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Closing Address by Minister Masagos Zulkifli at the 2025 International Conference on Societies of Opportunity

Type: Official Speeches (All), Official Speeches: Masagos Zulkifli

Topic(s): Financial Assistance & Social Support, Children & Families, Social Service Agencies & Partners, Social Service Professionals

Published on 30 April 2025

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Introduction

  1. Thank you all for joining our inaugural International Conference on Societies of Opportunity, and especially to our speakers for sharing your insights.
  2. Over the past one and a half days, we heard many diverse perspectives on how we envision and are building societies of opportunity for all. 

  3. As the conference draws to a close, I would like to share two key thoughts: First, while it may be increasingly challenging to achieve social mobility, we must grow through the challenges presented to us. And second, we must do it together.

Growing Through Challenges 

  1. Many societies are built on the belief that anyone, regardless of background, can achieve success as long as they work hard. This not only gives individuals hope, but ensures stability and the progress of societies.
  2. But upward mobility is becoming increasingly challenging, and as shared by Professor Raj Chetty, new interventions may be needed to address it. Increasingly, we are faced with uncertainty amidst global trade tensions. This is in addition to existing geopolitical tensions, climate change, and rising costs of living. With rapid technological disruption, those who cannot keep up with these changes may find themselves displaced.  Demographic shifts from ageing populations to smaller family sizes, have also placed increasing strains on families, particularly the lower-income.
  3. As our world continues to change, so too, must we. We must fundamentally rethink how we can continue to achieve social mobility despite these trends. With this mindset, trends need not become threats, but instead, opportunities to grow. Indeed, what served us well in the past, and which may even serve us well today, may not be what we need for the future. We need to boldly make changes, even revisiting fundamental principles if need be. This ensures that our approach towards social mobility will be up-to-date, suitable for present and future challenges.
  4. Singapore has our own set of enduring beliefs that have allowed us to prosper over the last 60 years. Our meritocratic system promises that if you have the ability and put in the work, you will have a fair chance at success. We also believe in promoting self-reliance. This sense of personal responsibility spurs us to take control of what we can and strive for success.
  5. As Singapore grew and progressed, we have evolved towards a more balanced approach on meritocracy and self-reliance. Meritocracy can inspire healthy competition. But as with most things taken to the extreme, excessive competition can be problematic. Instead of working hard to uplift ourselves and the people around us, we may end up focusing narrowly on our own pursuits and goals. This can intensify stress levels across society and strain our social ties. Excessive self-reliance can also lead to the mistaken notion that “I am who I am solely because of my own efforts”. We know that this cannot be true. Our success is also dependent on the people and circumstances around us.
  6. Let me share Singapore’s experience, and the principles that we believe have and will continue to endure the test of time and space.
  7. First, we believe strong families make strong societies.
  8. For many of us, our families are a safe harbor from which we embark on our journeys, nurture our aspirations, and which shapes us into the people we are today. Professor Esther Ho emphasised the importance of parental involvement in a child’s development. This remains unchanged even when looking across different cultures and levels of economic development.
  9. As policymakers, academics, and practitioners, this means we cannot just look at individuals, but also at how individuals are situated in the context of a family.
  10. In Singapore, our policies emphasise building strong and resilient families. The Families For Life, or FFL, Movement led by the FFL Council aims to journey with families through every stage. Families are supported with a full range of programmes, from marriage preparation and enrichment, to parenting, and even grandparenting. In recognising the need to foster a family-friendly society, we continue to grow these efforts. Our Families For Life @ Community started out in a few towns in 2019, but will be rolled out to all towns nationwide by end-2025.
  11. Second, we recognise, harness, and maximise the diverse strengths of each individual and family.
  12. Professor Terence Ho shared Singapore’s broad-based approach to invest in our human capital over the life course to ensure that our workers stay adaptable and future-ready. This, accompanied by strong fundamentals across various policy domains allows us to nurture strong and resilient individuals.
  13. When challenges arise, we adopt a strength-based approach and enable people to push through the challenges. Targeted support is provided to those who need it most. This emphasis on self-reliance helps to sustain social mobility.
  14. We help individuals and families realise their diverse strengths, and guide them to channel it meaningfully. In a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Social and Family Development, 86% of families reported moderate to high family resilience scores based on the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire. This reflects the underlying strengths in our families, enabling them to recover from challenges together as a family. Yesterday, we heard about Singapore’s ComLink+ approach. Through the support of Family Coaches, we leverage each family’s collective strengths. Not only does this build our families’ confidence, but it also boosts their resilience.
  15. While social assistance provides a strong safety net to ensure that basic needs are met, we need to further enhance individual and family resilience. This ensures that people are able to bounce back from setbacks, seize the opportunities available to them, and most importantly, be proud that they did so.
  16. Third, we believe the earlier we start, the better.
  17. Underlying the various sessions throughout the conference, is the understanding that the effects of our circumstances and efforts compound over time. We saw this most clearly as Associate Professor Irene Ng shared on the structural factors of social mobility. Professor Vincent Chua also touched on the impact of social capital and access to connections and networks on societal opportunities.
  18. We need to identify and address issues upstream and take a proactive approach. This prevents them from escalating and becoming more complex to resolve later on. The KidSTART programme is one such example. We reach out to support children aged 6 years and below from low-income families, by working with their parents on early childhood development as early as the point of pregnancy. This allows the government and the community to partner in supporting families to lay strong foundations as they grow. Such asset-based social policies are valuable. Professor Jin Huang’s work on Child Development Accounts across different countries reaffirms this.
  19. Singapore further pushes to give every child a good start in life and the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential. Even as children enter the formal education system, gaps may already start to widen between children from lower socio-economic backgrounds compared to their peers from higher socio-economic backgrounds. To prevent such gaps from widening, the Singapore government works hard to make affordable and quality preschools accessible. We also focus on nurturing a positive parent-preschool partnership. 
Growing Together

  1. This morning’s conversations also emphasise that each of us has a role to play to uplift those around us. As governments, community organisations, corporates, academia or individuals, we need to come together, and this conference is a step in the right direction. As we do so, let us consider what each of us should bring to the table, to propel us into the future. The government can create the conditions to enable social mobility. At the same time, self-reliance is a muscle that must be exercised. It cannot be allowed to atrophy even as we support those in greater need.
  2. At the individual-level, we need persons to be empowered to do better for themselves and the people around them. Individuals who are better off must also be encouraged to pay it forward and support others in society in greater need.
  3. Community and corporate contributions complement government efforts and amplify individual efforts, allowing a more effective and sustainable impact on those in need.
    • As shared by Ms. Tan Li San, beyond what the government can do, the community and social service professionals play a key role in social service delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredible example of this. Our social service professionals worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, offering counselling, financial assistance, and emotional support to those affected by the pandemic. They demonstrated great resilience, adaptability, and compassion for our people, and the partnership between our professionals and the government allowed social assistance to reach those who required it.
    • Mr. Tom Hall shared on the large market opportunity that exists in catalytic philanthropy, so that we can make an upsized impact even when resources are constrained. I urge those with more resources to consider how you can use what you have to make a difference in your societies.
    • The efforts by Ms. Karen Ngui and her team at DBS Foundation highlight the important contributions many corporates are making and can make. Apart from providing grants and awards towards uplifting those in need, DBS employees also commit their time and talents as skill-based volunteers. They show us that corporates who capitalise on their expertise – in their case as a financial institution, can carve out spaces where their efforts can make very meaningful impact.
  4. With Singapore being a multiracial society, an important part of our social compact is also the role of our four ethnic-based Self-Help Groups (or SHGs), in addressing specific issues faced by their respective communities. Singapore’s four SHGs are the Chinese Development Assistance Council (or CDAC), Mendaki for our Malay community, the Singapore Indian Development Association (or SINDA), and the Eurasian Association. SHGs operate largely on contributions to support individuals in need within their respective communities. They develop and implement contextualised support, taking into consideration the unique characteristics and needs of each community.
  5. Finally, academia and researchers will play a key role in this effort.  We will need new and innovative policies and programmes informed by a range of research and data. This includes fundamental research on root causes and drivers, evaluative and practice research to measure outcomes and better design programmes and practices, as well as macro summative studies as outlined in Professor Danny Quah’s keynote speech. This collective body of knowledge will allow us to effectively tackle more complex challenges together.
Conclusion

  1. In conclusion, as this conference draws to a close, I am encouraged knowing this vision of a society of opportunity is shared by so many of you.
  2. Through our enriching discussions over the past two days, we have learnt best practices and drawn from our unique experiences and expertise. Let this be a start to further conversations that will inspire new ideas and bold action.
  3. It is my hope, that with these efforts, everyone in each of our societies around the world will have the opportunity to thrive and achieve their aspirations.