SINGAPORE - An image of the iconic New World Amusement Park, replicas of old coffee shops and snacks like kacang puteh (mixed nuts), Nonya kueh and punugulu (fritters) were part of the nostalgic set up next to Commonwealth MRT Station on Sunday (July 7).

About 2,000 Merdeka Generation residents from Tanjong Pagar GRC and Radin Mas were taken on a walk down memory lane at an event to thank them for their contributions.

They were also treated to dinner and a musical segment featuring songs of the past, before joining in to sing a Merdeka Generation song composed for the event, together with their MPs - Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and Education Indranee Rajah, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Mr Melvin Yong, Ms Joan Pereira - as well as former MP Koo Tsai Kee.

Mr Chan said in a speech that the Merdeka Generation and Pioneer Generation displayed an exemplary spirit which is unique to Singapore, and it is the duty of the younger generation to continue to help Singapore do even better.

He added that although some Singaporeans may be anxious about the current global situation, the trade war and disruption, the challenges of today "pale in comparison with the life and death struggles the Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation have gone through".

"If the Pioneer Generation and the Merdeka Generation have shown us the way of what can be done with so little, to leave us with so much, then there is absolutely no reason for us in the younger generation not to be able to do as much - if not more - for this generation and the next," he said.