The whole landscape of Singapore is changing, not just physically. Increasing, young Singaporeans are become quite discontent with the status quo. No, it is not that they are dissatisfied with the material state of things, but with the psychological state of things.
Materially, we possibly couldn’t have been better. Apple and Steve Jobs just made us salivate again with the ultra-thin MacBook Air, and already I think I can see eager fingers rushing to click on the ‘Buy Now’ button on the online Apple Store. I think I can also see the eager hands and the cheerful chirpings of Chinese New Year greetings from the young mouths of children as they receive their annual red packets from relatives. Not to mention the holiday some of us might just had riding on the big fat bonuses from last year.
I mean, hey, at the present, we should be happy people. Even on the whole, generally. The ugly side of race issues reared its head again just across the Causeway. Yet, things are just fine, here in Singapore.
Yet something has been going on for quite a while actually, and it has actually gained some degree of acceptance here in Singapore. Wait, that was an understatement. There has been already a wide degree of acceptance already. That’s social entrepreneurship actually.
For the uninformed, social entrepreneurship is really just making innovative solutions that meet a social need. It may or may not make money, but in this, fiscal profit is not the emphasis, but rather, the social profit. It seems that in Singapore, only things with some sort of profit motive become accepted.
Years ago, talking about social activism and social change in Singapore would immediately lead to raise eyebrows and the usual jokes about the ISA having spies in the midst of your table, who will immediately pounce upon you the moment you uttered ‘revolution’ and ‘PAP’ in the same sentence. That was the past, when social change and social activism were highly charged phrases that would be immediately connected to so-called subversive activities. Then, social activism only had political connotations. Look at where we are today.
Today, there is a whole range of activities that are available and are still related to social activism and social change, yet not having the same stigma. That’s the new phrase - ‘social entrepreneurship’. But this is not just a change of words. The whole landscape of social activism has been revitalised as a result. Whereas the discussions in the past usually centred on policies and politics, today, the discussions emphasizes around action, viability and sustainability. Social entrepreneurship has given new life to the social change and social activism. The latter two are now talked about not as abstract ideas but as basis for concrete action.
So what does this all mean? Sure, we will still have a dominant political party for the foreseeable future. Yes, a viable political opposition might eventually become more than just another choice on the balloting slip, but today, we are seeing the formation of a civil society that is growing rapidly and legitimately – not only from a political/national sense, but from a social sense as well, as more people become aware of the groups, their activities, and the real impact that they result in.
For the idealistic among us, I believe there is no better time than the present in Singapore to start figuring out ways to translate their ideas into action. What we’ll do now from here, I believe will make all the difference there is for the future of Singapore and her people.
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