PA’s Community 2030 plan expands community participation to build a caring and united Singapore

The People’s Association will go beyond serving residents and engaging residents at its community events, to empower and enable residents to become active changemakers shaping their community

         The People’s Association (PA) today announced its new Community 2030 (C2030) plan, which aims to spark and nurture community participation for a caring and united Singapore. The plan was unveiled by its Deputy Chairman, Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, at its annual Community Seminar held at Our Tampines Hub.

2        In his keynote to 2,000 volunteers, partners, and grassroots leaders attending the event, Minister Tong said: "The People’s Association (PA) and its volunteers and the grassroots network have played a key part in the building of Singapore’s social cohesion and community resilience. It is important that PA evolves, to remain relevant and relatable to the changing needs and growing aspirations of Singaporeans. We have to encourage greater community and civic participation, and engender a stronger sense of responsibility towards fellow Singaporeans. These efforts will help cultivate a more caring and united Singapore."

(a) Expanding community participation

3        To support people who wish to contribute in causes they care about, PA will scale its Community Volunteer (CV) scheme. PA’s grassroots organisations (GROs) have been its primary platform to support community volunteering. This has been augmented with the introduction of the CV scheme in 2022 to encourage residents to come forward to volunteer based on their passion or the causes they care about, in a more informal, organic and flexible way. There are currently more than 15,000 CVs, of which over 40% are youths. These CVs have participated in more than 240 projects, from promoting cross cultural understanding among residents to uplifting children from less-privileged families through mentorship programmes. PA will build on this momentum to grow the CV scheme, to spark new projects and support the growth of existing ones.

4        The youth of today want to do more, and the People’s Association Youth Movement launched its FutureYOUth nationwide campaign in late 2023 to engage youths and understand their concerns and aspirations. PA’s engagements with more than 100,000 youths from all walks of life surfaced three themes: mental health, racial and religious harmony, and sustainability and the environment. PA is studying the findings and will be launching a Youth Charter next year to inspire, rally and encourage youth to come forward and take action on the community issues and causes they care about.

5        PA will also grow and evolve National Community Leadership Institute (NACLI) to be a centre of excellence for thought leadership and leadership development in the community sector. This shift, announced at NACLI’s 60th anniversary yesterday, includes NACLI doing more to develop youths to be future community leaders as well as to develop and connect leaders in the community sector.

6        PA’s network of 10,000 partners are an important stakeholder in its efforts to build a community that cares as it works with these partners to deliver programmes to benefit residents. With the shift to expand community participation, PA and its GROs will become “network managers” that actively seek out opportunities and like-minded partners to collaborate on shared causes. To provide better support to its volunteers and residents, PA will grow its network of partners so that their initiatives are even more impactful.

(b) Building connections

7        Residents are best positioned to know the needs of their neighbours, and PA will facilitate platforms for micro-communities to enable local participation for stronger neighbourhoods by – residents collaborating, innovating and collectively shaping their neighbourhood

8        As part of its continued efforts to foster opportunities for spontaneous community building, PA is progressively upgrading its 750 Residents’ Network (RN) centres nationwide. The upgrade will equip the RN centres with digital door access and smart switches, so residents can book and make use of its facilities at their own time, without having to wait for a PA staff. The smart networked RN Centres rollout, which will make common spaces more readily available and accessible to residents, is expected to be completed by 2026.

(c) Technology as an enabler

9        PA will harness technology to expand community participation, and is working with GovTech to develop a user-friendly community portal. The portal, a digital last-mile channel to complement its physical reach, will enable residents to access the latest community news, stories about their neighbours and neighbourhood, sign up for community activities and volunteer projects, and find micro-jobbing and other work opportunities. More updates on the community portal will be announced in the coming months.

PA’s refreshed mission statement

10        To underscore the shift in the way PA engages residents and builds communities, Chairman of PA, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong joined Minister Tong to launch PA’s refreshed mission statement at the event. The refreshed mission statement, “Spark and nurture community participation for a caring and united Singapore” ¹ signals PA’s commitment to create opportunities that spark the desire and passion within our people to step forward, care for one another and be involved in shaping their community together.

11        Minister Tong added: “Community 2030 is our North Star, guiding our efforts to build a country of care, where people feel connected to and responsible for one another. We have already begun this journey. I encourage all our residents, and everyone with a heart to serve, to join us.”

¹ PA’s previous mission statement was: “To Build and to Bridge communities in achieving One People, One Singapore”