SINGAPORE — More so than in past years, this year’s Budget will incorporate ideas that come from ordinary Singaporeans, Ms  Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Finance and Education said, in an interview on Monday (Dec 30).

This is a result of the Government’s engagements with Singaporeans as part of the Singapore Together movement launched by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in June, which aims to involve the public in policymaking.

Giving the media an update on the movement, together with Social and Family Development Minister Desmond Lee, Ms Indranee said: “Going forward at some point in time, everything that we do in Government that impacts on citizens, depending on the nature of it, will involve some form of citizen engagement.”

One example is the Recycle Right Citizens’ Workgroup led by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, which aims to provide practical solutions to improve recycling in households.

Another is the Citizens’ Panel launched by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo to look at ways to improve work-life harmony in Singapore.

More than 100 Singaporeans — 48 from the workgroup and 55 from the Citizens’ Panel — have been involved in coming up with solutions since September last year.

The workgroup met at four full-day facilitated sessions to discuss the issue and came up with nine proposals to improve the way Singaporeans recycle at home. Among the ideas were a mobile application to incentivise Singaporeans to carry their own containers to eating places for takeaways and a new design for the current blue recycling bins.

The Ministry of Environment and Water Resources has identified four pilot projects that it will continue to work on with the workgroup.

For the Citizens’ Panel, it has engaged 13 experts, formed nine discussion groups and proposed 17 recommendations to strengthen work-life harmony in Singapore.

The panel — formed after an open call to members of the public in July last year — met over four Saturdays between September and November last year.

Ms Indranee said it was no coincidence that the formalisation of some of the initiatives that the committees have come up with is expected around February — the same month the national Budget will be delivered.

“This time around, even more so than (in) the past, a concerted effort has been made to engage way ahead of time and to bring the ideas on board,” she said.

“Not all of the ideas are going to be able to be translated into Budget measures, but the ones that can, the ones that are relevant and timely, we will.”

BETTER COORDINATION AMONG AGENCIES

Apart from engaging citizens, both Ms Indranee and Mr Lee agreed that the Singapore Together initiatives would allow for better coordination among agencies.

Mr Lee highlighted the Community Link (ComLink) and Uplifting Pupils in Life and Inspiring Families Taskforce (Uplift) collaboration as examples.

Both initiatives are the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to provide targeted support for low-income families, especially children and youth.

Ms Indranee said that this is because ComLink — an initiative that was piloted by MSF to help families living in rental housing — dovetailed with what MOE is doing on Uplift.

Uplift engaged school leaders, teachers and student welfare officers in overcoming issues such as long-term absenteeism and lack of a conducive home environment for students.

Ms Indranee pointed out that while government agencies, self-help groups and organisations offer an array of services, the key is to link those in need to the relevant bodies. Better coordination among agencies will allow them to tap each other’s resources, too, she added.

CONTENTIOUS TOPICS MAY COME TO THE FORE

On the Singapore Together movement, while topics being discussed are those that government agencies are already looking into such as climate change, healthcare and education, Ms Indranee said that discussions should not shy away from contentious topics.

But the key is to ensure that the discussions are held in a safe space where Singaporeans feel that they can speak up, she added.

Agreeing, Mr Lee said that contentious topics such as race, religion, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) issues have already been discussed on many platforms.

“It’s precisely because the issue is contentious and raises people’ concerns that we need to discuss it,” he added.

Asked if information and data will be made available for Singaporeans to make informed decisions before participating in engagements, Ms Indranee said: “Certainly we are willing to share data when it’s relevant and necessary to do so.”

She cited an example where government data and statistics were provided to lawyers and various agencies when they were consulted on the amendments to the penal code.

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

While the Singapore Together initiative is still in its infancy, Ms Indranee said that the Government has received a lot of feedback.

“People have been very forthcoming. There has been no holding back, let me assure you, on the thoughts, ideas and suggestions that they have.

“The next thing is synthesising that, try to summarise and make sense of it, and see how we can actually translate that into concrete action,” she said.

She added that the measure of success of the Singapore Together initiative is when partnerships and exchange of inputs between government agencies and Singaporeans become intuitive.

The ministers acknowledged that some people will be disappointed if their suggestions are not taken up.

But there will be instances when the Government and citizens could come to a compromise, Ms Indranee said, pointing to the Cross Island Line as an example.

The line will run directly under the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, with the authorities deciding that it is more beneficial to Singaporeans than the other option of having the line skirt around the reserve. The decision was made after six years of public engagement with nature groups.

“So at the end of the day, there’s some compromise… and the end product was something that takes into account the feedback that we have been given and it shows that it has been acted upon,” Ms Indranee said.