Govt engages young leaders to meet challenges

By Monica Kotwani, Channel NewsAsia,  6 Oct 2012

The government hopes to get a fresh perspective to national issues and challenges, as it engages Singaporeans in a national conversation through the INSPIRIT discussions.

The series of discussions involve Singapore's young leaders from the public and private sectors.

Some participants raised concerns over the gaps between targets and achievable results.

"The government's productivity target is 2 to 3 per cent per year, but unfortunately, we don't really seem to be hitting the mark," said one participant.

National Youth Council's outgoing chairman Chan Chun Sing said it is an ongoing challenge.

"If some of them are hitting below 3 per cent, what it means is that other sectors that can, must hit above 3 per cent to uplift the whole economy. It's not easy. This is an issue that's almost like running on a treadmill - you have never really arrived, and you will never really arrive, because it's a constant process," he said.

For others, it was about anticipating good labour management relations in the future.

Mr Chan said it is important to not get complacent about the trust and confidence these relationships have been built upon.

"Whether we can sustain another 30 to 40 years, the current working relationship, we must start from the assumption that it will not be (sustained). Sounds shocking right? Because only when you assume it will not be (the case) that you will start thinking about what will (be) required to sustain this relationship and improve upon it," he said.

It is the third dialogue session for these INSPIRIT members who had also previously discussed issues such as Singapore's transport system, as well as ways of reintegrating ex-offenders back into the community.

This dialogue and learning journey also comes at a time when the government is engaging various segments of the community as part of the Singapore conversation.

Nadia Yeo, a lawyer and participant, said: "The interesting thing about this INSPIRIT conversation is that it gives you a guided tour of a problem (that society faces)... before bringing the participants into a room to discuss, and to troubleshoot ways of solving it."

Ng Xiao Jia, a HR specialist and participant, said: "When we attend such sessions, we actually see that there is a lot of planning that needs to take place... and you start to think about how you can also contribute."

Incoming National Youth Council chairman Lawrence Wong said: "Any suggestions that are put forward, any feedback that we receive, we will take it back to the main secretariat that is staffing the national conversation... because we can't have a national conversation with just one committee - it has to be multiple efforts."

Mr Wong said the National Youth Council will facilitate more discussions involving the young.