MCYS MEDIA RELEASE NO: 31/2009

DATE OF ISSUE: 16/09/2009

OPENING DOORS, HEARTS AND MINDS, NATIONAL INTEGRATION

COUNCIL OUTLINES BROAD STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE INTEGRATION

To promote greater social integration in Singapore, the National Integration Council (NIC) and its
National Integration Working Groups (NIWGs) have outlined a number of strategies and ideas to open the
doors, hearts and minds of newcomers to our society and Singaporeans. These include the introduction of a
Community Integration Fund, bridging the language gap for newcomers and locals, and the introduction of a
Naturalisation and Integration Journey.

2 Please see Annex A for an overview of the NIC.

Opening Doors

Strategies

3 The NIC aims to encourage newcomers and locals to expand their social circles to include each
other. The NIC will look at ways to encourage people to become active members of community
organisations and societies, and become friends as they take part in the same activities, and join hands to
organise events.

4 The NIC will also link up organisations who want to do more for integration. They may have limited
resources on their own, but together they can drive new projects that draw local and newcomer families
closer together.

Key Initiatives to Open Doors

i. Community Integration Fund

5 To create more opportunities for newcomers and locals to meet and understand each other better,
organisations that wish to kick-start projects to promote social integration can now apply to a $10 million
fund. Called the Community Integration Fund (CIF), it will provide co-funding of up to 80 percent for
integration projects over the next three years. This will help to ease the constraints currently faced by
organisations interested in organising integration projects but lack the required resources to do so.

6 The Fund is open for application to all Singapore-registered non-profit organisations, societies
registered with the Registry of Societies and private companies under the Accounting and Corporate
Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA). Details of the CIF can be found in Annex B, and at
http://app.mcys.gov.sg/web/comm_promote_socialintegration.asp.

7 Integration projects refer to projects that provide opportunities for newcomers and locals to interact
and communicate with each other, and improve their understanding of each other’s culture, values and
norms. Collaborative projects between organisations are encouraged¹. A four-member Panel has been
formed to approve the applications for the CIF.²

ii. Community events and festival celebrations

8 Community event and festival celebrations are platforms for cross-cultural exchange between and
across races and nationalities, and allow newcomers to have a better understanding of local culture. The
NIC will encourage efforts to leverage on the platforms, and will invite organisers to apply to the CIF and
reinvent their events to focus on integration elements.

iii. Greater collaboration between schools, workplaces and the community

9 The Working Groups for Schools and Workplaces will encourage students and employees to
participate more actively in the wider community. Newcomers and locals will be encouraged to participate
actively in events organised by grassroots organisations, societies, and sports clubs, such as the People’s
Association’s district tours, cricket tournaments by the Singapore Indian Association, etc.

10 The Working Group for Schools will also look at encouraging students from national schools and
Foreign System Schools to participate in joint community involvement projects, where students who are all
part of the Singapore community come together to help the less fortunate in Singapore.

iv. Meals@Home Programme

11 The Working Group for Schools will encourage local students, new immigrants and international
students to really get to know one another and build friendships that last beyond the classroom. One
possible new initiative is the “Meals@Home” programme where locals, new immigrants and international
students are encouraged to bring each other out for meals, invite one another to their homes during cultural
events and festive celebrations, and share a different aspect of their lives. This can be built on the existing
buddy schemes already run by some of our national schools and educational institutions.

Opening Minds

Strategy

12 The NIC aims to enhance communication between locals and newcomers, and facilitate a meeting of
minds for integration. To do so, the NIC will help overcome language barriers, and create platforms for all to
share ideas and knowledge on integration.

Key initiatives to Open Minds

i. Bridging the Language Barrier

13 The NIC will look at enhancing communication between locals and newcomers, to facilitate
interaction and integration. One way to do this is to bridge the language barrier. English is the common
working language for all Singaporeans.

14 There are currently many Basic English courses available. These include courses offered by the
People’s Association at various Community Clubs as well as the Workplace Literacy (WPL) Programme put
in place by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) as part of the Singapore Employability Skills System
(ESS). The WPL is aimed at upgrading the English language proficiency of our workforce in a real-life work
context. There are also industry-led language courses such as the Service English for Retail Professionals
Programme offered by the Singapore Retail Association. In order to promote integration, the Migrant
Workers’ Centre (MWC), a joint effort between the NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation
(SNEF), has also recently launched English language courses for foreign workers, conducted by NTUC
Learninghub.
15 Companies can also consider conducting in-house training programmes to raise the English
language proficiency of foreign workers. Companies can also participate in the Customer-Centric Initiative
(CCI), which provides an assistance package to help companies in service quality transformation. The CCI
rides on the English language training/Workplace Literacy courses offered by WDA and NTUC Learning Hub.

16 The NIC will review the various English language courses available for newcomers who may be
unfamiliar with English, and work towards increasing their enrolment in these courses. The Working Group
for Workplaces will also study how to encourage employers to send their employees who are newcomers to
English courses.

ii. Create platforms for public sharing and discussion

17 The Working Groups of the NIC will be collating integration ideas and knowledge, e.g. integration
challenges and programmes to overcome them in the schools, community or the workplace, as well as how
people and organisations have effectively implemented these programmes. The Working Groups will gather
stories of individuals who were new to Singapore, but have found their place here and made this country
their home. They may also be contributing back to the community, e.g. new immigrants who have become
Integration and Naturalisation Champions, or INCs. INCs are volunteers with PA who will meet and greet
newcomers in their homes, and invite them to the community events in their neighbourhood.

18 The Community, Schools and Workplaces Working Groups will consolidate integration ideas and
knowledge and create platforms for public sharing and discussion. We will have more regular community
dialogues. Examples include Lianhe Zaobao’s Crossroads seminars, the Singapore Indian Development
Association’s Indian Integration Committee dialogues in mid-2009, and the upcoming Mid-autumn Dialogue
between the Tian Fu Club and the Amoy Association.

19 The Working Group for Schools will organise a regular Symposium on Integration in Schools,
where schools and institutes can share their experiences and what they have found effective in promoting
better integration. A “Best Practices Package” for schools will be distributed to serve as a resource on
effective integration activities, which schools and educational institutions can adapt to their own context. The
Working Group for Workplaces will promote greater awareness of how employers can better integrate non-
local employees at the workplace by compiling a database of best practices with the aid of progressive
businesses and consultancies.

Opening Hearts

Strategy

20 The NIC will urge all Singaporeans, old and new, to open their hearts and achieve greater mutual
understanding, and reinforce their commitment to Singapore as their permanent home. The NIC will connect
all who live, work and play in Singapore to our country’s pulse and soul, and encourage giving back to
society to strengthen community bonding.

Key initiatives to Open Hearts

i. Naturalisation and Integration Journey

21 A Naturalisation and Integration (N&I) Journey will be introduced to consolidate existing orientation
programmes for new citizens, such as the People Association’s National Education Experience Programme
(NEEP). Leveraging on interactive online and on-location experiences, the N&I Journey will enable new
citizens to learn more about key historical landmarks and institutions in Singapore, and introduce them to
their grassroots communities. As part of the N&I Journey, the Working Group for Media will also help to
develop an information kit for new citizens, which will contain information on housing, healthcare,
schooling, use of our National Symbols, etc. There will also be lifestyle content, packaged for easy reading
and with stories of new citizens who had previously settled into Singapore.

22 The NIC is also considering which parts of the N&I Journey are most relevant to helping new citizens
integrate, and which should be mandatory for permanent residents before they are given their Singapore
citizenship. A pilot for the N&I Journey will be launched in early 2010, after which a review will be conducted.

ii. Citizenship Ceremonies

23 The Working Group for Community will review the setting, programming and participation of the
ceremonies, so as to enhance their significance and emphasise the new rights and responsibilities of
becoming a new Singaporean citizen. The review will focus on making the ceremonies more engaging, while
preserving the dignity and solemnity of the event.

iii. Curriculum 2015

24 As part of Curriculum 2015, MOE will look at how it can help students develop cross-cultural skills to
prepare them for an increasingly globalised world. National Education in schools will also explore how the
dynamism of modern Singapore draws from its being an open and well-integrated society.

iv. Media outreach

25 The Working Group for Media will focus on broad outreach through various media, to foster a
conducive integration climate for all who live, work and play in Singapore. Integration content can be
incorporated in print specials in the main vernacular languages. The Working Group for Media will support
Crossroads, a segment in Lianhe Zaobao that aims to help integrate Chinese immigrants into Singapore
society with news and issues of concern. New media such as blogs and Web TV could carry features, video
clips and online competitions on social integration. Local broadcast media (TV & Radio) could weave in
integration messages and local current affairs programmes could profile new citizen-heartlanders in their
journey of integration into local culture, as well as to highlight their many contributions to Singapore society.
The Working Group for Media will also work with the mainstream television channels to showcase customs
and cultures of our multi-racial society, to promote learning and appreciation of other races, and foster
greater social interaction.

26 The proposed media programming aims to highlight the need for unity and community spirit, and to
challenge stereotypes and dispel misconceptions. The programmes will also encourage social acceptance
and the celebration of diversity.

27 The Working Group for Media is also exploring collaboration with local theatre and arts groups, to
find innovative and niche ways of promoting messages that encourage integration. Themed seminars for
targeted groups may be organised, such as Lianhe Zaobao’s Crossroads seminars. Other avenues may
include formats such as game shows that can be customised for different audiences.

28 The Working Group for Media will work with the National Heritage Board to update ‘The Singapore
Story’ video with a more contemporary and compelling storyline. Elements from the video could be
extracted and repackaged for a range of communication and outreach efforts.The Working Group for Media
will work with the media to package ‘The Singapore Story’ into TV programmes and short (2-5 minutes) clips
that could be broadcast on local television as advertorials and the internet as viral media clips.

Public feedback through REACH

29 The three broad strategies and key initiatives were announced by NIC Chairman Dr Vivian
Balakrishnan in a media conference on 16 Sep 09. Please also see Annex C for a list of the NIC initiatives
by Working Group. Also in attendance were several members of the NIC from the people and private
sectors³, as well as the Chairmen of the NIWGs on Community, Schools, Workplaces and the Media. A wide
range of new ideas were presented, some of which may be implemented and some may not. The NIC
welcomes public feedback on the proposals on the REACH discussion forums.

[1] An example of a collaborative project that the CIF will support is the recent Family Day 2009
on 23 Aug 09, jointly organised by the Indian Institute of Technology Alumni Association
Singapore (IITAAS) and Bukit Timah grassroots. Participants included members of both
organisations, as well as of local university alumni associations and Hua Yuan Association.
Families of different nationalities interacted and had fun learning more about Singapore at the
Singapore Discovery Centre.

[2] The panel members are: Mr Ed Ng, Chairman, Keat Hong Citizens Consultative Committee; Mr Vis
Shankar, Group Head of Origination and Client Coverage and Chairman of Principal Finance and Private
Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore; Mr Goh Sin Teck, Deputy Editor, Lianhe Zaobao and
Consulting Editor, my paper; and Ms Anisa Hassan, Managing Director, It’s Just Lunch.

[3] The people and private sector NIC members in attendance were Mr Edward D'silva, Amb Ong Keng
Yong, Mr Tony Du, Mr Muhd Faiz Edwin Ignatious, Mr Pradeep Paul, and Mr Ed Ng.
Related Documents

Annexes.zip [1.1 MB]