlier enjoyed the experience of seeing this technology in action, alongside with docent Ms Liza Rosli, who is visually impaired.

This is developed by local company RoamAssist. The Robotic Guide Dog will enable visually impaired visitors to explore the Gardens independently and at their own pace, increasing their accessibility, confidence and independence.

Each Guide Dog will be pre-programmed with the Flower Dome's layout to guide visitors to the various highlights while providing tactile booklet instructions and audio explanations.

Earlier we had the chance to speak to Ms Liza, she's a docent - and she shared that many visually impaired persons - after they lose their sight - they tend to remain at home.

So she would like to encourage those who are visually impaired to step out, to explore the world, and experience its beauty, especially with the help of technology and through other senses.

She also shared with us that the Robotic Guide Dog is an effective alternative to help her as a sighted guide, because it can automatically detect and avoid obstacles.

We want to further fine tune the robotic dog to make it work even better, so that when we roll it out and scale up its adoption, it will be able to help more people.

Gardens by the Bay is also collaborating with AiSee - and the Ai is AI, because they use AI for what they do to make what they do even better. So Gardens by the Bay is working with AiSee to deploy its artificial intelligence-powered wearable headset that can help visually impaired persons identify their surroundings through real-time descriptions.

Development of the AiSee prototype for the Gardens is slated to begin next year.

Cultivating Youth Volunteerism

As a People's Garden, Gardens by the Bay is also working towards involving more Singaporeans, especially our youths, in its programmes and operations, and to cultivate the spirit of volunteerism.

Last year, Gardens by the Bay partnered with Youth Corps Singapore with a goal of engaging 3,000 youth volunteers by 2028.

It is heartening to see more than 1,000 youths stepping forward.

Through volunteering, our young people build empathy, resilience and a sense of shared responsibility, enriching both themselves and the communities they serve.

Mr Ho Gin Aik, who is a recent graduate from Republic Polytechnic and is awaiting his National Service, is a regular volunteer with Youth Corps.

He has supported initiatives like the Visually Impaired Sensory Tours since 2025.

And through volunteering, Gin Aik has fostered meaningful connections with beneficiaries and like-minded peers, which motivates him to continue serving.

Gin Aik is here today, and I would like to thank him, and all our other youth volunteers, for contributing their time and energy to a very meaningful cause. Thank you very much to all our youth volunteers.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by also thanking all our volunteers, including our energetic youth volunteers to our seasoned volunteers, as well as our colleagues from the Gardens by the Bay for their dedication and teamwork in making the Gardens this world-class destination that we are all so proud of.

The Gardens is a symbol of the Singapore we are building - sustainable, gracious and inclusive for everyone.

And like nation building, this requires the collective effort of all Singaporeans: building on our strong foundations, innovating and improving on what we have inherited, and striving towards a better and brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you very much, everyone.