In an unprecedented move, the telecast of the English version of the Prime Minister's National Day Rally will be postponed by one day to 8pm tomorrow night.

This is so that it will not clash with the telecast of the Singapore-China table tennis finals at the Beijing Olympics tonight.

'The Prime Minister has changed the telecast timings for his National Day Rally speech so that Singaporeans can watch and support our team 'live' at the Olympics Table Tennis Women's Team Finals,' said a surprise statement from the Prime Minister's Office yesterday evening.

However, the rally itself - the most important political speech of the year - will proceed as planned at the University Cultural Centre tonight. 'Invited guests are advised to arrive at the original appointed time,' said the statement.

Close to 1,700 MPs, civil servants and community leaders have been invited.

The rally will begin with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking in Malay at 6.45pm, followed by a speech in Mandarin. The English speech will be delivered at 8pm.

While the Malay and Mandarin speeches will still be telecast live tonight, the English one will not as the table tennis match is scheduled to start at 7.30pm.

The high-excitement game will star Singapore players Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu, who made history on Friday by beating South Korea to give Singapore a place in the finals today against China.

Prime Minister Lee had on Friday encouraged them to 'bring home a gold medal for Singapore'.

At the rally, the Prime Minister will discuss the state of the economy and the cost of living, said his press secretary Chen Hwai Liang. The impact of the Internet on Singapore society will be another highlight.

He will also focus on measures to encourage Singaporeans to marry and have children.

With the hope of an Olympic medal gripping Singapore, Mr Lee's decision to postpone the English telecast delighted many.

Sports-loving Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng said: 'The game is also about the spirit of Singapore.' Chuckling, he said he expected SMSes to fly around silently to update rally participants on the match.

Mr Max Chong, 50, executive director of a property company, is glad he will no longer be torn between watching the momentous game and the rally. 'Many of us would like to watch both,' he said.

Another fan of both match and rally, education consultant Ho Weng Hee, 46, had planned to focus on the rally while switching to the game every half-hour, or whenever the speech was not fully relevant to him.

'I was looking forward to the rally so I'm a little disappointed,' he said. 'But I can wait.'

siewhua@sph.com.sg