1    I am happy to join you in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Community Development Councils, and in recognising the contributions of those who have played a part in growing and shaping the CDCs.

2    The CDCs were established in 1997 with the main goal of building a cohesive, compassionate and self-reliant community.  Through the CDCs, the local communities would be given the authority and responsibility to look after their own needs and the well-being of the needy and the less well-off in their midst.  I am pleased that the CDCs have made great strides in this direction.

3    Going forward, Singapore society will undergo rapid change as we become more globalised and cosmopolitan.  We also cannot insulate ourselves from economic and demographic forces.  This evening, I want to spell out three new challenges for the CDCs, which I call “The Three New Cohesions”.

Cohesion between old and new Singaporeans

4    The first cohesion is the old-new Singaporean cohesion.  This year, we are expecting to welcome some 70,000 new citizens and PRs, a record high.  We hope this trend will continue because we need them to help grow our population and economy.  But they will come only if we remain an attractive place to live, work and bring up children, and we make them feel welcome.

5    The new immigrants add to our economy.  Without them, we would not have been able to become a financial hub or attract many big projects like the Integrated Resorts or petrochemical plants, and create thousands of good quality jobs for Singaporeans throughout the economy.

6    The high rates of immigration, however, mean a more diverse population – different ethnicities, languages, religions and cultures.  Robert Putnam, a professor of Political Science at Harvard University and author of “Bowling Alone”, has been studying the consequences of such diversity in advanced countries for some time.

7    Putnam found that as society becomes more diverse and multicultural, this tends to reduce social solidarity and erode community trust.  For instance, he found that people have lower likelihood of giving to charity or volunteering.  They have fewer close friends, spend more solitary time watching TV and are lonelier and less happy.  But what is more surprising is that it is not just inter-group trust that is eroded; trust among people of the same race was also found to be lower as communities become more diverse.  Putnam described this phenomenon as “hunkering down”.

8    We see signs of this phenomenon too in Singapore as we become more cosmopolitan and heterogeneous.  In Marine Parade, I hold a reception every year to welcome new residents.  In addition to those from China and India, I have met Koreans, Filipinos, Thais, Vietnamese, Caucasians, and a couple of Nigerians and Ghanaians.  Those from China, India and Korea were not married to Singaporeans while those from Europe, Africa and our ASEAN neighbours were.  I observed that the new residents did not mix easily with Singaporeans.  Singaporeans also tended to leave them alone.  If we do not make an effort to integrate the new immigrants, there would be more “hunkering down” and a decline in social cohesion as more new citizens and PRs move into our housing estates.

9    As for erosion of trust within the same race, I was told that there are signs of it amongst the Chinese and Indians.  In terms of accent, culture and habit, Singapore Chinese are different from their PRC counterparts, which is why many Singaporeans can instinctively tell them apart.  As for Indians, I have heard that the Indians from India tend to bring their caste culture with them, and that some of them sometimes come across as sikit atas (slight air of superiority) to our local Indians.  On the other hand, some Singaporean Indians also display the same attitude towards the many low-skilled foreign workers from India.

10    Fortunately, this erosion of trust between and within races is not an inevitable outcome.  Putnam provided evidence that successful immigrant societies have been able to develop new and more encompassing societal identities, keeping the social fabric in their new environment strong.  I hope CDCs will find ways to bond new Singaporeans and PRs to our people and help make them become Singaporeans beyond their citizenship papers.

Cohesion between less well-off and more successful Singaporeans

11    The second cohesion is the income gap cohesion or the bonds between the less well-off and more successful Singaporeans against the backdrop of a widening income gap.  With global competition accentuating the differences in employment opportunities between the skilled and the less-skilled, the enterprising and the unskilled wage earners, some families are at risk of falling behind.  These vulnerable families typically have larger families than they can afford and are caught in a low income trap.  Many have perpetual PUB, housing mortgage or rental arrears.  With the parents struggling to make ends meet, the children often lack parental guidance and early childhood education.  These children are more likely to perform poorly in school.  They are also more likely to drop out of school, enter the workforce earlier and take on lower-skilled jobs with little prospects for advancement, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

12    Poverty is of course a social ill that deserves our attention.  But more than that, if families find that they cannot break out of the poverty trap, it would breed discontent and resentment for the more successful, erode social unity and disrupt the very political stability that is the foundation of our progress.  The Government has a slew of measures to help the lower income groups.  However, we must involve more successful Singaporeans in a concerted community effort to help the poor and the dysfunctional families create a better future for themselves and their children.  The key here is how to provide the motivation and means for poorer Singaporeans to invest in their own training and their children’s education.  We must avoid creating a crutch and an entitlement mentality.

Cohesion between the elderly and the young

13    The third cohesion CDCs have to address is that between the elderly and the young, or the old-young cohesion.  Singapore has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world.  Just twenty years ago, according to the UN Population Division’s latest report, our median age was 27.  Today, it is 38.  By 2050, it is estimated that our median age would go up to 54.  By that time, we will be the fourth oldest country in the world.

14    Despite this, our attitudes towards ageing are not changing fast enough.  Many people over 60 still want to stop work, withdraw their CPF and enjoy their so-called old age.  On the other hand, those who wish to continue working face many obstacles.  Many employers still think that the elderly are slow, unable to learn new skills and have lower productivity.  Children sometimes discourage their own elderly parents from leading active lives, for example, by continuing to work, especially in lower pay service sector jobs.  Sometimes children do this unknowingly out of misplaced concern that their elderly parents might be frail and unable to lead independent lives.  Our mindset of what is old still lags behind reality.

15    In truth, the 60 year old of today is very different from the 60 year old of twenty years ago.  He is better educated, healthier and will live easily for another twenty years.  The 60 year old of tomorrow will be even better off.  Our seniors, therefore, have much to contribute, and can be a vital resource for the community.  But we need the younger people, in particular, the employers, to understand and pro-actively integrate the seniors into our mainstream activities.  We should help them remain meaningfully engaged, whether in the workplace, among family and friends, or in the community.

Two key priorities

16    The CDCs have a critical role to play in strengthening the three cohesions I have mentioned.  By and large, CDCs already have some programmes that help to address these challenges but perhaps not holistically.  Going forward, we need to think about these three cohesions more specifically.  Otherwise, our social unity will be eroded gradually and imperceptibly but with long-term implications on the harmony of our society.

17    I would therefore urge the CDCs to bear in mind two key priorities in advancing The Three Cohesions.

Enlarging Common Space

18    The first priority is that the CDCs should strive to enlarge the common space which brings together Singaporeans and immigrants from all walks of life.  While important, it is not enough for only intra-group bonding within faith-based organisations, clan associations, or various professional and interest groups to take place.  For our social fabric to remain strong, we need to create opportunities for inter-group interaction.

19    The CDCs should therefore further emphasise activities and programmes that encourage inter-mingling between the young and the old, the rich and the poor, foreigners and locals, new citizens and old citizens, and between people of different races, dialect groups, religions, and age groups.

20    In particular, the CDCs should pro-actively reach out to new citizens and PRs to make them feel welcome.  At the same time, the new immigrants must make the effort to integrate into our community and to contribute to their new home.

21    There are some shining examples.  For instance, Mrs Thiagarajan Meenakshi, who became a Singapore Citizen in 2005, first started as a participant in grassroots-organised community events.  Later, she joined the Jalan Kayu Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) as Assistant Secretary, and the Indian Activity Executive Committee (IAEC) as an Auditor.  Mrs Thiagarajan has also taken to her role as an ‘Integration and Naturalisation Champion’, encouraging permanent residents and new citizens to take up Community Club courses and join grassroots activities.  She is also serving on a committee to raise funds for the Hwi Yoh CCMC building fund.  Mrs Thiagarajan is here with us.  May I ask her to please stand up?  We need more new citizens like Mrs Thiagarajan to step forward and contribute to their new home.

Engaging in Preventive Interventions

22    The second priority is that the CDCs should shift their efforts upstream to encompass preventive interventions rather than just providing downstream pain relief.  An example of what I mean is the HOPE or Home Ownership Plus Education programme.  HOPE is a comprehensive package of assistance for the low income.  It helps the family become self-reliant through training and housing grants.  It encourages them to keep their family small, so that what little resources and time that the parents have could be devoted to one or two children.  HOPE invests in the children through education bursaries, so that when they grow up they can help their family break out of the poverty trap.

23    By way of illustration, a Tampines resident, Mdm Sarena Bte Mohamed Sa’ad, was in 2004 a part-time retail assistant earning $300 a month and struggling to support her two children.  Her highest educational qualification at that time was Secondary 2.  Mdm Sarena then used the HOPE training grant to attend a computer course and a Diploma course in Business and Finance.  She is now working as a manager earning $1,500 a month.  The education bursaries of $250 and $400 per year her children receive for their kindergarten and primary-level studies respectively will increase progressively as they move on to secondary and post-secondary education.  The HOPE programme has thus given Mdm Sarena and her family a strong foundation on which to build a better future.  CDCs may wish to promote this HOPE programme to eligible Singaporeans to help them improve their future.

24    I am also glad to see upstream intervention to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed in school.  Likewise, efforts to promote active ageing should begin before retirement.  Only when our seniors are physically, mentally and financially prepared will the autumn of their lives becomes their Golden Years.

Working with More Partners across the 3P Sectors

25    To effectively address the three cohesions and two priorities, the CDCs will have to work with more partners from the public, private and people sectors.  It must be a community effort across grassroots organisations, VWOs, schools and government agencies.

26    In conclusion, let me thank each of you present this evening and the many people who are not here for your unstinting support of the CDCs, and for the hard work you have put in for the community.  I urge you to continue doing so.  Your effort contributes to Singapore’s harmony, stability and success.