United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Half of Singaporeans today were born after independence. This post-1965 generation was roped in to draw up a national agenda for youth after a “youth” ministry was set up in August 2004. They shared their aspirations, formed workgroups to implement their ideas and in doing so, shaped their own future.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
“Youth: Creating Our Future” was the Government’s first large scale attempt to engage young Singaporeans to create and drive the national youth agenda. This took place when the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) broadened its focus to include the young people of Singapore and was hence renamed the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). In line with the Government’s vision of having young people contribute actively to their communities instead of merely being at the receiving end of policy decisions, the Government gave youth the opportunity to come up with their own agenda. To facilitate this, the Government put in place an effective and user-friendly system of gathering views from the public. Many different types of channels were set up to gather feedback from as many youth as possible, and these included focus group discussions, dialogue sessions, mass forums and youth-friendly feedback channels such as text messages, emails and websites. A dedicated website and email were set up to help galvanise the public consultation efforts. These enabled the youth to be engaged both broadly and deeply. In over 6 weeks, more than 2,000 youth from diverse backgrounds stepped forward to give their views. They came from a broad spectrum, including students, entrepreneurs, disabled youth, members from youth organisations and also overseas Singaporeans. Based on the feedback of the youth, the Government then invited those who gave feedback and other youth who were interested, to form workgroups to discuss and implement the ideas. This gave the youth not just a say in the policy, but also a stake by giving them a hand in policy-making, thinking through the issues, discussing the possibilities and coming up with the proposals. Based on these proposals, the Government then came in to give infrastructural and funding support to implement worthwhile ideas. “Youth: Creating Our Future” was a fruitful exercise that resulted in the birth and implementation of various youth programmes. These ranged from having a youth festival by youth for youth, a website dedicated to youth, to community spaces for the youth such as a space in the heart of the city dedicated to youth and a brand new skate park to further the aspirations of the extreme sports community. “Youth: Creating Our Future” has also gone on to become a role model for the civil service – as the Government moves into engaging its citizens more actively in policy-making, the experiences and lessons from “Youth: Creating Our Future” have been disseminated through the civil service as a case study for public engagement and policy making. The youth initiatives that were birthed during the exercise continue to grow and expand today. The momentum that was set in place in 2004 continues till today, and youth now have a recognised role in their contributions to Singapore.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
• 14 August 2004 - Launch of “Youth: Creating Our Future”. Feedback channels have been set up to collate the views of as many youth as possible. • 25 September 2004 – End of consultation exercise. • October 2004 – March 2005 – Formation of 4 youth workgroups to work on their proposals for implementation. These 4 workgroups were: o Youth Action: Making a difference through community involvement o Youth Connect: Identifying with the nation through youth participation o Youth Reloaded: Opportunities for all by supporting those who face greater challenges in life o Youth Biz: Nurturing young entrepreneurs • April 2005 to date: Implementation of youth programmes and projects.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Singapore saw a political leadership transition in August 2004 when Mr Lee Hsien Loong took over as Prime Minister. Among the priorities he spelt out in his inauguration address, he called on young Singaporeans to step forward to play an active role in shaping Singapore’s future. This signaled the Government’s intention to stay in tune with the needs and aspirations of young Singaporeans, and harness them as a positive force to play a greater role in our society. The Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) was renamed the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in August 2004, to include young Singaporeans under the direct purview of this Ministry. This reinforced the Government’s commitment towards young Singaporeans. Since this was a new direction for the country, the Government decided to engage youth themselves to draw up the national youth agenda. As the new MCYS Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan aptly put it on 14 August 2004, “We want young Singaporeans to organise, to act on their beliefs, to do something about it with their friends, communities, organisations, societies”. A three-phase youth engagement initiative was launched. The rallying call was ‘Youth: Creating Our Future’.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
PHASE ONE: Youth Outreach – the Engagement “There is a lot of potential to be tapped and it’s about opening the avenues to reach them” - MCYS Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, 14 August 2004 The objective of the first phase was simple – ask young Singaporeans how they want to shape the youth agenda, so that the Government can evaluate what can be done to help turn the ideas into fruition. The pressing target was to reach as many youth as possible and get them to express their aspirations. Three young Members of Parliament were roped in to spearhead the initiative as younger Singaporeans could identify with them. They were Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Dr Chong Weng Chiew and Ms Penny Low. MCYS tapped on various channels to reach out to the youth. The mass media publicised the initiative, while the Feedback Unit provided its extensive youth-friendly feedback channels such as websites, emails and text messaging for the youth to respond. A dedicated website and email were set up to keep the public informed and help galvanise the public consultation efforts. The Government thus made use of technology and means that were familiar to the youth in order to broaden the level of engagement. To make it an inclusive effort, views were received not just through emails and text messages, but also through numerous focus group discussions, dialogue sessions and mass forums. All these forums were chaired by the young MPs, and allowed for a more in-depth engagement with the youth. In over six weeks, over 2,000 youth from diverse backgrounds stepped forward to give their views. They came from a broad spectrum, including students, entrepreneurs, the disabled and members from youth organisations and even overseas Singaporeans. At the end of the consultation phase, a full report was published (Annex A). With this overwhelming response, the next step was to organise the ideas so that the youth can pursue their ideas further. The objective was to turn good ideas into new youth initiatives.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
PHASE TWO: Forming Workgroups – the Involvement To continue the process of youth engagement, youth were invited to be part of four thematic workgroups to look into issues relating to community involvement, national engagement, opportunities for all and youth entrepreneurship. The involvement process was a new experience for the Government. Moving on from the usual process of merely consulting, the formation of workgroups meant the involvement of youth who gave their views to follow through with their ideas. In all, 120 youth volunteered to be part of the four workgroups, namely  Youth Action: Making A Difference through community involvement  Youth Connect: Identifying with the Nation through youth participation  Youth Reloaded: Opportunities for All by supporting those who face greater challenges in life  Youth Biz: Nurturing Young Entrepreneurs In the spirit of youth empowerment, youth ‘role models’ from the people and private sector were invited to volunteer to chair the workgroups. From October 2004, the workgroups worked on their proposals and completed them by by March 2005. The selected proposals were highlighted to the media on 2 April 05. Members of the public were also invited to read and discuss the workgroups' proposals, converge around good proposals and actively pursue those that they can champion independently. MCYS also sent the proposals of the Youth Workgroups to the relevant Government agencies for their consideration and response. Of the 91 proposals, the majority have been accepted for implementation or been implemented. The full report of the workgroups and the government’s response are attached at Annexes B1-6 and C. “I was impressed by the 'wealth of energy, enthusiasm and ideas' from the young people, and the best part - it was not just talk. Young people had a new motivation to participate in the process, and in some cases, to make sure their ideas turned into reality”. - MCYS Parliamentary Secretary Mohamad Maliki Osman, 13 June 2005 PHASE THREE: Beyond Words to Action – the Implementation “The past year has shown us that our youths do care about the future and what goes on around them… They have opinions, ideas, and are prepared to stand up for these. A good many are inspired to turn talk into action… From designing their own community space to drawing up their own web space, from putting together an entire youth festival to assuming leadership roles by giving grants to other youth to do community projects, our youth showed that they had the desire and the talent to truly make an impact”. - MCYS Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, 09 March 2006 The feedback from the youth surfaced several good ideas that were implemented. They were: scape, shine, youthlink, youth.sg. and extreme skate partk

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
There have been various changes resulting from the achievements of this youth consultation exercise. Primarily, there is now a new climate of youth engagement in Singapore – youth have been given a say in national affairs, a stake in the community through their hand in implementing their ideas and projects, and support for them to fulfill their aspirations and take responsibility for the future of Singapore. Heartened by the Government’s move to engage them deeply and to give them the support to implement their ideas, the youth have responded and participated enthusiastically throughout the entire consultation and implementation process. Importantly, even though the consultation process has ended, the youth continue to be involved in giving feedback on policies, and in shaping the programmes and participating in their own initiatives. This has a spill-over effect into other policies and programmes that MCYS itself has developed. The results and response are significant. There are not only new programmes and projects in place for youth, the youth have helmed these projects and participated actively. For example, the inaugural SHINE youth festival, held in 2005, was a success. More than 100,000 youth took part in over 60 events spanning three weeks. These ranged from community service projects to the creative arts and even business enterprise. In its 2nd year in 2006, SHINE surpassed its previous achievements, with more than 150,000 youth participating in 120 events over a longer one month period. SHINE is led by a youth advisory panel and all its events are organised by youth. The call for a youth community space has led to the development of a 1.2 ha youth community space at Orchard (at the heart of Singapore’s shopping district) called scape. Our youth participated actively to express what they would like to see at scape. Over 2,200 youth responded through a variety of channels, including text messages, online feedback and street polls. Youth have also been fronting this project through a youth advisory panel and subsequently through a programming committee and a development committee. In November 2006, MCYS launched a design competition, inviting architecture firms to submit designs for the new facility at scape. Once again, youth have been invited to take part in this process by voting for their design. scape has also been expanded to build upon the existing strength and activities of the area and broadened to a more defined youth community space, providing the basis for building a stronger and a more coherent youth identity in the area. Since its launch in 2006, Youth.SG has achieved more than 1,000 visits per day. Youth.SG is an Internet portal for youth, by youth. Youth.SG profiles youth interests, projects and events, and provides a virtual space for youth expression, where youth can interact and exchange ideas, learn more about community participation. Youth volunteers also play a very large part in administering and providing content for Youth.SG. The portal can be found at http://youth.sg. A new extreme Skate Park will also be built at Singapore’s premier beach, the East Coast Park. The new beach skate park would be Singapore’s first international standard skate park to enable our youth to develop and showcase their passion and skill in extreme sports and to train for competitions.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
To summarise, Singapore’s youth agenda has since been developed and implemented, with significant input from the youth stakeholders themselves. Youth are also actively participating in other programmes developed by MCYS, as they recognise that they have a voice and a role in shaping youth policies and programmes. For example, youth front the new Young ChangeMakers programme as youth panellists who decide on grants to be given out to their peers to run community projects. The various youth initiatives continue to grow and expand today and youth will continue to be engaged for their views, talents and contributions. The youth consultation exercise also provides an important blueprint for future consultation exercises held by the civil serviceThe success of this exercise was hugely dependent on the commitment by the youth stakeholders and the support from MCYS. What was apparent at the end of the exercise was the immense satisfaction of youth who saw their ideas materialise and benefit the entire youth community and Singaporeans at large. MCYS, on the other hand, saw the unfolding of a ‘youth landscape’ painted by the youth themselves. All it took was support and funding. “Youth: Creating Our Future” is a model that can be replicated and sustained because Singaporeans become more interested in not just giving their views, but in being engaged to develop and implement these views. In a recent public consultation exercise conducted by REACH (the new name for the Feedback Unit), many Singaporeans asked for opportunities whereby like-minded Singaporeans could come together to discuss issues, give suggestions and work towards implementing them. This model of citizen engagement is easily replicable for public administrators, and can be done in various sectors, not just the youth. For example, many developed countries face the challenge of an aging population. Just like youth, the middle-aged citizens today can be engaged and enthused in a similar manner to shape the society to better prepare for an aging population. In Singapore, the Government, through REACH, is trying to find an opportunity to facilitate the setting up of a workgroup whereby Singaporeans can study the aging problem, give solutions and even work on getting their solutions implemented. MCYS can be proud to be the first to adopt and see the success of this Youth Consultation model. The process resulted in youth stakeholders who were positively engaged, and at the same time, the Government knew that these initiatives would be relevant and well-received by the youth. The civil servants who lent support to the exercise were interviewed by the Public Service Centre for Organisational Excellence and their experiences were documented into a case study. The invaluable information was disseminated through a sharing at the Public Consultation Forum in November 2005 where MCYS shared their experiences with close to 200 civil servants. The case study was also stored in the Government Resource Portal, an online repository of information and resources to help civil servants develop their capabilities in public consultation.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
KEY LESSONS: Engaging Youth and Making a Difference “Youth: Creating Our Future” was the Government’s first large scale attempt to engage young Singaporeans to drive the national youth agenda. The process has led to desired and positive outcomes for both the Government and Singaporeans. There were various obstacles to overcome in mounting such an exercise. First, how do we obtain as much feedback as possible from as many youth? Subsequently, how do we enthuse these youth to not only participate actively in giving their opinions, but in also coming up with proposals and then implementing them? Various factors contributed to the success. In terms of reaching out, the tools which the government used to reach out to youth had to be innovative. Youth friendly channels were used, including a dedicated website, email and even text messaging. To make sure that no one was left out, numerous face-to-face dialogues and forums were also organised. In all, more than 2000 youth shared their views throughout the public consultation phase. The context in which the engagement exercise was conducted was also timely and appropriate. It coincided with a strong political commitment by the new Prime Minister who called on young Singaporeans to step forward to make a difference. The renaming of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports reinforced the commitment by the Government and provided a strong context for the drive to reach out to youth. With strong political backing, the youth were reassured that their views and contributions would be taken seriously. The approach taken by the Government to let youth voice their aspirations and drive the agenda had to be effective. One of the key objectives was to have the youth embrace the process as their own. This helped to cultivate a participatory culture in the youth, and instilled in them a passion to be involved in doing something for themselves and their peers. As such, they were willing to volunteer valuable time and effort to relentlessly pursue their ideas to the end. The three-step process of hearing their views, forming workgroups to put up plans and finally implementing the ideas was significant. This process required clear objectives, planning and a well-paced time frame. The youth engagement exercise was successfully driven through the three phases because of commitment from the key players (Government and youth) drawn together by shared objectives and outcomes. The Government recognised that the exercise can only be successful through the active participation of all stakeholders – from the youth through their active participation, to the volunteers from the people-private sector who facilitated the process, to the Government in giving strong support and resources. Finally, the successful model of citizen engagement is easily replicable for public administrators. Our Youth Consultation model is now an example for MCYS and the rest of the civil service as they take on consultation exercises relating to other sectors of society.


Institution Name:		Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Irene Leong
Title:		Manager
Telephone/ Fax:
Institution's / Project's Website:
E-mail:		irene_leong@mcys.gov.sg
Address:		510 Thomson Rd #17-03
Postal Code:		298135
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information