Young Singaporeans must make the transition to key growth areas, such as IT and advanced manufacturing, even as the economy changes “for the better”, said Minister for Communications and Information Dr Yaacob Ibrahim on Wednesday (Oct 12).

He was speaking to reporters following a closed-door dialogue with about 180 participants on current issues affecting the Malay-Muslim community, such as the economy, the outlook for graduates and the Elected Presidency.

The session, held at Village Hotel Bugis, was organised by government feedback unit Reach and Berita Harian.

“We reassured them (the participants) that the Government will try our very best to help, because it’s not in our interest to allow Singaporeans to go unemployed for a long time... But Singaporeans also have to take active steps, to want to enrol in training programmes and take up opportunities,” said Dr Yaacob, who is also the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.

On the Elected Presidency, he noted that some participants had asked whether there was a need to tweak the system to allow for minority representation — and whether the changes would be effective.

Dr Yaacob described the review of the system as an important step that needs to be thought through.

This is because the EP is not a political office, but one where the President serves as a “unifying figure” to represent all Singaporeans.

“We are a multi-racial society, that is one of our pillars... Having an Elected Presidency from the various communities reflects our multi-racial identity,” he said.

It is also about reassuring every community that everyone has the chance to be represented in the highest office of the land, he added.

Dr Yaacob said he was “pleasantly surprised” at the variety and depth of questions raised by the participants, and their concerns about such issues.

One participant, Mr Muhammad Idaffi Othman, 23, was concerned about how employers were still placing a lot of emphasis on paper qualifications, and also wanted to know whether financial aid could be raised for private institutions.

“It can’t be a no-action-talk-only approach, when our politicians say that we are doing away with certificates, it has to be translated in the workforce... The onus is on the politicians and administration to think of ways to reduce the demand for certificates,” the third-year economics student at the National University of Singapore said after the dialogue.

Another participant, Ms Afifah Shameemah, 17, said she had learnt a lot about the need for changes to the EP system from the session.

“It’s more about national identify and how we present ourselves in the world, and that’s what we want in a leader, not just to represent a minority group but to represent the entire country,” she said.

Wednesday’s dialogue was part of the Government’s outreach efforts to engage Malay-Muslim Singaporeans on issues that concern them. It was chaired by Member of Parliament Rahayu Mahzam, who is also a Reach supervisory panel member.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by TOH EE MING

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