Govt to implement youth proposals on financial resilience, S-E Asian opportunities, among others

SINGAPORE – In response to recommendations from young people here, the Government will study whether it can start a savings plan for lower-income families and consolidate financial literacy information for youth, among other actions.

Recommendations from Forward Singapore’s Youth Panels have been accepted by the Government, said Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan on April 17 at an appreciation event for the panels.

The recommendations include the introduction of a savings plan to support lower-income Singaporeans in building up emergency savings, boosting financial support for youth ventures in South-east Asia, and exploring new approaches in tackling online harms.

Referencing the current geopolitical climate in which the world order is changing, Mr Tan said it is important for youth to think about the impact they can create.

“I hope that, with all your help, we can change things on the ground and Singapore will bounce back in a period of uncertainty,” he said.

In a 150-page report by the National Youth Council (NYC) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), the Government indicated how it will implement or study the proposals further.

The Youth Panels were launched in November 2023 under Forward Singapore for young people aged 15 to 34 to co-create policies with the Government.

Four panels were set up, with each looking into a different area: financial resilience, career experience in South-east Asia, digital well-being, and domestic recycling behaviours and mindsets.

Led by the youth themselves, the panels were supported by MCCY and NYC, as well as government agencies such as the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Ministry of Manpower.

They submitted their 11 recommendations to the Government in January.

In response to the suggestion to start a savings plan for lower-income families, for example, the Government said that the idea aligns with its goals, and it will study how to incorporate the scheme within existing systems of support for this group of Singaporeans.

The panels had also recommended developing a guide that consolidates and curates financial information and content for important life stages and milestones. This will provide a central resource for youth to plan their long-term financial goals.

The Government said it will implement the proposal and consolidate financial literacy resources for them.

“This will make it easier for the youth to access these resources, which are currently hosted across different agencies’ websites. The specific design and features of the product will be studied in greater detail,” said MCCY and NYC in the report.

MCCY and NYC will work with young people, as well as the Ministry of Finance and agencies like the Monetary Authority of Singapore, to curate relevant information and develop this initiative. 

There was also a suggestion from the panels to boost awareness of opportunities in South-east Asia, such as through commissioning local media content to spotlight the stories of those who have ventured into the region and hosting education and career guidance for students on NYC’s website.

NYC said it will feature regional and global content on a digital platform to test these ideas to improve awareness of regional and global exposure opportunities.

The council also called for media partners and companies with an overseas presence to work with it on this.

In response to the proposal to have an annual survey to monitor online harms among Singaporean youth on social media, the Government said it will study the proposal further to determine whether such a survey is feasible and complementary to existing research initiatives.

Mr Nur Hazeem Abdul Nasser, who was among the 120 young people on the Youth Panels, said he was quite happy that the Government had accepted the job-related recommendations.

“Raising awareness of the importance of youth to understand the economic potential that lies in South-east Asia is vital, so I think for NYC to agree to create a digital platform to outline these opportunities is great. We were happy to hear that,” said the 26-year-old.

Mr Hazeem, founder of non-profit organisation The Signpost Collective, said initiatives such as the Youth Panels offer young people a voice.

He added that it is important to include the efforts of youth, “so that it becomes a synergistic effort between both the youth and Government to come together to create solutions”.

The full 150-page report with all the Government’s responses can be found

here

.