Our Children, Their Hopes and Future

Mr Koh Choon Hui, Chairman, Singapore Children’s Society
Associate Professor John Elliott, Vice-Chairman, Research and Advocacy Standing Committee, Singapore Children’s Society,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I am delighted to be here to deliver the 10th Singapore Children’s Society lecture. Over the last 64 years, the Society has been a leading organisation in helping children in Singapore. It is a privilege for me to deliver this milestone lecture.

2. Last year, Singapore celebrated its own milestone with SG50. We honoured our pioneers for building Singapore up from the mudflats to become a metropolis. They had a vision, worked hard for it, and made it a reality. Singapore is what it is today, because of our resilient pioneers, many of whom are here as well. Now, this baton has been passed on to us and to our children to carry on this legacy.

3. Hence, today, I want to talk about the future and those who will lead us into the next century – our youth, our children. I want to talk about what their dreams are, and what values and attitudes they need to have in order to make these dreams a reality.

Our youth's aspirations

4. We should first ask: what do our youths want?

5. We do regular surveys on a whole gamut of youth-related issues. In the most recent National Youth Survey, we saw, at the top of the list, that “maintaining strong family relationships” was the number one life goal, followed by “having a place of my own.” But wait, look further down, and you’ll see that “getting married” and “having children” ranked quite a distance lower. Does that mean that they want to stay close to their family, emotionally but not physically; and are also not that keen to start a family of their own? At this point in time, I’d like to share an exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. I met Danny Tan of HipVan recently. Danny has been involved in starting up many of these new online businesses with Zalora and so on, and he started HipVan, which is an online merchandiser for furniture. His aspiration was to be the IKEA of the future and at that price points. And I asked him, “Tell me one policy change that you’d like to have.” And he said that, “You know, we should give young people who are not married a subsidised house.” So I said, “Why do you say that?” He said that, “Our young people in Singapore, somehow they are very much attached to their family. When we need them to work overtime, they say ‘No I have to go back and have dinner with my mother. My mother said so.’” And they are worrying too much about maintaining those relationships that perhaps, they are tilting a little bit more towards the ‘life’ part of ‘work-life balance’ that is desirable for an entrepreneur like him. A few other IT start-up entrepreneurs were there, and they echoed the same sentiments. So I was quite interested to hear from them further, and when I saw these survey results, again, I think it sort of corroborates with what they are saying. After these first two life goals, next came some of the “physiological” ones as defined by Maslow – to “acquire new skills and knowledge”, “to have a successful career” and “to earn lots of money”. “Helping the less fortunate” and “to contribute to society” are not in the top five unfortunately, although 9 of out 10 said that “helping the less fortunate” and “contributing to society” were important life goals. We also saw that only 1 in 10 youth saw migrating to another country as a very important life goal, which tells us that the vast majority of our youth see Singapore as their home.

6. In short, our youth want to lead a comfortable life, surrounded by family and friends, in a caring Singapore. What does this survey inform us about the work we need to do in MCCY? How do we prepare our youth for the future given these data points?

The need to be a global city

7. First, we need to project into the future and take a view of Singapore’s position in the world of the future. What will the future be and how would Singapore be doing? To answer these questions, I will describe two cities.

8. The first city is one that is disconnected from the world. This city is stable and predictable. Its national identity is fully formed because there are no new influences to affect it. Its labour force is aging and fossilising. The economy is entirely internal, only serving domestic needs with citizens that only buy and sell goods and services with one other.

9. Then there is a second city. This is a global city connected to the world, which brings about a certain amount of instability and unpredictability into it. The movement of people in and out of the country brings new ideas and talents, yet disrupts norms and established practices. The Internet brings in global influences to challenge current norms and forces the city’s identity to adapt. It is exposed to the global marketplace and the accompanying headwinds and competition. Its economy must keep changing to be relevant to the global value chains. Its workforce must continually reskill to be relevant to the marketplace.

10. It is obvious that the first city model describes very few cities or countries in the world today. And the few that fit the description will not make your list of most exciting cities to visit or to work in. Such a city will not offer the opportunities or the future that our young people dream of. And it is not a suitable model for us. For a country that has the value of trade several times its GDP, a country that hosts financial services, legal and accounting services for the region, we cannot pull the plug on the global economy or refuse to participate in it. More importantly, Singapore needs to innovate to grow. And innovation will be disruptive and will require adaptation. Singapore is in many ways the city described in Model 2. Because of our limited natural resources and our small domestic market, and a high standard of living, Singapore needs to continue to be this city.

11. People in other parts of the world are saying that they want a future that is like the first city – more protected and with less disruption. Perhaps they say this without realising the consequences of it. All over the world, we are seeing politicians, perhaps reflecting the mood of the people, moving away from globalisation and international trade, and towards greater nationalism and protectionism. We saw it with Brexit earlier this year where income inequality (between rural UK and London, between blue and white collar, between the educated and the not so), inadequate social services, and political disconnect have resulted in an outcome that ultimately divides the society along age lines. Young people want a Great Britain that is part of the European Union, while the rest of the country wants to be great on its own.

12. The episode offers us many lessons. We want a Singapore that meets the aspirations of all segments of the society and yet thrives in the global economy. Is that possible? It is not an easy undertaking, but it is possible as we have done so in the past decades. Connecting with the populace, understanding aspirations, shaping values, and explaining the consequences of our policies are what keep our Government busy. I will not dwell deeper into this topic as it is not the focus of today’s talk. But I would like to register the point that as a responsible Government, we do not merely subject to popular wants. We have to provide leadership in steering the populace towards a future with the best outcome, and with the most options for our children.

13. Our surveys tell us our youths face stressors as people elsewhere – uncertainty about the future  – uncertain about jobs, about their financials and about whether they can support the families in the future. They also have to live up to parental expectations, and technological and societal changes have promoted an instant gratification mind set.

14. How best to prepare our youth to take advantage of our place in the world, to meet the bumpy ride ahead? We need young people who are confident and thrive in uncertainties, who are resilient and do not fear failure and disruptions, who see opportunities amongst challenges, and who will create jobs in the future economy.

15. Our youth must be confident to face the global workforce. They must have the drive to compete, and the tenacity to pick themselves up when they fall. They must be lifelong learners and be ready to adapt to new technology and jobs that have yet to be conceived today. They must be able to work in teams, with people of all nationalities, and accommodate diversity. Do they have the following qualities?

Preparing our youth for this global future

An Enterprising Spirit

16. First, an enterprising spirit. This means being open to risks, daring to dream and push boundaries, and being confident and resilient enough to chase those dreams.

17. Our engagements with youths reveal they have certain expectations of the world, expectations that may not mesh with reality. Many are still caught up with pursuing a degree for the degree’s sake, when the reality is that skills are what really matters. Those in the workforce expect a predictable and steady rise upwards. However, the reality is that the new economy may be less predictable, with technological and business disruptions requiring the next generation to stay constantly nimble, not set in their ways.

18. Maybe in the future, human-driven cars will be a thing of the past. Maybe your mail will be delivered by drones. To compete and lead in the new global economy, our youth must be innovative and nimble to take advantage of new opportunities created by evolving technologies and the marketplace.

19. This is not just true for entrepreneurs. The enterprising spirit is not a vocation, but a frame of mind. You can be an accountant, a nurse, a lawyer, a technician and still carry in you an enterprising spirit. You can always look to see what works and what does not, strive to learn more and to adjust to make things work better.

20. And when past opportunities dry up, our youth must be willing to try something new. Their jobs will change and they probably will have to reskill themselves a few times through their working lives. They must be open to new experiences and have an attitude of lifelong learning.

21. The Government has taken steps to encourage the spirit of experimentation and resilience by providing resources and opportunities. And here I must pause and say that we are always in a dilemma. Do we provide more and more and more, with the hope that the youth will expect less and less and less? Or are we merely reinforcing expectations? It’s a very tough choice to make. We have programmes to expose our students to entrepreneurship as early as at the primary school level. We are developing a start-up ecosystem that includes a start-up hub – Launchpad @ one-north. *SCAPE, at Somerset, is a vibrant youth hangout that also supports several youth entrepreneurs.

22. Our Youth Corps Leaders’ Programme, which aims to develop 1,000 youth leaders per year by 2018, challenges young leaders to identify, frame and tackle social issues, thus enabling them to apply their problem solving skills. These real-life experiences give youths a chance to stretch their minds, to make mistakes, and to learn. I’ll talk more about the Youth Corps Leaders’ Programme later.

23. Our research has also shown that being involved also makes one more confident and more willing to contribute to one’s community, as you can see in this slide. When we are involved in something larger than ourselves, we develop a sense of belonging and rootedness to our community. So we should encourage our youths to get out there, explore and get involved in something that they’re passionate about, and to contribute to the society.

24. But parents and educators must also change their minds and embrace experimentation in order to let our young take more risks.

25. Let me give an example that is well known to everyone, and that’s Yip Pin Xiu. I think most of us would know her journey to sports excellence is a tough and long, arduous one. She recently won two Gold medals at the Rio Paralympics. What is less well known is that she is a student in SMU. She had taken one-year leave from the university to train full time and focus fully on swimming. And her performance in the water has inspired the whole nation. Pin Xiu, and her parents, could have taken the established path of pursuing her studies and a job thereafter. Her choice of pathway involved risks and sacrifices. When she first started this journey, the probability of a medal was not as high as it is today. So when she first started out, like many of our elite athletes, it’s a dream goal that they’re reaching. And to take that first step, to put aside something that is more established, like a university degree and a job, and go for something that has risk, I think it speaks something about Pin Xiu. Her choice has given the nation much more. Her impact will last much longer than the sound of our anthem “Majulah Singapura” in the stadium. Her impact on the society – on making Singapore more inclusive and inspiring persons with disabilities to take up sports – will go a long way. I am glad that her parents had the courage to support her in her choice to pursue competitive swimming at the expense of her studies. Speaking from someone who’s had many discussions with persons with disabilities and their families – many of the families actually take on a more protective stance for their members with disabilities, because of the fear of subjecting them to embarrassment and the stigma of failure. So for them to take up sports and to be out there competing, with or without a chance of winning a medal, takes a lot of courage and confidence. This is really what we are trying to illustrate through this example, of someone like Pin Xiu who’s put aside an established path and pursue the unknown.
    
    Curiosity
    
    

26.  The next attitude that youth must have is being curious about the world. This means that they should be interested in events that are happening around them, in international issues that may affect them, about other cultures, about our culture, and about how the world develops around Singapore and how it would have an impact on us. They must be comfortable with diversity and differences. This will provide the knowledge required to operate in the global economy.

27. When I speak with business leaders, they sometimes tell me that Singaporeans make good middle managers, but to make the breakthrough for the top “C” positions, the CEOs, the CFOs, the CIOs, the COOs and so on, Singaporeans are less willing to take up an overseas posting or a regional role that require frequent travelling and managing people from other parts of Asia. Singaporeans thrive in a stable and efficient setting, but lack the agility in one that is less. To be the business head of Asia-Pacific or at global companies, you will need to communicate and work with the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Indonesians, and so on. To do so, you need to understand their cultures, their values and attitudes, and their perspectives of things that are shaped by histories and customs. You need to have a finger on the pulse on the geo-political development in their countries so that you can manage the business risks. Many of these skills are not found in textbooks and definitely not in a tuition centre. It will require a curious mind, observant eyes, and culturally sensitive speech.

28. The Government supports, for example through IE Singapore, our businesses in venturing abroad. IE Singapore provides rich networks and knowledge about key overseas markets. But learning about all these, about cultural issues, about interpersonal skills and so on, must start from young.

29. Through our schools, we expose our children and youth through global exchanges and learning journeys. Our cultural institutions such as our museums are excellent resources and many of our primary and secondary school students go on learning journeys to the National Museum of Singapore, the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Singapore Art Museum, and the new National Gallery Singapore. The exhibits make history and culture more real and tangible, and students become aware of the wider world, and also Singapore’s place in it. For instance, at the Asian Civilisations Museum, students learn about the cultures of China, India, and our immediate region, and relate these to Singapore’s own diverse heritage. This understanding helps them to become confident global citizens.

30. Parents and educators can influence minds by actively seeking to learn about the world, and bring learning beyond textbooks and examinable subjects, keep ourselves updated on world news and current affairs, and think how global events will affect us – not only in terms of our economy but also on our culture and identity. We have to inculcate this from young and nurture in our youth, the curiosity that will make them leaders of the future.
    
    Sense of rootedness and community
    
    

31.  The third mind set, in order for Singapore to succeed as a nation, is a sense of rootedness, and responsibility to our community.

32. Collectively, we need to think and act as one Singapore as we face the future. The successful ones among our youths must contribute to creating jobs in Singapore, leading the rest of Singaporeans and caring for the less successful. I spoke about how in other societies there has been a backlash against globalisation. This happens when there is no shared prosperity. I read an article in the New York Times last week . They interviewed a worker in the Netherlands, working for Maersk, the Danish shipping company. He said, “More global trade is a good thing if we get a piece of the cake, but that’s the problem. We’re not getting our piece of the cake”. This is a simple truth. When the gains of global exchange are not felt to be shared fairly, people will feel resentment and anger, and societal bonds will begin to fracture.

33. Singapore cannot have such a split. The Government is committed to ensuring that all Singaporeans benefit from our economic progress although we cannot guarantee equal outcome. We want all Singaporeans to have equal opportunities and enjoy a decent standard of living. But it is not enough for the Government to do this on its own. This must be supported by all Singaporeans.

34. We are only willing to support each other if we see each other as part of the same family and see Singapore as our shared home. What builds this connection is genuine investment of our time, actions, feelings, and emotions into Singapore and other Singaporeans. Each Singaporean must know that they have stake in Singapore, and that they must contribute to it. It is not just a place to visit or reside in, but it is a place in which they have a sense of duty and responsibility.

35. We have programmes to help our youth form bonds with each other and with society. For example, this year we announced the new National Outdoor Adventure Education Master Plan, which Professor John Elliot has alluded to. As part of this, from 2020, all secondary 3 students will go through a five-day Outward Bound camp. They will go through individual and team activities such as abseiling and flying fox. There will be land and water-based expeditions such as cycling, urban trekking, sailing, and kayaking. And there will also be facilitated reflection sessions to foster self-discovery. These activities will build confidence, resilience, and teamwork. And to be honest, when we first mooted this idea, we were aware about the values that it will bring. We were very convinced that it will be good for our young people, but we were also reminded quite quickly about the risks involved. What if a child falls? What if a child gets injured, and so on? And that’s where I think you can help us as well – believe in these core principles of why we are doing this, and help us manage the risks. Part of this programme is to subject our children to some risk, so that they can be resilient, so that they can be physically agile. So risk is unavoidable; we will manage it as much as we can. But to do an Outward Bound in a totally risk-free environment would be an oxymoron, and it’s not something that we would encourage.

36. This five-day camp will give all our Singaporeans a shared experience, much like NDP has been for our P5 students, so that all Singaporean youths, after we have started this programme, can talk about their OBS experience. It is also important that our youth make friends with peers from different backgrounds. So the camp will mix students across schools.

37. Beyond building bonds, we also provide pathways for our youth to develop and act on a sense of service. The Youth Corps provides a range of programmes ranging from ad hoc community service events to regular volunteering programmes. Through the programme, our youth can step up to become service leaders – from first being a participant in a project, to becoming a coordinator, and eventually becoming a leader and mentor. The National Youth Council (NYC) also offers the Youth Expedition Project grant scheme that supports youth to embark on service-learning projects in ASEAN, China, India, and here in Singapore.

38. NYC regularly organises platforms for youth to come together and ideate on co-creating a better Singapore. These sessions give them the chance to hear and understand different viewpoints from different Singaporeans, so that they can come together to develop a common view of Singapore’s future. Through these discussions, they find common reference points and ways of resolving differences. Where they can, they find mutual interests, where they cannot, they learn to compromise for a common good. This is important if we are going to be united and resilient as a country.39. What Singapore Children’s Society has been doing for the community, is very much aligned with this part of our narrative about building a caring society. I would urge you to also focus on creating more volunteering opportunities as we see the process of “giving”, in other words getting volunteers to step forward to “give”, as equally important a process in shaping the values of our young people, as the process of the needy segment “receiving” help. So from MCCY’s perspective, we are putting more emphasis on the segment that is giving, and we would like to have more opportunities for Singaporeans to give in a very hands-on and action-oriented way.

Conclusion

39. I have spoken about three mind sets and values that our youth need to have – an enterprising spirit and eagerness to dream; a curious mind and willingness to learn; and a sense of rootedness and community. Enterprise and curiosity will help our youth acquire the tools to succeed in the global marketplace. The sense of community will provide meaning to their endeavours. With these values, they will achieve their goal of living fulfilling lives in a caring and cohesive Singapore.

40. Instilling these values is a shared responsibility between all of us – the government, the youth themselves, their families, and our society at large. My challenge to all of you working with youth and children is to create environments conducive to the development of these attributes. Promote creativity, an openness to risk and experimentation, a respect for lifelong learning, and the strength to bounce back from adversity. Do more to expose our youth to the world and make them curious. And always remind them of their responsibilities to their fellow Singaporeans.

41. If we do this right, not only will our children and youth find their way in the world, they will also become the leaders of tomorrow.

42. Thank you very much for your attention.