Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): MCCY's mission is to build social capital and inspire the Singapore Spirit. In this new term of Government, MCCY will focus on strengthening our national identity and building a cohesive and caring community. To do this, we will step up our community and youth engagement efforts, whilst continuing to develop a vibrant arts, heritage and sports landscape.

We have come a long way as a nation in a short span of 50 years. We will build on the momentum from our SG50 Jubilee celebrations so that we embark on the next phase of nation-building with an even stronger sense of national identity and unity. We will deepen engagement efforts through various platforms, including digital means.

We will bring Singaporeans together in charting our shared future, through the SGfuture engagements. Focused discussions will be organised by various Government agencies as we partner with citizens to make Singapore a better home. Through these engagements, we hope that Singaporeans will have a stake in our nation's future and will partner with us in shaping that future.

We will engage youths on issues that matter to them. We will better support youths as they transit between life stages and rally youths to contribute to the community, so as to deepen their connection with the nation.

Our confidence in the future is anchored on the firm foundation laid by our founding fathers and the contributions of the Pioneer Generation. We will do more to help Singaporeans appreciate and celebrate our history. The ongoing engagement process for the Founders' Memorial, overseen by a citizen-led Steering Committee, is an avenue for participants from all walks of life to share ideas on how the memorial should reflect our founding values and inspire future generations.

We will continue to research, profile and preserve facets of our heritage that we treasure. The revamped National Museum and Asian Civilisations Museum and the new National Gallery Singapore will play a significant role in telling the Singapore Story for future generations and strengthening our national identity through their programmes and outreach initiatives.

We will continue to extend pathways for arts and sporting excellence, to inspire greater national pride in the achievements of Singapore artists and athletes. We will continue to invest in strengthening Singapore's arts and sports ecosystem, to support our athletes' and artists' pursuit of excellence and professional development. For example, we are setting up the new National Youth Sports Institute as a platform to identify sporting talent amongst our youths and to support them in their pursuit of sporting excellence, both within the Singapore Sports School and in mainstream schools.

We want to make giving a part of our national DNA. We will work with partners in the people, private and public sectors to inspire a culture of giving. We want to encourage volunteerism and philanthropy at every life stage, starting with our youths. The National Youth Council (NYC) will reach out to more youths through the Youth Corps Singapore and its partners and will rally youths to contribute to society.

We want to inspire more working adults to volunteer and will engage employers and corporate partners to promote best practices for employee volunteerism. The Public Service will take the lead by adopting more charities. We are also increasing support and recognition for senior volunteers, through the Silver Volunteer Fund and President's Volunteerism and Philanthropy Award.

We will create more opportunities for Singaporeans of all walks of life to live, learn and play together. We will focus on building stronger community bonds amongst youths, by expanding NYC's Outward Bound Singapore adventure learning programmes and *SCAPE's music, media, dance and personal development programmes for youths.

We will continue to work with partners to promote good neighbourliness and everyday norms of graciousness. We will strengthen mutual appreciation and cooperation through the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles, as well as increase community capacity in handling neighbour disputes.

To encourage deeper community bonding through the arts and heritage, we will reach out to new audiences, especially in the heartlands, through PAssionArts programmes, community Heritage Institutions, Heritage Trails and Community Arts and Culture Nodes. We will also seek to strengthen cultural understanding within and between communities.

Through sports, we will expand opportunities for Singaporeans to live better and bond as a community. We will enhance access to sports for all Singaporeans through improvements to sports infrastructure. We will also promote an active lifestyle and community bonding through ActiveSG programming. As a legacy of the 8th ASEAN Para Games, we will promote greater sports participation among persons with disabilities, so that everyone can play a sport regardless of ability.

In the last 50 years, we made the leap from Third World to First World and built a cohesive society that we are proud to call home. Going forward, it is this solidarity and a shared sense of responsibility for the future of Singapore that will see us through to SG100. We invite all Singaporeans to write the next chapters of the Singapore Story together, to make Singapore a better home for all of us.