FOR Minister of State Goh Pei Ming, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s call for a “we first” society brought back first-hand memories of Singaporeans uniting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Volunteers gave out face masks and hand sanitisers, distributing food to the houses of our seniors,” recalled MOS Goh. “Even the younger volunteers, they said to the senior ones [during the distributions]: This one, we’ll take for the team. You rest. Don’t expose yourself to this.”
“It’s the consideration for, and taking care of, one another that I found was very precious. We need to have more,” he continued. “If you’re able to have more of that on a daily basis, that would be very heartwarming, and that’ll change the texture of society.”
From left: MP Shawn Loh, MOS Dinesh Vasu Dash, MOS Goh Pei Ming and MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi
MOS Goh, a longtime volunteer himself, was speaking at the PAP Public Policy Forum’s (PPF) “Conversation on National Day Rally 2025” event earlier this month (7 Sept). He was on a question-and-answer panel alongside MOS Dinesh Vasu Dash, MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi (Nee Soon GRC) and MP Shawn Loh (Jalan Besar GRC)
“The Public Policy Forum is one of the platforms where we engage our volunteers and our friends, so that you have the opportunity to engage directly with the decision-makers of the day,” said MP Loh, who was event moderator. “I’m very happy to hear it was not just fully-attended, but it was actually over-subscribed!”
A total of about 170 PAP activists, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) representatives, and Friends of the PAP attended the PPF event, which was opened by PPF Chairperson Chee Hong Tat, Minister for National Development.
“What is very good in our society is [..] a sufficiently high level of trust so that we can have those very open, honest conversations with one another,” said Minister Chee.
“We will tell our people candidly. We will tell you what the issue is. What are the challenges? What are the concerns? What are our options? What are the trade-offs? And then we find a solution to move forward.”
Giving youths a platform, and firm grounding
A teenaged activist asked how we are preparing our young people for a working world that is being changed with artificial intelligence (AI).
“Your core values need to stay firm,” responded MP Syed. “That needs to be the basis of the decision-making that each and every young person will need.”
“These are things such as self-awareness, understanding yourself, the ability to self-regulate and self-manage yourself, [and] social awareness in terms of what it is that society needs from you,” he continued about having firm moral grounding in a shifting world. “We’re pivoting above and beyond the key knowledge and curriculum. It’s really about making sure that our kids stand tall.”
MP Syed also fielded a follow-up question on how to get more youth involved in the community.
The youth identities of today are not those of the 1960s and 1970s, pointed out MP Syed. Nor are these identities homogenous.
“You have youth who are between 15 to 20 [years old], 20 to 25, 25 to 30. Young parents navigating their challenges as well,” he said. “Keep having an open mind. We need to be able to understand what platforms, as well as what areas they have an interest in. And also be able to stitch that into nation-building, to lend a voice to them.”
“I’m currently the Deputy Chair for Young PAP. If there’s any ideas that come from the ground, please reach out to us.” added MP Syed about youth empowerment. “It cuts across all ages of youth — they do care for society. They want to be heard. They want to be able to lend a voice to what their concerns are. So feel free to reach out to us.”
Scaling up job opportunities for Singaporean workers
Older participants also shared their concerns over AI disrupting jobs — what exactly can Singaporeans and the Government do during this change?
“At the individual level, I think one needs to skill up quick,” said MOS Dinesh. “Figure out what is the area that you’re interested in. There will always be other opportunities as far as the economy is concerned.”
“Our healthcare sector is actually growing,” he added, referring to caregiving jobs. “There could be other areas, where you need the human touch. And it’s difficult for AI bots to undertake a more physical contact type of job [such as] physiotherapists, caregivers, ComCare associates and so on.”
The PAP Government works closely with our brothers and sisters from the NTUC to prevent mass redundancies from at-risk sectors, said MOS Dinesh.
“When the hospitality sector was down and when aircraft were not flying, many [aviation professionals] pivoted to healthcare.” said MOS Dinesh, referring to COVID-era pivots.
“So we have to then further map out and see which are the sectors that are similar. We help them pivot when there’s a need for us to do so, so as to reduce the retrenchments as much as we can.”
The PAP Government is actively building new strategies to get Singaporeans through the weakening global economy.
“That’s a popular discussion at Government level. We have just set up the ESR, the Economic Strategy Review committees,” said MOS Dinesh. “The five committees that are formed under the ESR will help to then determine what is the pathway that we have.”
Each of the ESR committees has a unique focus, whether on global competitiveness, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship, human capital or managing the impact of restructuring.
“And the Economic Strategy Review committees look at these from a holistic perspective, taking maybe a 10- to 20-year range,” said MOS Dinesh. “That’s the benefit of the PAP Government, because we have the ability to look at it for the long haul.
“Make no mistake, the next 60 years — just like the last 60 years — will not be all smooth sailing,” said Minister Chee, noting the usefulness of the PPF’s events in bringing a cross-section of society together to highlight and tackle problems facing the nation.
“There will be periods of ups and downs. There will be difficult challenges that we will need to confront, and we will need to do it together as one united people.”
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Contact Young PAP here: yp@pap.org.sg
