OUR SINGAPORE CONVERSATION'S

FIVE CORE ASPIRATIONS AS A GUIDE FOR FUTURE GOVERNMENT POLICY

A RECONSTRUCTED DECONSTRUCTION

Conceived and introduced during the National Day Rally in August 2012, Our Singapore Conversation was launched inviting all Singaporeans to come forward to share their hopes and aspirations for Singapore's future.  By the time of its recent conclusion, the exercise had involved over 47,000 Singaporeans who participated in over 660 dialogue sessions held in many parts of the country.

Initially, twelve common perspectives were discerned as follows:

1. A Society with Diverse Definitions of Success
2. A Singapore with a more Fulfilling Pace of Life
3. A Singapore with a Strong and Vibrant Economy
4. A Society with Strong Families
5. A Singapore that is Affordable to Live in
6. A Society where Everyone can Age with Dignity
7. A Society that Takes Care of the Disadvantaged
8. A Society with a Greater Sense of Togetherness
9. A Singapore for Singaporeans
10. A Society where Government and the People have a more Collaborative Relationship
11. A Society Anchored on Values
12. A Singapore with a Competent and Trustworthy Government

In the end, five core aspirations emerged:

1. Opportunities - in a competitive economy,
2. Assurance - that housing and affordable health care will always be within reach,
3. Purpose - in lives that celebrate achievements beyond the economic, and that value shared memories and heritage spaces,
4. Spirit - in communities that organize ground-up initiatives and take care of their most disadvantaged,
5. Trust - between the government and the people, as well as among Singaporeans.

Deconstruction

5 pertinent questions:

1. Are these 5 core aspirations truly representative of the desires of Singaporeans?

2. Is there a difference between desires and needs?

3. Should the resources of our country be harnessed according to desires or to needs?

4. Should government policy be guided by statistically popular choices or should it be based on sensible and prudent judgement?

5. Are these merely common aspirations held by people everywhere and we would have written them out simply using common sense without having to conduct such a tedious exercise?

Reconstruction 

If we examine and reflect on the 5 core aspirations, it will dawn on us that they are somehow strangely familiar. Clue: any student of psychology would have an insightful recollection like me.

The connection that I see is produced in the diagram below:

Yes, uncannily, our 5 core aspirations corresponded exactly with Abraham Maslow's 1943 Hierarchy of Needs!  Maslow's hierarchy of self-actualization, esteem, belongingness, security and physiological needs are related to our own core aspirations of opportunities, trust, purpose, spirit and assurance respectively.

This realization leads to 5 constructive conclusions:

1. Singaporeans are a sensible and rational bunch of people. Their needs and desires are one and the same, in so far as their needs lead to corresponding desires.

2. Singaporeans are not that unique because they have the same needs as all humans everywhere. Therefore, the lessons of this exercise are not only for local consumption, but they can act as a template for universal application.

3. Rather than a pointless exercise in reinventing the wheel, the Conversation exercise self-validates its own findings by empirically showing that its conclusions are consistent with established psychological theory.

4. Yes, our government policy should be guided by our core aspirations.

5. If so, our efforts in trying to fulfill our 5 core aspirations will also have a certain order and hierarchy. We now realize that our first priority should be to provide affordable health care and housing.  Only when such basic needs are satisfied can we hope for people to spontaneously care for each other and develop a sense of common identity and destiny. A common Singaporean identity will inspire Singaporeans to respect each other as equals and collaborate in their nation-building project.  Mutual respect is the precursor to the building of trust. And only with trust can people start believing that their fellow countrymen are not their cut-throat competitors, but they are friends who will support them in trying to be the best that they can be!