我现在要谈谈公众对我国禁毒方针的大力支持。

由于我们对使用死刑的理由、情况和保障措施采取了坦率和公开的态度，因此得到了民众的广泛支持。内政部进行的调查显示，事实上，在过去两年中，死刑的支持率有所上升。

在2021年内政部的一项调查中，74%的受访者同意或非常同意死刑应该用于最严重的犯罪，包括贩毒。去年（2023年），我们重新进行了这项调查。调查结果显示，77%的受访者表示同意或非常同意。在统计意义上，这一比例提高了约三个百分点。

2021年的调查还发现，约 66% 的受访者同意或非常同意强制死刑是对贩运大量毒品的适当惩罚。在去年（2023年）进行的调查中，69%的受访者表示同意或非常同意，几乎每10人中就有7人同意或非常同意，在统计上也有显著增长。内政部将在今年晚些时候发布完整报告。

这是相当了不起的，因为大家有时可能会听到激进人士和其他人说：死刑是有争议的，对它的支持正在减弱等。事实上，情况恰恰相反。事实上，对死刑的支持在统计上有显著增加。这表明新加坡人理解有必要用死刑来处理最严重的罪行。

我还要提及另一项调查。2023 年，全国禁毒委员会(NCADA)进行了一项调查。近91%的人表示支持新加坡禁毒政策。这是去年的情况。87%的人同意，我们的禁毒法律能够有效地使我们相对远离毒品。我们获得如此高的支持率，是因为新加坡人相信政府会做正确的事，为新加坡做正确的事。

仅在过去一年，我和我的同事就这个问题与成千上万的新加坡人进行了交流。因此，当理查德-布兰森先生提出异议时，他并没有意识到我们认真履行职责，我们对新加坡人负责，我们每年与成千上万的新加坡人交谈，我们知道新加坡人支持什么。绝大多数新加坡人都知道并理解事实和现实，以及政府为什么说死刑是必要的。

议长先生，现在请允许我谈谈内政部未来几年的计划，特别是我们为解决青少年毒品问题所做的不懈努力。

去年，我们成立了青少年毒品预防部际委员会（IMC）。我在供应委员会的辩论中谈到了这一点。IMC成员已开始推行禁毒计划，以提高公众对毒品危害的认识，并动员主要的社区领袖，强化我们的禁毒信息。让我分享几个例子。

新加坡体育局已开始把预防毒品教育纳入年轻运动员的计划和课程，并强化积极的生活价值观，提醒我们的年轻人追求卓越，同时保持身心健康。

我们的学校将把与毒品相关的主题纳入学校课程，将其扩展到其他科目，例如综合科目。在我们的高等教育机构 (IHL) 中，这些信息将在各种场合得到强化，例如新生入学教育和学生出国前的简报会。

从今年开始，我们将推出“毒品受害者纪念日”。这是为了让我们的社区团结起来，提醒我们吸毒者的家人和亲人所遭受的伤害、伤害和创伤。我们的目标是让人们认识到，毒品造成的危害是深远的，需要社会做出强有力的回应。

学校和 IHL 将与中央肃毒局（CNB）合作，在纪念日组织各种活动，如课程、展览和讲座。还将为中学后延续教育机构的青少年举办征文比赛，以鼓励他们讨论和反思吸毒的影响。这是我们迈出的重要一步。我们希望借此以一种非常有影响力的方式，或尽可能有影响力的方式，让更多的人，特别是年轻人，了解毒品造成的危害。

今年5月17日，将在义安城市民广场举行首届纪念活动。我们将举行烛光晚会，以缅怀吸毒受害者，不仅是新加坡的受害者，还有来自世界各地的受害者，因为世界各地的受害者都值得我们的同情和关心。

当然，这将包括新加坡的受害者，包括被残忍杀害的老母亲和祖母、被自己的监护人无情殴打致死的两岁幼儿，以及无数被毒品颠覆生活的家庭成员。这些人值得我们同情。

活动结束后，巡回展览将于 5 月至 7 月在新加坡 8 个不同地点举行。我强烈鼓励新加坡人参观这些展览，参加这些活动，了解全球和本地的毒品形势，声援我们的禁毒斗争。

议长先生，总之，我们的禁毒政策是有效的。但是，毒品形势仍然充满挑战，国外如此，国内也是如此。我们必须有力地应对这些挑战，以免我们这一代人染上毒瘾，这样，我们的后代能够继承一个安全的、无毒品的国家，拥有我们今天所享有的同样环境。[掌声]

I will now speak about the strong public support for our drug control approach. 

There is broad support from our population because we have been upfront and open about the rationale, circumstances and the safeguards on the use of the death penalty. Surveys conducted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) show that support for the death penalty has, in fact, gone up in the last two years. 

In a 2021 MHA survey, 74% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the death penalty should be used for the most serious crimes, including drug trafficking. We redid that survey last year, in 2023. It now shows that 77% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed. This is a statistically significant increase of about three percentage points. 

The 2021 survey also found that about 66% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the mandatory death penalty is an appropriate punishment for trafficking a significant amount of drugs. In the 2023 survey, last year, 69%, almost seven in 10, agreed or strongly agreed, again, a statistically significant increase. MHA will be publishing the full report later this year.

This is quite remarkable because Members might sometimes come across activists and others saying: the death penalty is controversial, support for it is weakening and so on. In fact, on the contrary, we are seeing the reverse. Support for the death penalty has, in fact, increased in a statistically significant way. It shows that Singaporeans understand the need for the death penalty to deal with the most serious crimes.

I will refer to yet another survey. In 2023, the National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) conducted a survey. Almost 91% expressed support for Singapore’s drug-free approach. This is last year. And 87% agreed that our drug laws are effective in keeping us relatively drug-free. We have these high levels of support because Singaporeans trust the Government to do the right thing and to do right by Singapore. 

My colleagues and I have engaged thousands of Singaporeans on this issue in just the past year alone. So, when Mr Richard Branson comes in to argue, he does not realise that we take our duties seriously, we are accountable to Singaporeans, we speak with thousands of them every year and we know what Singaporeans support. And the vast majority of Singaporeans know and understand the facts and reality, and why the Government says the death penalty is necessary.

Mr Speaker, let me now say something about my Ministry’s plans for the coming years, specifically our upstream efforts to address the drug problem amongst the young.

We formed the Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on Drug Prevention for Youths last year. I spoke about this at the Committee of Supply debate. Members of the IMC have started running anti-drug programmes to enhance awareness on the harms of drugs and mobilise key community leaders and amplify our anti-drug messages. Let me share some examples. 

SportSG has begun to incorporate preventive drug education in its programmes and curricula for our young athletes and to reinforce positive life values to remind our youths about pursuing excellence while keeping their minds and bodies healthy.

Our schools will cover drug-related topics in their school curricula by extending it to other subjects, such as General Paper, for example. And in our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), these messages will be reinforced at various junctures, such as orientation sessions and pre-departure briefings before students go on overseas trips.

And starting this year, we will introduce a “Drug Victims Remembrance Day”. This is for our communities to rally together to remind ourselves of the harm, hurt and trauma which the families and loved ones of drug abusers suffer and have suffered. Our aim is to drive home the message that the harms drugs cause are far-reaching and require a strong response from society. 

In partnership with CNB, schools and IHLs will be organising various activities, such as lessons, exhibitions and talks on the Remembrance Day. There will also be an essay competition for youths in post-secondary educational institutions to encourage conversations and reflections on the impact of drug abuse. This is a major step that we are taking. By this, we hope to bring across to a larger segment of the population, particularly the young, in a very impactful way, or as an impactful way as possible, the harm that drugs cause.

An inaugural observance event will be held at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza on 17 May this year. We will be holding a candlelight display to remember the victims of drug abuse, not only from Singapore but from all around the world, because victims from around the world deserve our sympathy and thoughts.

But of course, it will include victims in Singapore, including the elderly mother and grandmother brutally murdered, the two-year-old toddler who was senselessly assaulted to death by her own guardian, and the countless family members whose lives have been upended by having a loved one going to drugs. These are the people who deserve our sympathy.

The event will be followed by roving exhibitions across eight different locations around Singapore from May to July. I strongly encourage Singaporeans to visit the exhibitions, participate in these activities, to be aware of the global and local drug situation and to show solidarity in our fight against drugs.

Sir, to conclude, our drug control policies have been effective. But the drug situation continues to be challenging, abroad certainly, but at home as well. And we have to respond robustly to these challenges so that we do not have a generation caught up with drug addiction, so that our children can inherit a country that is safe and free of drugs and have the same environment that we enjoy today. [Applause.]