The rally began in 1966 as a "private meeting" between the prime minister and grassroots leaders. The transcript was released to the media only two weeks later. with the exception in 2021, when the Rally was held in
Mediacorp campus.
1966 National Day Rally The first National Day Rally was held on 8 August 1966 at the
National Theatre. At a closed-door event before National Day, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew told grassroots leaders,
"Every year, on this 9th August for many years ahead—how many, I do not know—we will dedicate ourselves anew to consolidate ourselves to survive; and, most important of all, to find an enduring future for what we have built and what our forebears will build up".
1983 National Day Rally At the 1983 rally, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
"trotted out facts and figures to show that the more highly educated a woman was, the less likely she was to reproduce", before concluding,
"[W]e are really discarding our able parents in the next generation and doubling the less able". The resulting controversy eroded electoral support for his
People's Action Party for several years to come.
2005 National Day Rally In 2005, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong adopted the current format of delivering his Malay and Chinese remarks at 6:45pm, with a break at 7:30pm, before commencing his English address at 8:00pm. Prior to 2005, the rally was a continuous speech from 8:00pm.
2007 National Day Rally In 2007, opposition and
Nominated Members of Parliament were invited to the National Day Rally for the first time.
2008 National Day Rally In 2008, the English language telecast of the rally, initially scheduled for live broadcast at 8:00pm on 17 August, was postponed to the next day. The move was to allow Singaporeans to watch Singapore take on
China in the women's table tennis finals at the
Beijing Olympics. The rally itself proceeded as usual at the University Cultural Centre, but was only broadcast the next day.
2009 National Day Rally In 2009, Singaporeans used the
Twitter hashtag #ndrsg to tweet about the rally.
2010 National Day Rally The 2010 rally was held on the last Sunday of August to avoid clashing with the
Youth Olympic Games earlier that month.
2012 National Day Rally The 2012 rally marked the second time where
Cabinet ministers delivered their speeches at 6:45pm, before the prime minister's remarks at 8:00pm. It was also the first to feature sign-language translation in real time.
2015 National Day Rally In his 2015 speech, "set within the context of...
an impending general election", Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong "asked for a strong mandate" without being "baldly partisan". PM Lee also mentioned two ministers,
Vivian Balakrishnan and
Lim Swee Say, who would respectively be standing in
Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and
East Coast GRC, the two most contested PAP-held constituencies.
2016 National Day Rally 80 minutes into his English remarks at the 2016 rally, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong suddenly took ill at 9:20pm. Half an hour later,
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced that Lee would resume his speech. The
Prime Minister's Office (PMO) also said that PM Lee had felt "unsteady because of prolonged standing, heat and dehydration", adding, "His heart is fine and he did not have a stroke." At 10:40pm, he returned to speak for another 15 minutes. By then, he looked well and thanked the audience for waiting for him, who gave him a standing ovation.
2017 National Day Rally The 2017 rally was held on 20 August 2017 at
ITE College Central. Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong's speech mainly focused on the obstacles which Singapore was currently facing, namely
Diabetes,
Pre-school and
Technology.
2018 National Day Rally The 2018 rally was held at
ITE College Central on 19 August 2018, with the rally focused on trending issues such as housing, healthcare and cost of living. Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong introduced, among other policies, the Merdeka Generation Package—a spin-off from the
Pioneer Generation Package, the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme and a revamped Home Improvement Programme. He also announced that Singapore would be seeking a second inscription on
UNESCO's World Heritage List of
her hawker culture, and that Senior Minister of State and Mayor
Maliki Osman would be leading an improvement project for
Geylang Serai.
2019 National Day Rally The 2019 rally was held on 18 August 2019 at
ITE College Central. In Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong's speech, he highlighted education bursaries and subsidies, along with the mention of successful bursary holders who were invited along,
Pulau Brani's redevelopment plan as "Downtown South", the ongoing
China–United States trade war, and how Singapore was involved in, climate change; its seriousness and their measures, and changes to the re-employment and retirement ages which will take effect by 2022. Lee also announced that
SG Bicentennial Experience, an exhibit held at
Fort Canning in commemoration of the bicentennial anniversary of modern foundation of Singapore was extended from mid-September to 31 December due to overwhelming responses and success.
2020 National Day Rally The 2020 rally was not held due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong delivered a speech in Parliament on 2 September.
2021 National Day Rally The 2021 rally was held at the
Mediacorp Campus on 29 August 2021. Originally scheduled for 22 August 2021, the rally was postponed due to the introduction of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures to cope with an increase in
COVID-19 community cases. In his speech he highlighted several employment measures, including Workfare enhancements like more top-ups to $1.1 billion in two years and lowering the age criteria to those 30 years old compared to 35 years old now, expanding
Progressive Wage Model to more sectors such as the retail, food and waste management sectors, as well as general careers like administrative assistants and drivers, a local qualifying salary and a PW Mark to acknowledge companies which pay workers fairly, studying concerns of delivery riders, controls on S-Passes and Employment Passes, legislating TAFEP guidelines and a tribunal for workplace disputes. He also highlighted measures on racial issues; like a proposed Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act to consolidate existing laws and put softer approaches, and allowing
tudungs in public healthcare settings from November 2021 especially for nurses.
2022 National Day Rally The 2022 rally was held on 21 August 2022, returning to
ITE College Central after 3 years being the previous time back in 2019. On Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong's speech, he announced special awards for frontliners who help fought
COVID-19, being the COVID-19 Resilience Medal and state awards that indicate the special circumstance of COVID, along with impending relaxations of indoor masking for most areas except on public transport and in healthcare facilities. Lee also announced the impending repeal of
Section 377A of the Penal Code while protecting the definition of marriages from future legal challenges by spelling out Parliament's right to do so in the Constitution. Existing policies on media standards—particularly in films and advertising, education, public housing and adoption rules will remain unchanged. Other policies announced include future schemes to attract talent to Singapore, along with infrastructural enhancements to Singapore. They are Tuas Port; which will run in an automated and digitalised manner, Changi Airport Terminal 5; which will go ahead with measures to boost resilience during pandemics and make the building more environmentally-friendly, building 150,000 housing units at the current
Paya Lebar Air Base area and future plans from "Long Term Plan Review" by the
Urban Redevelopment Authority.
2023 National Day Rally The 2023 rally was held on 20 August 2023 at
ITE College Central. It was the final rally for Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong who subsequently handed over the premiership to
Lawrence Wong on 15 May 2024. Lee announced a new Majulah Package for
Young Seniors who were above 50 or early 60s, born in 1973 or earlier. The package comprised three components -
Earn and save Bonus,
Retirement Saving Bonus and
MediSave Bonus. Lee also spoke about ageing, making homes more senior-friendly under the EASE Programme (Enhancement for Active Seniors) as well as upgrading infrastructure and building more shelters as well more assisted living facilities as part of the new national programme
Age Well SG which complements 'Healthier SG'. Lee also announced a new framework for the purchase of HDBs - Standard, Plus and Prime Flats. Under the new framework, it was also announced that Singles would be able to purchase new 2-room flats across all three types of flats under the new framework. Ending off the rally, Lee spoke about the recent PAP scandals such as Minister
S. Iswaran's investigation as well as the affair between former Speaker of Parliament
Tan Chuan Jin and Member of Parliament
Cheng Li Hui have not affected his plans for succession and that it was still on track.
2024 National Day Rally The 2024 National Day Rally was delivered by Prime Minister
Lawrence Wong on 18 August 2024 at
ITE College Central. This rally marked Wong's first rally as PM, following his succession of
Lee Hsien Loong in May 2024. During his speeches, the new Prime Minister announced several policy initiatives. These include Singapore's first-ever unemployment support scheme, a revamp of the
Gifted Education Programme, enhanced shared parental leave entitlements, and increased support for
build-to-order flat applicants - with more priority given to singles and additional grants for low-income households. He also unveiled plans for
Sports Hub's future development, featuring a new 18,000-seat indoor stadium, pedestrianised roads, a community boulevard, and the consolidation of sport facilities, such as the integration of
Singapore Sports School and training centres for national athletes. ==Format==