INSPIRIT - New group hopes to develop youth interest in issues

By Tay Suan Chiang & Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 11 Apr 2012

THEY came together from diverse backgrounds - lawyers, researchers and civil society members - to discuss one of the hottest topics now - public transport.

But the group of 90 or so people who met last night at the SMRT Bishan Depot were not experienced pundits of public policy.

Aged 28 to 35, they were part of the 120-strong Inspirit, a new community co-founded by the National Youth Council (NYC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).



It seeks to bring young adult leaders together to advocate youth interest in national and community issues, and to champion youth causes. Currently, there are 120 members but the group hopes to recruit more people to its cause.

At last night's launch, the youth leaders talked about therole of land transport in daily life and current land transport issues in Singapore.

NYC chairman Chan Chun Sing, who is also the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said yesterday that through the group, he hoped to groom a generation of diverse leaders who 'not only have depth of experience in their own respective domains, but have a breath of perspectives from different domains'.

He added that in time to come, some of these youth leaders may take on leadership positions in Singapore politics.

He said: 'We want to draw political leaders from all walks of life. Some might come from this group.'

Last night, the youth leaders were given a tour of Bishan depot, before breaking up into groups of about 10 to 15 people.

Then, they gathered in a number of stationary train carriages to discuss topics such as the importance of land transport in Singapore, and what individuals could do to improve current problems like commuter congestion during peak travel hours.

This was followed by a second hour-long dialogue with Mr Chan, where the group discussed issues such as why two-wheelers and express train systems, which are popular overseas, may not take off in Singapore.

The gathering yesterday was the first of monthly or bi-monthly meetings being planned for the group.

Other topics for future discussion include health care, housing and the arts, the youth council said.

'If we all share the same common perspectives, then we can seek diverse solutions and be prepared to try something different,' said Mr Chan.

NYC director Ng Chun Pin said that discussions with the youth leaders were a way to 'go deeper' in discussing matters of public policy.

'After such discussions, we hope to go deeper by identifying the group of people who are interested to take a particular policy area further and engage them with the ministries and corporations,' he said.

'We also hope to filter out the voices of the youth on various policies like CPF (Central Provident Fund), health or housing.'

The young people took their roles seriously.

Ms Fang Eu-Lin, 33, a senior manager at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said she hoped to encourage more young people to volunteer with the elderly.

They could help clean their homes, or just keep them company, she said.

'I would like to advocate an interest in youth, build an awareness so they can see an unseen side to Singapore, which is the elderly, and see how they can help.'

And even though he is a year short of the official requirements to be part of this community, Mr Melvin Tan, 27, vice-president of youth engagement at CIMB Group, said that his age would help him reach out to other young people.

He said: 'Youth are better able to relate to other youth. I believe I can win them over.'