What kind of involvement do Singaporeans want in policymaking?

The Maju Forest-Gillman Barracks issue has seen Singaporeans making their voices heard, offering counter-proposals, and demanding more transparency from the Government.

This isn’t the first time Singaporeans have made their views known - remember issues including the Dear You bilingual policy debate, the SimplyGo roll out, and the scrapped NTUC Income-Allianz deal.

Are we in a new era of civic participation, and does the way the Government engages Singaporeans need to change? Also, would too much consultation hamper policymaking?

In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with:

• Assistant Professor of Sociology George Wong, who researches grassroots organisations in urban governance and politics in Asia at Singapore Management University, and
• Jonathan Ng, an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in policy advocacy and regulation, and a former civil servant. He also creates social media content about how government and businesses work.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:17 Reactions to S’poreans speaking up about Maju Forest

6:33 Has the Government responded well?

9:38 Citizens must trust that their voices matter: Jonathan

11:00 S’poreans want to “see how the sausage is being made”: George

13:54 Should policies satisfy every stakeholder?

16:18 Presenting trade-offs without being defensive

18:54 No more “Trust me bro!”

24:09 How does the Government choose whom to listen to?

28:18 Is active citizenry fuelled by social media?

31:43 Do name-calling, political labels hurt engagement?

34:34 Can S’poreans disagree agreeably?

36:19 Is another iteration of Our Singapore Conversation needed?

39:46 Why you shouldn’t scream to be heard

Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg)

Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm

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Filmed by: Studio+65

Edited by: Eden Soh & Natasha Liew

Executive producer: Danson Cheong

Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim

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