PM Lawrence Wong at the Launch of the PA Youth Charter

My Cabinet and Parliamentary colleagues,
PA partners and stakeholders,
Ladies and gentlemen,
All our youths here today,

Good afternoon, and it is very good to join you today to all of you to launch the People’s Association or PA Youth Charter. It is always good to be at a youth event, because you feel the dynamism and the energy. I think we should give a round of applause to all the performers at the musical. They did a great job. The six presenters just now, and also everyone who has been manning the booths. Excellent booths by everyone. So, thank you very much.

This is a significant milestone for our young people in Singapore.

And also a very meaningful one for me and my colleagues in Cabinet. Because we believe that our youths in Singapore have the ideas and have the passion to make Singapore, our home, a better place for all of us.

Three years ago, if some of you remember, we launched something called the Forward Singapore exercise and some of you were involved in this. We wanted to engage Singaporeans, young and old, on how we can keep our society strong and united, and chart a new way forward in our next phase of nation building

And in Forward Singapore, I was heartened to see many young Singaporeans taking part actively in our conversations, to share their aspirations and hopes for Singapore. Many of you said you wanted to be involved in building this future. You wanted:

A society that is anchored in purpose and values;

A society that is more caring and gracious;

And a home where we can all flourish on our own terms, and be the best versions of ourselves.

So building on Singapore Forward Exercise, PA and in particular People’s Association Youth Movement or PAYM decided to go further with more engagements with young people, engaging in open and honest discussions. They engaged you on:

Your concerns, the things that matter most to you;

Your aspirations and dreams;

And importantly, how you can turn your ideals into reality.

PAYM engaged far and wide. Over the last 15 months, they wanted to make sure everyone had an opportunity to participate. So, they reached out to:

Students in our education institutions.

Volunteers and activists in community and faith-based organisations, and different civil society groups.

Youths with disabilities, even those in reformative training centres, because their voices matter too.

And all the PA Youth Networks. We have 95 PA Youth Networks across the island; all our YNs, many of you are part of them, right? YN members. All our YNs took part. You organised your own community events and focus group discussions to ensure every voice was heard.

At the beginning of this exercise, PAYM set a target – they wanted to gather 100,000 pieces of suggestions, feedback, and input from our young people. They were not sure that they were able to achieve this target.

But in the end, they not only achieved it but exceeded it. And they received 127,000 messages from all of you!

So, thank you all for doing your part. Thank you for stepping forward and participating. And well done to PAYM!

Today, we have brought together all your key ideas into this Youth Charter. It brings together the ideas that emerged from the discussions. And it is your Charter – written by you, for you.

As you heard just now, it focuses on three areas which resonated the most with young people – mental health; racial and religious harmony; and environment and sustainability.

And it distils the ideals across these three areas into 18 statements - distilling them into values which you commit to, uphold and live by.

So, the charter is not just about words; it is not just a document. It is a call to action – it is a blueprint to shape the community and the Singapore you want for yourselves and your future.

The Charter also highlights the stories of young Singaporeans who are making a difference. And let me share a few of them.

Mohamed Juffrey and Gina Lee are one example. They experienced the pain of losing people they knew to mental health challenges. So they want to break the stigma around mental illness and encourage a positive approach to mental well-being. And that is why they have launched initiatives, including with PA Tampines North Youth Network and the National Institute of Early Childhood Development to help young children build emotional resilience and cope with mental stressors.

Another example is Deborah Seng. She wants Singaporeans to build a better understanding of and to respect the beliefs of fellow citizens. I think she was on stage just now. So together with PA Keat Hong Youth Network, Harmony Circles, and various religious organisations, she runs the “Amazing Races”, which you heard about just now, so that young people can go to various places of worship, and hear from believers across different faiths.

Then there is Rachel Lee and Shi Xuan. They want Singaporeans to do their part for the environment. So, working with the MacPherson Youth Network, they organised an Eco Day at MacPherson MRT, to raise awareness of sustainability efforts like e-waste recycling programmes.

I had the chance to meet some of the individuals earlier. You saw some of them on stage as well. There are many other stories featured in the Charter. Let us again encourage and give a big round of applause to thank all of them and appreciate all of their efforts.

The stories show that young people in Singapore do not just dream of change.

You also rally others and take concrete steps to make a difference.

And I hope these stories will inspire many more young Singaporeans to step forward and do the same.

We are all inspired by your dedication and passion and that is why we will do more together.

MCCY and the National Youth Council are planning to partner even more of our youths to develop a broader youth plan.

And I am confident that many of you will step up once again – with the same enthusiasm and commitment.

So today's youth charter is not the end. It is really just the beginning of a journey which we are taking together to build a better Singapore.

And today, I am happy to share that we will take another bold step forward – beyond receiving your inputs and voices, putting together a charter.

We are going to pledge, at least PAYM is going to pledge 1 million volunteer hours this year.

So we are going beyond words. We are turning them into action, and we are specifically hoping that all of you will join us in taking action for the community and contributing to 1 million volunteer hours in 2025.

I invite all of you to be part of this movement. Step forward with your ideas, volunteer your time and skills and make a lasting impact for your community and for Singapore.

The Government will support you in this effort.

The PA Youth Networks will work with you to bring in the right partners and expertise to turn your ideas into reality.

And because this is SG60, PA also has a new SG60 PA Engagement Grant.

Which will help grassroots organisations and residents to execute ideas that build connections between citizens – care for our fellow Singaporeans and contribute to our society.

So I invite you to tap on the grant, the funds are there, the resources are there, and use it to volunteer. Use it to initiate your projects and to create meaningful and positive change.

Finally, just to say that this year is SG60. It marks Singapore's 60th year of independence. For a young person, 60 years may feel like a long old age. If you are my age, 60 years does not look very far away. But if you are a country, 60 years is very very young, actually. But still, we have come a long way in these last 60 years.

From the beginning, Singapore's survival was never assured. We started with very difficult circumstances, but we overcame tremendous adversity and obstacles. Looking ahead now in our next phase, we can see dark clouds over the horizon, we can expect stormy weather in the world around us. You just read the newspapers or you look at social media. Every day, every other day, there is something unexpected, something unpredictable, something that makes your heart sink because you worry that the world is going into a more dangerous trajectory, and things will just spin out of control. So, we must brace ourselves for a bumpier ride ahead.

But we can also be confident in this road ahead.

Because time and again, we have overcome difficult times together, like we did during COVID-19 recently.

And now we are on a stronger foundation than before, and we have a clearer roadmap for our road ahead through Forward Singapore – the agenda we put together in consultation with all Singaporeans, and we have set out clear plans. Like in our Budget recently.

But most importantly, we are confident, because I can see so many young Singaporeans like all of you here, ready to serve, caring deeply about our nation and fully committed to building a better country.

So, the Government will do our part to secure Singapore’s future. But we cannot do it alone. We need your support too.

Each one of you has a role in writing the next chapter of the Singapore’s story. As one of the presenters said just now – the things you do, the steps you take may be small, but every ripple added together creates a wave, and before you know it, you are making a huge difference. So, to all our young people, I say Singapore’s future is not just something you inherit; it is something you will create through every action you take, starting today.

So let us join hands and hearts to build a better Singapore together. Thank you very much.

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