IPS Update Issue September 2020

YSC 2020 explores how young citizens living here and abroad are making life choices that are affected by the Singapore of today and will in turn shape the Singapore of tomorrow. This is part of “Reimagining Singapore 2030”, IPS’ new scenario-planning project around what it means to achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for ourselves and our nation over the next decade. Singaporeans aged between 18 and 30 years old are invited to participate. Click here to learn more — the deadline for open call submissions is Sunday, 4 October 2020.

Commentary — “More heartfelt discussions on race needed, less reliance on policing?”
(The Straits Times)
By Mathew Mathews and Melvin Tay
• 5-min read

Tough laws have maintained racial harmony. But Singaporeans also want open, if difficult, conversations on race and its frictions. IPS researchers discuss the need to recalibrate hard legislation in the management of communal relations, the need for a mindset shift towards mutual respect and understanding, and the importance of acknowledging issues of discrimination and privilege.

Commentary — “Why Singapore needs new ways to tackle racism more effectively?”
(TODAY)
By Mathew Mathews and Shane Pereira
• 5-min read

While society must reject racism wherever it is encountered, there must be multiple avenues of engaging with these issues in order to combat bigotry and prejudice effectively, write IPS researchers. Mathew Mathews and Shane Pereira call for new ways to address racism that goes beyond calling out and making police reports.

Commentary — “Bad ideas for bad times”
(IPS Commons)
By Asad Latif
• 4-min read

In this Covidean age, some have described vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the young with underlying health conditions as “deadwood”. IPS’ Asad Latif urges us to guard against expressions of demographic fatalism and biological elitism. Instead, we should remember that all humans have an equal right to life, liberty and freedom from want.  

This forum convened by IPS’ Dr Faizal Yahya in partnership with Lancia Consult, discussed leadership, workforce planning and change management in the context of Singapore’s supply chain and logistics sector. A key question was: how can leaders successfully drive transformation within their organisations and make the changes permanent?

This virtual forum examined the current and future state of the supply chain and logistics sector in Singapore. It considered global trends, while examining what these mean for Singapore’s logistics sector and its role in the regional and global supply chain network. Some of the key themes were Industry 4.0, digitisation, strategic workforce planning, and the future of work.

The forum, planned and organised by IPS Senior Research Fellow Dr Faizal Yahya, and moderated by IPS Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Manu Bhaskaran, examined the regional impact of COVID-19, and the effectiveness of government policy responses. It also examined the ability of companies to make sense of the uncertainty and formulate strategic plans to cope with the current crisis and transform their companies.

IPS will be organising three forums in its IPS Online series that discuss the recent general election held on 10 July 2020 and its implications for political development in Singapore.

The first forum on 1 October will be a discussion of the findings of the IPS Post-Election Survey 2020 that examines voter attitudes in the recent election, compares these with the findings of past surveys, and unearths what it says about local political trends in comparison to those seen in the practice of democracy across Asia.

The second forum on 8 October will be a discussion of the findings of the IPS online survey on the use of the internet and media in GE2020. It will examine if there is the generational divide among voters, what forms of digital citizenship practices emerged during GE2020, and how citizen engagement has changed from previous elections.

The final forum on 22 October will feature representatives from the three political parties that have seats in Singapore’s 14th Parliament to discuss their own analysis of the outcome of GE2020, and share their respective party’s policy and organisational agenda for the next few years before the next general election.

As part of the National Integration Council’s 10th anniversary, IPS collaborated with the Council to write a report on social integration in Singapore. This report documents NIC’s journey, discusses the merits and challenges of integration in Singapore today, spotlights insightful conversations with the community on their aspirations for integration in Singapore for the next decade, and showcases innovative ideas to encourage positive interactions between locals, immigrants, and foreigners.