Prime Minister And Minister For Finance Lawrence Wong Launches PA Youth Charter

Prime Minister And Minister For Finance Lawrence Wong Launches Pa Youth Charter To Empower Youths To Build A Caring And United Singapore

PA launches SG60 PA Engagement Grant while PA Youth Movement pledges 1 million volunteer hours to spark and nurture community participation.

   Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong will launch the PA Youth Charter at the Future of Youth on 1 March 2025, 3pm at Ngee Ann City, Civic Plaza.  The PA Youth Charter serves to energise and catalyse more youth-led ground-up action and rally youth to take the lead to shape the society that they envision in Singapore’s next bound.

2          The PA Youth Charter articulates the consensus and commitments crystallised from 127,000 voices of youth from all walks of life.  This builds on the engagement that was done in the Forward Singapore exercise to refresh the youth social compact with the Government and understand the changing aspirations of youth today. 

3       The Future of YOUth is organised by the PA Youth Movement (PAYM).  PM Wong will be  accompanied by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Second Minister for Law and Deputy Chairman of People’s Association, and Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information & Ministry of Health and Chairman of Panel of Advisers to PAYM Council, as well as Ms Nadia Samdin and Mr Xie Yao Quan, Members of Panel of Advisers to PAYM Council.

4          In the past 15 months, through the FutureYOUth Movement, the PAYM engaged widely and deeply through multi-modal engagements – 212 conversations, focus group discussions, engagements and listening posts on three issues that youths resonate with - (a) Mental Health, (b) Racial and Religious Harmony and (c) Sustainability & Environment. This organic ground-up initiative led by youths, for youths, saw deep engagement across diverse youth segments.

5          The FutureYOUth Movement goes beyond the number of voices. It is about the mindset and determination of young people wanting to take charge of their future. The PA Youth Charter reflects the diverse tapestry of dreams and aspirations of youths to build a better Singapore. The launch of the PA Youth Charter serves as a call to action for youths to harness their passion, be active changemakers and drive positive change in their communities.

6          Chairman of Panel of Advisers to PAYM Council Dr Janil Puthucheary said: “The value of PAYM’s outreach is not just 127,000 youth voices, it is the depth and quality of the voices, leveraging  community touchpoints through our networks and networks of partners, the Institutes of Higher Learning and schools including the madrasahs, uniformed groups, cause-based groups, the youth wings of faith-based organisations, and then going a step further, engaging with voices less likely to be heard - persons with disabilities and incarcerated youth in reformative training.”

7                To support Youth Networks’ and youths’ efforts to build connections between Singaporeans, PA introduced the new SG60 PA Engagement Grant. The grant amount of $3,000 serves as a catalyst to spark more community engagement and participation. The 95 youth networks from the PAYM will serve as the natural receptacle that like-minded youths and organisations can work with to bring their ideas into reality and drive social change in the local community and neighbourhood.

8          The PA Youth Movement (PAYM) is also committing 1 million volunteer hours this year to spark and nurture community participation and sustain youth-driven projects in the community. PAYM wants to energise and mobilise fellow youths and young organisations to act, to care for one another, the community and their environment.

9          At “The Future of YOUth” event, youth leaders from PA Youth Networks, together with their community partners will share with Prime Minister their ground-up projects and initiatives at the “Community Village”. Chairman of Zhenghua YN, Arunraj, shared that youths taking a proactive approach is vital for true resilience. Collaborating with aspiring students, he looks forward to introducing the “Posture Buddy” initiative to help young children improve posture and promote mental well-being.