Chapter 3 - Role of Citizens

 At your age, what can you do or carry out
for the good of society?

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani
education advocate who, at the
age of 17, became the youngest
person to win the Nobel Peace
Prize after surviving an
assassination attempt by the
Taliban. Born on July 12, 1997,
Yousafzai became an advocate for
girls' education when she herself
was still a child, which resulted in
the Taliban issuing a death threat
against her. On October 9, 2012,
a gunman shot Malala when she
was traveling home from school.
She survived and has continued
to speak out on the importance of
education. In 2013, she gave a
speech to the United Nations and
published her first book, I Am
Malala. In 2014, she won the
Nobel Peace Prize.

Role of Citizens in Society
1.Contributing to the needs of society
2.Influencing government decisions
3.Strengthening citizens’ sense of belonging

THROUGH THE FOLLOWING GROUPS
INDIVIDUALS ORGANISED GROUPS
FORMAL GROUPS INFORMAL GROUPS

Supporting a cause which is beneficial for society
What causes are beneficial for society?

 Individual participation contributes to the needs of society through
volunteering time, effort and money towards meaningful social
causes they are concerned about.
 Eg. contributing to the needy (donation). This helps to improve the life
and situation of the Needy in Singapore.
 Eg. contributing towards animal welfare.
 By contributing to the needs of society, individuals help to take care
of the less fortunate in society, hence contributing to the needs of
society. They will be able to complete the role of the government by
providing help to some specific groups of people/the environment
at a grassroot level and also on a more regular basis. This will
ensure that the needs of the society are met effectively, especially
for issues like the animal welfare may not be the top priority of the
government, The individual will be able to reach out and address
many different issues as everyone will have a different social
causes that they are concerned about. They will also be able to
reach out and respond more quickly during emergencies or when
the needs are on a smaller scale that may not be able to get the
attention of the government.

How individuals
can contribute to
needs of society

- Formal groups have clear objectives and are formally
registered with the government. They can address a wide
range of interests such as persons with special needs and
protecting the environment.
- Eg. Nature Society - protecting the environment and
ensuring environmental sustainability.
- Eg. MINDS - meet the needs of the intellectually disabled and
advance their development and well-being.
- Formal groups can in the long run devote
continued efforts to support a specific cause, which
will contribute to the different needs and interests
of the society.

 Informal groups are organisation with a
specific, short term objective related to
issues that arise suddenly. These groups are
temporarily formed and may not be
registered.
 Informal groups are able to contribute to
the specific needs of the society by
complementing the support structures
provided by the government during a
particular point in time when the country
may be facing a crisis. This will ensure a
more effective and quick response in
meeting the needs of the people.

A informal group started by
Mr Jeremy Chua. In 2013,
when the haze became
severe he placed a petition
on Facebook asking those
with extra masks to donate a
few.
He and a group of volunteers
then went door-to-door
giving out masks to those
who need them.

Giving feedback to the government so they can refine their
policies to better serve Singaporeans
What methods do we have of influencing Government
Decisions? What avenues of communication exist?
https://www.reach.gov.sg/participate/discussion-
forum
https://www.reach.gov.sg/oursgconversation

Individuals have an important role in
influencing the government decisions.
Eg. Our Singapore Conversation in 2012
when PM Lee Hsien Loong announced a
national level conversation where citizens can
come together to share their views and ideas
about what matters to Singaporeans as well
their hopes and dreams.
Through this conversation, govt will better
understand and learn the aspirations of
Singaporeans.The government will then chart
the path of Singapore to ensure that such
needs are met.

Govt knows what issues concerns
citizens
Govt knows how citizens feel towards
certain policies
Useful and constructive feedback to govt
can help govt improve policies that
meet the needs of the people and
improve the country.
strengthen the citizens’ sense of
belonging as the citizens will feel that
the government is listening and taking
their feedback into consideration.

 By knowing and collating the citizens hopes and dreams
through SG Conversation, the government will be able
to draft plans for the future and implement policies
that can help meet the needs and aspirations of the
people.
 Organised groups like NGOs or VWOs can refine
government policies and point to areas that need more
attention. Their recommendations can help government
to understand and learn more about the problems
and issues faced by some groups of people in the
society. The organised groups are important in
influencing the decisions of the government as the
government can then adapt and refine their policies
/legislation according to the suggestion to improve
the lives of the people living in Singapore by
meeting their needs.
Meaning of NGOs
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=gucU5Vwrm-k

 In the 1980s, the government
was considering developing
Sungei Buloh.
 However, the Nature Society of
Singapore successfully
convinced the government to
conserve Sungei Buloh and
convert it into a nature
reserve.
 It is now a popular site for
nature lovers and researchers
who visit the reserve to observe
migratory bird and wild life

In SG, there are some ways to provide feedback:
1. Our Singapore Conversation
2. Feedback platforms such as REACH (Reaching Everyone for
Active Citizenry @ HOME)
3. Official Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram accounts of MPs
4. Forum pages such as The Straits Times Forum Section

Example: SOCIAL
MEDIA
PLATFORMS

All of the above RESPONSIBLE and CONSTRUCTIVE methods
of sharing and discussing views with the government ensure that
feedback can be carefully considered. Hence, relevant as well
as feasible changes can be made by the government to
improve the society.
Not only will society benefit from the changes, but citizens
too will feel a heightened sense of attachment and belonging
towards Singapore knowing that their thoughts and views
are taken into account in the planning and development of
Singapore.

Chapter 3 - Role of Citizens

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