Building a culture of philanthropy in Singapore for a better society for all

Mr Dorjee Sun, Director Nexus Singapore, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. It’s a pleasure to be here for the inaugural Nexus Singapore Youth Summit. Nexus brings together individuals who are committed to making a difference. So I’m encouraged it has made its way to Singapore, and I hope these three days will be meaningful and inspiring for all of you.
   

A fair and inclusive society

2. It’s important that through platforms like this, young people like yourselves come together to discuss and think about how you can make a positive impact in your own societies and in the world around us.

3. Some of you may be aware that a book called “Capital in the 21st Century” recently made its way to the international best-seller list. It’s a rare accomplishment for an academic book bristling with technical footnotes.

4. The book captures the central issue of our times – the spectre of rising inequality, a problem which is testing social systems all over the world.

5. The book goes as far as to argue that a tendency towards wealth accumulation and concentration and it is an inevitable by-product of the workings of the capitalist system. It’s not without its share of controversy, and not everyone agrees with its analysis or even policy prescriptions. But it has contributed to an important debate on issues around the long-run function of the market system.

6. The fact is that the consequences of globalisation and rapid automation are increasingly devastating for workers without the requisite skills – and this includes not just low-skilled blue-collar jobs but also more and more white-collar jobs. This is why established approaches to economic and social policy are being questioned, and new solutions are being sought.

7. We are all grappling for answers about how to preserve a fair and inclusive society. Clearly, the government can help to shape the outcome, and it’s important to have the right policies and incentives, particularly through a progressive system of taxes and subsidies. But government policies are only part of the solution.

8. We cannot think about a fair and inclusive society purely in monetary terms, or in terms of redistribution. It must involve the community – to engage the human spirit, to provide personal fulfilment and to strengthen collective well-being. It must strengthen the culture of responsibility for one another, so that we all feel a sense of duty to one another and not just a right to the benefits of citizenship.
   

Philanthropy as part of the solution

9. In this respect, I believe that philanthropy must be an integral part of the solution in evolving and strengthening our model of capitalism for the future.

10. Philanthropy has the potential to mitigate inequality, and soften the hard edges of the free market. It provides a mechanism to dismantle the accumulated wealth tied to the past, and reinvest it to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of the future.

11. So this must be an important part of whatever model of capitalism in the future. Through this recycling of wealth, philanthropy creates social stability and opportunity for those who have to be helped to the starting line. This is an important part of the social contract that continuously nurtures and revitalises our society. In other words, with a new model of organising ourselves economically and socially, I would like to see an environment where individuals are free to generate and accumulate wealth, but on premise that wealth must be recycled and invested back into society to expand opportunity for others.

12. Of course the idea of philanthropy itself is not new. Charity and alms giving is as old as civilisation. Patronage of the arts has been going on for centuries. In the US, for example, there is a long tradition of philanthropy.

13. America’s great capitalists of the 19th century, like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller, amassed enormous wealth but they also gave generously. The fruits of their philanthropy can be seen across the country, from hospitals, schools and universities to museums, orchestras and a range of cultural institutions.

14. So philanthropy has been with us for a long time. But what is new is the strategic application of philanthropy to create opportunity and to help build a fairer and more inclusive society.

15. We see more of such behaviour among today’s billionaires and philanthropists like Bill Gates and ebay founder Pierre Omidyar. They have taken a much more focused approach in their philanthropic giving, to create a bigger impact for their beneficiaries. They go beyond writing cheques and providing financial support. Instead they are social entrepreneurs and innovators of opportunity. They look to where society is most in need and create networks and institutions to achieve these goals.

16. Young philanthropists like all of you are following in these footsteps. That’s why I’m glad that the theme of the Summit brings together this nexus of philanthropy, impact investing and social entrepreneurship. And it’s particularly encouraging to see the renewed interest in these topics emerging not just in America, but also across Asia.

17. Take for example a story I read recently on Francis Ngai, a Hong Kong marketing executive. Francis was a member of the 30s Group – a forum for young professionals who wanted to do more than donate to charities.  They initiated “Social Ventures Hong Kong”, which mobilises the resources of family foundations and individuals for investment in social enterprises and non-profits.

18. One of their ventures Diamond Cabs, a taxi service for wheelchair users, illustrates the impact of philanthropy in stimulating innovative ideas. Since its founding, the company has served at least 58,000 wheelchair bookings. Today, Diamond Cabs is a sustainable and viable business that makes a positive impact on the community.
    

Growing a culture of giving in Singapore

19. In Singapore, we are also seeing a rising trend of philanthropic giving. Our philanthropic tradition started with our early immigrants who came here in search of a new world of opportunities.

20. Those who went from rags to riches took it upon themselves to give back to society and help the immigrants who came after them. Where there were no temples or mosques, they donated and raised resources to build them. Where schools were needed, they established them to enable the next generation to benefit from the education that they themselves had missed.

21. This sense of strong mutual support remains today. We have buildings and school faculties like the Lee Kong Chian School of Business in SMU, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in NUS, and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital – all named after their major donors. We also have several family foundations – like the Shaw, Tsao and Lien Foundations, to name a few – that are actively involved in philanthropy.

22. So we are gradually becoming a giving nation. I see nowadays many more young Singaporeans undertaking volunteer work, whether in causes they feel passionately about like protecting the environment or in humanitarian work around the world.

23. There is potential to do much more, and I believe we are on the right track and making progress. Your interest in philanthropy and presence of so many young Singaporeans at this summit is one indicator that we are moving in the right direction.

24. The Government will do its part to nurture this culture of philanthropy in Singapore. For example, we’ve helped to set up the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre here, and the Community Foundation of Singapore to offer advice for individuals wishing to support worthy causes, and where feasible, pool funds from multiple donors so as to manage them more efficiently.

25. Next year, we celebrate our Golden Jubilee in Singapore. It’s our 50th anniversary of independence and it’s an important occasion. But we want it to be an occasion not just for big parties or celebrations, but we’ve launched a national fund-raising and volunteerism movement. Under this “Care and Share” movement, the Government will contribute $250 million in matching grants to double the impact of every contribution to the social service sector, and encourage donations to charities. So altogether, we aim to raise $500 million to help our VWOs improve capabilities, and to provide social service programmes to better serve the disadvantaged groups.

26. There are also many opportunities for giving back through other sectors, like the arts and sports. Through the Cultural Matching Fund, my Ministry provides matching grants for private donations to arts and heritage charities. Another programme is SportCares, which works with volunteers and donors from corporates, educational institutions and community organisations, to improve the lives of underprivileged children, at-risk youth and other groups, through sporting and life-skills programmes. The impact you see in them quite amazing. Some come in demoralised, but as they go through programmes, interact with athletes, and start participating in sports, they have a goal to aim for and they feel more motivated. We are doing this across different sports. Football is popular and we have a Saturday night football programme where the kids come and play regularly. Track and field is also starting to pick up. In fact, I ran with a team for the marathon last year. Not the full marathon but an Ekiden category where we run relays. And they did very well. Some of them may indeed have the potential to be high performance athletes.

27. These are just some of the schemes we have in place today. We aim to progressively strengthen them, and I invite you to share with us your inputs and suggestions on what more we can do to build a nation-wide culture of giving.

28. Ultimately, we want more Singaporeans to donate and give back, according to their means and from their heart. So I hope you will join us to be our advocates and ambassadors. Through our collective efforts, we can build our own tradition of philanthropy in Singapore, and keep our social fabric strong and vibrant.

Conclusion

29. All of you are here today because you have a heart for giving. You have taken an interest in causes beyond yourselves and have taken active steps to get involved in the community.

30. This is exactly what a fair and inclusive society is built upon – people who are driven by compassion, conviction and passion to pursue a higher calling, to build a better society for all. So I believe the future of philanthropy is in good hands.

31. On this note, I hope that over the course of the Summit, you will find much inspiration and opportunities to learn from and collaborate with one another. I hope you can continue to be role models to your peers, family, friends and business associates, and through your acts of giving, encourage them to be a part of this important endeavour. Thank you.