It was a positive year both for the country and the people. The economy is churning at a speed unheard of since the roaring 1980s and unemployment is almost at zero percentage. The good old years are back once again!

The Prime Minister brought much confidence back to a nation that has gone through the abyss years of the late 1990s when everything that could go wrong did.

I am also glad that he has pledged to tackle the three challenges head-on: health care, transport and education. These are issues that will affect the lives of the average Singaporeans.

I am also personally affected by the health-care issue as my mum recently was discharged from the hospital because of stroke. She also lived for a while in a rehabilitation care hospital.

We could place our mum in a standard B2 public hospital ward and for a 30-over-day stay - the charges were very affordable. All of it was paid through our CPF Medisave. The original bill was almost $11,000 but we only paid less than $3,000 after all the subsidies.

I dread to think how much we would have to pay if means testing was effected on us. I am sure the bill would be double if not triple and all our CPF from Medisave would be wiped out through just one long hospital stay.

Re: transport. I take the MRT daily to and from home and find it very convenient. However, most of the trips are jam-packed and I wish that trains could be more frequent though I know the MRT authorities have being doing their best to speed up frequency.

I also have a young daughter now studying in Secondary Two and already we are saving up for her overseas education. Being dyslexic, we felt that she has little chance of excelling in this pressure-cooker educational environment.

Her results, though excellent by our standard, will in no way allow her to compete with many others who perform way ahead of her.

Our judgment is that she will only be able to gain admission into one of the polytechnics and only if she tries very hard. A university education, based on today's entry criteria, will continue to elude her. An overseas university education seems the only possible way for any higher learning opportunity for her.

Lastly, I applaud PM Lee's efforts to tackle issues that affect the common people. It is when the Government decides to engage its populace actively that it stays relevant and popular.

Gilbert Goh Keow Wah

Hubei, China