YP21 Vision

The new generation and older generation of Singaporeans have grown up in two very different Singapores.

Over the past 35 years of nation-building, the People's Action Party (PAP) have gained the trust, respect and commitment of Singaporeans by giving everyone a stake in Singapore: housing, transport, healthcare. The PAP have also ensured that the next generation would be in a much better shape through our education policies.

The emotional stake of the older generation came very much from the economic stake in the stability and progress of Singapore. The PAP has helped to transform Singapore from a 3rd world country to a 1st world country in one generation.

However, we recognise that nation-building in the new generation would require a different approach because basic needs have been satisfied. Emotional stake would come not so much from securing physical assets and comfortable life for Singaporeans, since this is not sustainable because people are now more mobile.

The trust, respect and commitment of the younger generation would come from a greater sense of shared ownership in nation building. This would be achieved through more consultation and consensus building, and allowing greater involvement and participation in policy formulation.

YP21 is a new platform to bring together the new generation of Singaporeans. We aim to create more space for young Singaporeans to express ideas, and encourage a constructive contest of ideas. In the process, we hope to nurture creative minds and promote greater political awareness among our young. This would help to strengthen the sense of shared ownership and emotional attachment by the new generation to Singapore.

YP21 has three major thrusts:

1. Idea Incubator - to encourage generation and sharing of ideas
2. YP Community - to grow the pool of pro-Singapore and politically aware young Singaporeans
3. YP Net - to forge national consensus through greater use of internet technology

In the age of the New Economy and Information Society, there are many new challenges and opportunities in a fast changing environment. It is hard to predict every implication of globalisation and technology on future development of the economy and society due to rapid pace of change, let alone having all the answers.

Through a process of collective thinking, innovative minds in the community would come up with creative ideas and solutions. A contest of ideas and exchange of views would lead to an emergence of new and better ideas. These must be done in the right spirit - constructive, sincere, and placing national interest above self and sectoral interests.

We would target issues of national concern which affect the future development of Singapore. There would be focus groups, interest groups and e-community groups set up to bring like-minded pro-Singaporeans together. To engage the wider public, we would be organising large scale forums, small group dialogues and internet chat-rooms.

To promote the understanding of nation-building, we would facilitate the interaction between fellow YP members and young Singaporeans, with our political leaders, ex-politicians and community leaders.

For a start, we would be looking into the issue of " The Future Society".

We hope to achieve three outcomes:

1. a shared vision among the new generation with a sense of co-ownership;
2. mutual understanding, respect and trust between Singaporeans and PAP; and
3. develop the Singapore heartbeat and create an emotional attachment to Singapore in the new generation

We have currently more than 5,000 members - males making up two-thirds of membership while females make up another one-third; two-thirds have non-tertiary education background with one-third having tertiary education; and 25% of our membership is aged below 30 years old while 75% is aged between 30 and 40 years old.

We want to expand our YP Community to include non-YP members as well. We hope to enable young Singaporeans to be active in three different levels:

1. to be politically aware and be interested in national issues;
2. to be politically involved by sharing views and ideas, contributing to refinement of ideas, and participate in consensus building; and
3. to be politically committed by entering politics to lead and influence the future development of Singapore.

By doing so, we hope to have a growing pool of young Singaporeans who are "pro-Singapore" and are politically aware, involved or committed.

The Internet would become the most dominant communication channel in the future. It would shape the mind, influence the heart and change perceptions. We would pro-actively engage cyberspace to counter abuse and distortion of facts and views.

The Internet would be a key channel, but NOT the only channel. Otherwise, the digital digital divide could lead to political and social divide.

At YP district levels, dialogues with past and present political leaders would be organised to involve YP members and grassroots leaders. Progressively, these would b3e expanded to involve young Singaporeans living in the districts as well.

Public internet chats and public forums with political leaders would also be organised.

"The Future Society" would be one of the first issues for focused discussion. Other issues could include "Aging Population", "Family as Core Foundation of Society and Nation", or "Pride in Nation".

Issues could also be evolved by young Singaporeans on their own initiative. YP would facilitate and provide the platform for them to present their ideas and views as long as the issues have broad appeal and have broad implications on future development of Singapore.