ASEAN Drug Victims Remembrance Day during 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters (AMMD) – Statement by Ms Sim Ann, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Chair, and Fellow AMMD Leaders,

1. Thank you for giving me the floor.

2. Across our region, drug abuse is rising at a concerning rate. One of the most worrisome developments is the increasingly early onset of drug abuse among young people - a trend that threatens to destroy the futures of our youth, but also the long-term health of our people.

3. In Singapore, the youngest drug abuser arrested in 2025 was just 12 years old; and half of new abusers were below 30 years of age. To tackle the problem of drug abuse among youths, we established the Inter-Ministry Committee on Drug Prevention for Youths in 2023. The Committee recognises the harms that drug abuse brings to individuals, families and communities, and set aside a day to remember the victims of drug abuse. Since 2023, the Drug Victims Remembrance Day is observed annually on the third Friday of May in Singapore. It serves as a day of reflection and a collective reminder that drug abuse is never without victims. Its impact extends well beyond abusers, affecting their loved ones and the society at large.

4. The Drug Victims Remembrance Day has helped raise public awareness of the mental and physical harm that drugs inflict on individuals, families and the community. Building on this experience, we proposed extending the initiative to ASEAN so that the region can jointly commemorate and reflect on the far-reaching harms of drug abuse, and rally community support for a shared anti-drug vision in the region, which has been affected greatly by the scourge of illicit drugs.

5. We are grateful to all ASEAN Member States for endorsing and adopting the ASEAN Drug Victims Remembrance Day concept at the Ministerial level. ASEAN marked the inaugural Remembrance Day in June this year, and we sincerely thank Member States for your support, whether by sharing human-interest stories, attending the exhibition in Singapore, or commemorating the event in your respective countries.

6. Before I end, I wish to share a short video ↗ (opens in new tab), produced by Singapore, as part of our efforts to commemorate ASEAN Drug Victims Remembrance Day. Thank you.