PM Wong gets emotional during May Day speech while reading letter from S’porean repatriated from Middle East

PM Wong reads out letter from S’porean at May Day Rally, says we always take care of one another

A letter from a Singaporean who was repatriated from the Middle East caused Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to be briefly overcome with emotion.

This led him to pause for a sip of water as he read out the letter during his May Day Rally speech on Friday (1 May).

S’pore ‘brought everyone home’ after Middle East conflict broke out

During his speech, Mr Wong touched on how Singapore reacted quickly to arrange repatriation flights to bring Singaporeans home after conflict broke out in the Middle East.

When conditions became too dangerous, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was mobilised, he said.

“We brought everyone home,” he declared, to applause from the audience.

PM Wong reads out letter from S’porean during May Day Rally

One of the Singaporeans who was repatriated by the SAF was Mr Nishar Keshvani, who wrote a letter detailing what it felt like to come home.

The words “welcome home”, said by an SAF serviceman as his family boarded the aircraft, “carried a weight” he had not felt before, the man said, as read out by Mr Wong.

Even before take-off, passengers smiled and wiped away tears, then sighed in relief as they were cleared for departure, Mr Keshvani added.

But as the PM read out, “As the plane lifted off the runway…”, he stopped and appeared to almost break down in tears.

He then reached for a glass and took a sip of water, as the audience clapped again.

PM Wong breaks down again

After composing himself, Mr Wong continued to read the letter, which described how applause broke out on the plane.

But he broke down again when Mr Keshvani said that someone on board started singing Majulah Singapura.

“It was one of those moments when you realise that home is not simply a place on a map. It is something deeper — a shared identity, a sense of belonging, and the knowledge that when things go wrong, your country will come for you,” the PM continued, voice shaking.

After the applause died down, he added:

As the RSAF aircraft carried us home that night, the words “Welcome home” meant something entirely new. They were not just a greeting.

They were a promise. That wherever Singaporeans may be in the world, our nation will look after its own. And that is a promise worth protecting — generation after generation.

PM Wong pledges to protect S’pore workers in the face of AI disruption

The Singaporean’s letter was read out after Mr Wong spoke about the “massive” impact that artificial intelligence (AI) would have on Singapore workers.

He could not promise that there would be no disruption, warning that jobs would change and disappear, with the pace of change “faster than anything we have seen before”.

But he promised that Singapore would create “new and better jobs”, saying:

We may not be able to protect every job. But we will protect every worker. Because in Singapore, every worker matters.

To that end, the Government would take “deliberate steps” to share the benefits of AI broadly, but needed Singaporeans to “step forward” and embrace, learn, use and master AI, he added.

Using the letter to illustrate how “no Singaporean will be left behind”, the PM said our solidarity is our greatest strength, concluding:

It carried us through every storm of the past. It gives us confidence today. And it will carry all of us forward – into the future we are building together.

Read PM Wong’s full May Day Rally 2026 speech here.

Also read: RSAF plane brings another 81 S’poreans home from Middle East, seats also given to other nationals

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Featured image adapted from NTUC Singapore on YouTube and The Republic of Singapore Air Force on Facebook.