Building our future : evaluating the Singapore together movement in citizen engagement

• Main Author: Toh, Chun Chuan
• Other Authors: Wu Wei
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science::Political institutions::Asia::Singapore
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/149763
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Citizen engagement has been an ongoing process undertaken by governments to garner popular support and encourage collaboration on issues of concern within communities. The process also facilitates the building of citizens’ trust in their governments. Shifts in citizens’ habits, which have been further accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has gradually moved this process towards digital modalities. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Singapore Government’s public engagement efforts undertaken by the fourth-generation political leadership led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. Particularly, it focuses on analysing the Singapore Together movement which started in 2019. Utilising an inductive approach, this study surveyed young Singaporeans on their views towards citizen engagement, with follow-up interviews conducted. Subsequently, sentiments towards the Singapore Government’s public engagement efforts were benchmarked against Rowe and Frewer’s engagement framework. The study finds moderate success towards the Singapore Together movement, with the opportunity to improve on existing engagement modalities to boost citizen trust and satisfaction.