SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

EMERGING STRONGER CONVERSATION:

MULTI-TRACK YOUTH DIALOGUE
On 26 September 2020, over 110 youth convened over Zoom to discuss how Singapore can overcome the
Covid-19 crisis, and emerge stronger in three areas: Support for Vulnerable Groups, Jobs and Future of
Work, and Environment and Sustainability.

Minister Edwin Tong, Ministers of State Sun Xue Ling and Desmond Tan, Senior Minister of State Zaqy
Mohamad and Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua also joined in the dialogue.

Summary of Insights

SUPPORT FOR VULNERABLE GROUPS

Low income family
Participants shared that due to COVID-19, some low-income families experienced space and resource
constraints at home, which made working or learning from home challenging.

Participants agreed that these physical and resource constraints could result in mental stress and family
members falling behind in their study or work commitments. They cited the following examples:
Students from low-income families were not able to afford better quality learning devices which
impeded their learning experience. With home-based learning, weak students often found
themselves falling behind given fewer teacher-student interactions despite efforts to adjust the
syllabus and teaching pedagogy to suit their needs. Hence, it was important to have adequate
mental health support programmes accessible to students who were struggling to cope.
Parents from low-income families struggled with juggling work and after-school care for their
younger children. Some suggested exploring alternatives such as after school programmes and
online tuition to cover up for the learning gap while it relieved parents who may be tied down by
work.

Overall, participants felt that efforts to support vulnerable groups should be a combined effort between
the government, communities and individuals. Although there were physical limitations during this
period, they recognised that communities could step forward more, to help identify and support those in
need. They felt that it was important to communicate publicly the specific challenges faced by different
vulnerable groups so that our society will be more aware and compassionate
 SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Families with special needs children

Participants voiced their views that mask-wearing and adherence to
various social distancing rules can be challenging especially for families Overall, participants felt that
with special needs children. More support can be provided to families efforts to support vulnerable
with children with autism to find suitable alternatives in their routines groups should be a combined
to help the family and children cope. effort between the government,
communities and individuals.
Although there were physical
Migrant workers limitations during this period,
Participants highlighted the power asymmetry between employers and they recognised that
migrant workers, adding that migrant workers may not be aware of communities could step
avenues for seeking help. This is made more challenging when many, forward more, to help identify
out of fear that they would be sent back home, do not raise these issues and support those in need. They
to the authorities or the channels able to help. These often resulted in felt that it was important to
the lack of access to health care, unpaid/unfair salaries and poor living communicate publicly the
conditions for the migrant workers. Participants would love to provide specific challenges faced by
sustainable help in the long term but were unsure of how they can different vulnerable groups so
contribute. that our society will be more
aware and compassionate
Participants also shared that Singaporeans needed to have a greater
cultural understanding and be more accepting of migrant workers to
overcome the negative stereotypes of them in our society. Some
suggestions included showcasing their stories on media, and for various
volunteer communities to organise games and sharing sessions to show
appreciation. This is in hopes that migrant workers would find support
in a community to share their problems and speak out on issues.

Lastly, participants felt that providing migrant workers resources and

skills to leverage technology will be helpful for them to adapt in our
society.
 SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

JOBS AND THE FUTURE OF WORK

Job mobility and job security
In light of economic disruption due to COVID-19, it has forced many business and industries to
experiment with online platforms, artificial intelligence systems and the automation of work
processes, increasing the speed of digital transformation. However, with this disruption, many
participants expressed concerns about adapting to changes in the job market and industries, that
their skills were mismatched and they would need to constantly reskill or upskill in the future.

To better prepare them for the workplace and improve future job mobility, youth participants
shared their desire for real-world exposure so they can better appreciate and apply what they
learnt in school. This included things like attending workshops, working as interns, or participating
in conferences. They mentioned that the education system and schools needed to cater courses
and lessons to industry needs and establish partnerships with various sectors to help students stay
relevant when they graduate. However, when picking out courses on their own for
upskilling/reskilling, some participants felt that with the plethora of choices available, there needs
to be some signalling in the form of accreditation, so they know which ones are meaningful.

Youths also displayed resilience, with one participant sharing her story of how she bounced back
from a retrenchment with the support of the Government and her networks. They shared the
importance of embracing a growth mindset and hoped for supportive employers in workplaces to
foster healthy learning cultures. However, job security remained a concern for some who were still
in contract-based jobs and for those who wished to pursue their passion which are divergent from
the way future of work is shifting towards.

Inclusive workplaces
Participants shared their desire for more inclusive workplaces, and for a better understanding of
workplace cultures from a young age. They expressed concern over challenges faced by lower-
income workers and highlighted the need to raise awareness of existing support schemes such as
the Progressive Wage Model and the Workfare scheme. They also pointed out that more support
should be extended to older workers who are reluctant to learn and take up jobs in new industries
or those who do not have the luxury of time to pick up new skills because of family obligations.
With work from home arrangements, participants wished that society will make efforts to be more
sensitive and empathise with the various workplace struggles that may not be apparent.

ASEAN-readiness
Participants discussed the benefits of finding work opportunities abroad in the region given the
current remote working arrangements, which would allow them to work locally while giving them
a taste of what working for an organisation overseas could be like. However, there were many
considerations when deciding to work overseas such as cultural and language differences, job
opportunities and working style differences, geopolitical stability, and time zone differences. Youth
participants shared that early exposure through school/non-school exchange programmes would
help them be more culturally sensitive to the norms of each country and be more open-minded.

Overall, participants felt that in this VUCA world, individuals needed to constantly upgrade
themselves and be on the lookout for opportunities. Society should also expand beyond standard
cookie-cutter typed success narratives to assure youths to take advantage of new opportunities.
 SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

COVID-19 had a significant
impact on the environment.
On the one hand, reduced
travel led to lowered
emissions worldwide.
However, the usage of
masks and disposables
increased waste.
Zero waste
Participants shared that society needed to move away from
extrinsic motivations such as fines to intrinsic motivations like
encouraging recycling or reusable containers for takeaways as
part of people’s habits. Some suggested nudging behaviours by
providing more recycling bins and reverse vending machines.
They also emphasized the importance of public
communications in educating the public on ways to recycle and
to inform the public about the amount of waste generated.
For corporate organisations, participants voiced the need for
more incentives for food businesses to donate leftover food
instead of disposing of them. Businesses also needed to start
thinking of corporate responsibility in terms of mitigating waste
generation while still maintaining corporate competitiveness.

Food security
Participants expressed that local farming alone is inadequate to meet consumption needs. However,
more could be done to attract and support local food production, including enhancing the branding for
local produce (e.g. local produce labels, local farm tours, documentaries), given perceptions that they may
not be comparable in quality to organic food, or that they were more expensive. They suggested
aggregating local farm offerings to encourage people to buy more local produce, hence increasing
domestic demand from Singapore farms, and raising awareness on food security. This would possibly look
like linking local producer/suppliers/wholesalers to restaurants and eateries or having direct channels for
online deliveries to households.

Overall, participants acknowledged the efforts in enhancing food security and tackling waste and
suggested using social media to further amplify these efforts. They also felt that a large part of the change
needs to be championed by institutions.