SINGAPORE: Singapore must keep protect common areas and strive to increase interactions with different groupings to avoid losing faith in each other, mentioned Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong upon Sunday (Jul 24).
Speaking at the HarmonyWorks! meeting at ITE College Central, Mr Wong said that spaces like Housing and Development Board (HDB) properties, hawker centres and schools are important encounters for Singapore to create common ground on.
“We should not take them for given, and therefore we should treasure these common platforms, common spaces, these institutions that provide us together, and work to make them even better, ” he added.
Nevertheless , there are still areas where relationships become more limited, resulting in fewer opportunities just for shared experiences, mentioned Mr Wong, who might be also the Fund Minister.
“Over time, if we aren’t careful, we may retreat in our silos and locate comfort in our own people and have fewer relationships with others, ” the Deputy Prime Minister said throughout his speech, incorporating that it will become harder to understand those who hold different views.
“All this can easily increase misunderstandings, mistrust and undermine the social cohesion, ” Mr Wong additional.
Using the United States as an example, he declared that such a scenario had not been just a “theoretical task. Mr Wong cited polls where a third of Americans surveyed said they had great or a great deal of rely upon their fellow residents, compared to close to two-thirds from more than two decades ago.
He or she added that 2 generations ago, near to 50 per cent associated with Americans said their neighbours were reliable, while today, it has gone down to 30 per cent and reduced for younger decades.
“We wish to ensure this never happens in Singapore, because if we start to lose faith in each other, our country collapses, ” mentioned Mr Wong.