-- ST FILE PHOTO
MAJOR-GENERAL (NS) Chan Chun Sing, the youngest member of the Cabinet, on Saturday urged young people to ask themselves whether their ideas can move the country forward, rather than just 'throw stones, cast doubt and tear down institutions'.
Some instances of youth energies being ill-utilised during the May General Election saddened him, said the 42-year-old Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.
'They were caught up in the heat of the moment, attacking the Government or attacking the opposition. I want to know... after you attack, do you have better ideas to bring the country forward?'
MG Chan's belief that such 'politics for politics' sake' is poisonous to the country's future was a central theme in the two-hour-long dialogue organised by the ruling party's youth wing, the Young PAP. It was open to the public.
Surprising the hundred or so young people at the session, MG Chan asked for all their questions first and wrote down the queries - ranging from liberalising the rules on civil society to more transparency in the management of the national reserves - in point form on the whiteboard.
He then delivered a 'Socratic-style' lecture which moved rapidly across a broad range of topics. He returned often to his conviction that young people must ask less what the Government can do for them, and more what they can do for themselves.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
rchang@sph.com.sg
