What the Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks debate showed about policy making and consultation

What kind of involvement do Singaporeans want in policymaking?

The Maju Forest-Gillman Barracks issue has seen Singaporeans making their voices heard, offering counter-proposals, and demanding more transparency from the Government.

This isn’t the first time Singaporeans have made their views known - remember issues including the Dear You bilingual policy debate, the SimplyGo roll out, and the scrapped NTUC Income-Allianz deal.

Are we in a new era of civic participation, and does the way the Government engages Singaporeans need to change? Also, would too much consultation hamper policymaking?

In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with:

Assistant Professor of Sociology George Wong, who researches grassroots organisations in urban governance and politics in Asia at Singapore Management University, and
Jonathan Ng, an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in policy advocacy and regulation, and a former civil servant. He also creates social media content about how government and businesses work.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:17 Reactions to S’poreans speaking up about Maju Forest

6:33 Has the Government responded well?

9:38 Citizens must trust that their voices matter: Jonathan

11:00 S’poreans want to “see how the sausage is being made”: George

13:54 Should policies satisfy every stakeholder?

16:18 Presenting trade-offs without being defensive

18:54 No more “Trust me bro!”

24:09 How does the Government choose whom to listen to?

28:18 Is active citizenry fuelled by social media?

31:43 Do name-calling, political labels hurt engagement?

34:34 Can S’poreans disagree agreeably?