1 in 10 S'poreans have no close friends, David Neo says 'we need to change this' & govt will step up efforts in arts, culture & sport

"We need to change this," said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo in a speech at the Mar. 5 Committee of Supply debates.

He was referring to a study by the Institute of Policy Studies, which found that around one in 10 Singaporeans do not have close friends.

With the advent of social media, experiences have become more individualised and less shared, leading to an "erosion of the bonds that bind us together", he said.

To address this, Neo touched on a number of initiatives that the government will spearhead in order to rebuild these bonds and enhance the Singapore identity.

These include a S$20 million investment into traditional and cultural arts, and the construction of 50 new multi-purpose halls for pickleball and badminton.

S$20 million multi-cultural arts programme

Neo said that the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) will step up efforts to foster greater interaction, understanding, and respect among Singaporeans.

"This is what keeps our Singaporean identity strong," he said. One way is to deepen Singapore's multiculturalism.

In view of diminishing youth interest in the traditional and cultural arts, the National Arts Council will launch a new S$20 million multi-cultural arts programme.

This will support the development of arts and culture practitioners in Singapore.

Sports

He also pointed to sport development, which he called a "powerful unifier for all Singaporeans".

At schools, MCCY will launch a new S$10 million grant for multi-school co-curricular activity (CCA) teams.

Each team will receive S$200,000 over four years, which can be used to partially fund facility, transportation, or coaching costs.

In the community, the government has been steadily expanding sport spaces, particularly in the heartlands.

To meet growing demand for public facilities, MCCY will build 50 multi-purpose courts for badminton and pickleball over the next five years.

These include the recently-opened eight dual-use pickleball courts at The Kallang, and another upcoming eight courts at the Little India bus terminal.

The government will also keep in mind noise levels in residential estates, for instance by activating under-utilised spaces like spaces under neighbourhood viaducts.

These are located close to Singaporeans, but far away enough to manage noise levels, he said.

For newcomers

Neo also tackled the thorny topic of assimilating newcomers into Singapore.

The government will do more to share Singapore's unique multicultural identity with newcomers who choose to live, work, and study in Singapore, he said.

He emphasised:

"Newcomers need to understand and appreciate that Singapore is not a homogenous or monocultural society, and they have to adapt to a set of norms that may be different from where they came from.

At the same time, Singaporeans also need to make a conscious effort to share our culture values and norms with them."

In a subsequent speech, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Dinesh Vasu Dash, pointed to two new initiatives by the Alliance for Action (AfA) on the Integration on Foreign Professionals, which the government "strongly supports".

These include new orientation and onboarding programmes for Employment Pass (EP) holders, with a focus on workplace and living norms, and a new sensitivity training course for firms.

Dinesh emphasised that newcomers may take more time to adapt to Singapore's "unique" model of multiculturalism.

Integration is a two-way street, and newcomers must make the effort to understand Singapore's culture and values.

But locals must also be receptive, he said.

Top image from Canva and MDDI/YouTube