By Rachel Chang, The Sunday Times, 3 Mar 2013
The Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) exercise entered its second phase yesterday; it now seeks to explore in greater depth where things must change to meet Singaporeans' values and aspirations.
Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, who heads the mass engagement exercise, told The Sunday Times that participants in the first phase had raised some values and aspirations that "point to a future where we need to do some things different from the present".
This must be examined further in the second phase, he said, adding that he was heartened by how Singaporeans have come together through the national conversation thus far, and that he looked forward to exploring the topics in greater depth during its next stage.
Yesterday's dialogue gave a glimpse of how the OSC exercise will try to break new ground in its second act, after a first phase of open-ended, exploratory focus group sessions.
In those "citizens' dialogues", participants could air whatever was on their minds.
Over three months, these threw up perspectives that the OSC secretariat summarised into 12 elements of what Singaporeans want, ranging from "A Singapore with a more fulfilling pace of life" to "A Singapore for Singaporeans".
In contrast, yesterday's session brought together 50 participants to discuss one specific question: "How might we create hope and opportunity for all Singaporeans?"
This is one of three broad questions that the second phase is structured around.
The other two are "How might we build a home where all Singaporeans feel a sense of belonging?" and "How might we care for our fellow Singaporeans?"
Each dialogue in this second phase will be focused on one of the questions. Within each question are four sub-questions. Participants in the dialogues will be grouped according to which sub- question they pick before attending.
Civil servant Yee Lai Fong, 43 - who is married to a jazz musician - picked "How might we broaden our definitions of success?" at yesterday's session at the National Library.
This topic, she said, resonates with her family.
Over the course of her morning, her group came up with three big answers to their question.
They were to showcase the stories of those who have gone off the beaten track, to remove the barriers to making a good living for those who do not pick conventional careers, and to recognise the value of different jobs, from the carpenter to the electrician.
Madam Yee, who attended a phase one dialogue last December, said that she appreciated the chance to go deeper into a topic that is close to her heart.
"I realised that the change must start with me," she said. "If my daughters don't make it to junior college or don't want to go, I, as a parent, will say, that's fine."
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