February 2010

Issues faced by the Singapore community

Singapore has received many accolades for its achievements in many spheres. Somevisitors (and even residents) believe there is no poverty in Singapore. To give someperspective, below is a list of ten issues in no particular order, and it is by no meansexhaustive.

1. Ageing population Singapore is one of the fastest ageing populations in theworld. Long term care is a problem and we potentially face a dementia tsunami.Caregivers are under stress caring for frail and ill elderly. Many elderly may alsoface social exclusion, emotional and physical abuse, and neglect. Ifunaddressed, financial inadequacy is likely to be a serious problem for manyelderly, and their families.

2. Primary health care With world class tertiary health care, Singapore isexcellent at keeping people alive. But are we good at keeping them well? Wecan do a lot better at preventive healthcare and the prevention of chronicdiseases. However, this is an unglamorous area of work, and outcomes tend tobe very long term. Many stakeholders need to be involved, and they need towork together to provide integrated care.

3. Family/youth at risk Families and youth are under a lot of stress, with smalland dual income families, rising marital problems and increased work/life tension.Divorce has been on the rise for a long time. Parents need help as they often donot have the capacity to deal with their personal and familial issues. Youth needbetter guidance and role-models, and to be channeled into meaningful activities.

4. Treatment of migrants We cant afford to ignore a quarter of our totalpopulation. Most migrants are workers who have played an important role inensuring the economic success of Singapore and in bringing wealth toSingaporeans. But many migrant workers are subject to sub-standard livingenvironments and poor working conditions. We need to nip any growing local-foreign tensions in the bud.

5. Mentally ill Compared to other social issues in Singapore, this is a relativelyneglected area. Ministry of Health estimates that 1 in 6 Singaporeans suffer fromsome form of mental health problem. Suicide rates have also been graduallyrising. Persons with mental illness may find it difficult to access services on anon-going basis. They find a lack of employment opportunities. There isunwillingness for them and their family members to seek professional help. Withsmaller families, it is becoming harder for families to cope financially with caringfor persons with severe mental illness. More early assessment and interventionmechanisms are needed.

February 2010

6. Employment of disabled Employment for the disabled appears to be one ofthe greatest bottlenecks in the continuum of services for the disabled. How do weintegrate more of our disabled Singaporeans into mainstream? It has also beenestimated that 80% of disabled persons can lead independent lives, but fewreceive adequate early intervention and special education when young.

7. Social capital There are a lot of opportunities for mutual self-help andcommunity bonding/volunteerism that can greatly improve the quality of lives ofSingaporeans. However, social ties are weak in Singapore and households tendto live in a self-contained isolation from their neighbours. How do we changecultural norms in Singapore to improve both bonding and bridging social capital?

8. Impact of economic restructuring We continue to feel the effect ofglobalization and economic restructuring. This means that more Singaporeans,without relevant job skills, would face stagnating real wages, increasing jobinsecurity and a higher risk of becoming structurally unemployed. This would putmore Singaporeans and their families under duress. One concern is thatspending on merit goods by these families is low. Social cohesion, due toincreasing income inequality, may also come under strain.

9. Singapores quest to be a Renaissance City - Millions of dollars have beenploughed into Singapores quest to become a creative and vibrant RenaissanceCity since 2003. Arts promotion and development is part of Singapores attempt todevelop a creative economy so that Singapore would remain competitive globally.On the other hand, arts could facilitate nation building by fostering social cohesionin this multi-racial and multi-cultural society. So how can we tap on arts to reachout to heart-landers, increase creativity, and towards social cohesion?

10. The Environment - Every day, some species of flora and fauna will becomeextinct. The deserts are expanding. Our oceans are becoming more polluted.Fish stocks are being overexploited. Many cities are turning into slums and arebeing strangled by traffic congestion. Professor Tommy Koh. How can wemobilise key stakeholders to reach out to Singaporeans to care and protect theenvironment?