socialservice.sg presents: “Before the Ballot” (February 2024)
A podcast project in advance of Singapore’s next election.
“Before the Ballot”
Singapore’s next general election (GE) is due by 2025, which is still some time away, but the next GE feels like an especially important turning point. The country celebrates 60 years of independence in 2025 – which also marks a decade since the passing of our first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew – and in addition to the usual list of issues (e.g., cost of living, housing, socio-economic inequality), the ruling People’s Action Party is readying its “fourth generation” leadership, in a parliament currently missing many of its parliamentarians.
Against this background, in advance of the next election, co-host Isaac Neo and I have been working on a new podcast project, “socialservice.sg presents: Before the Ballot.” Far removed from the hustle and bustle of electoral campaigning, the months ahead will allow us to slowly interview guests of interest, examine issues of interest (and do so in some detail), and explore different formats of interest. Overall, rather than make sense of the GE when the results are announced and the dust has settled, or only when the writ of election is issued, we’d like to get ahead of that and talk about the current socio-political state of play, and what we can expect over the next year (or less!)
As we continue to work on the project, let us know:
Suggestions on topics and issues we should cover;
Folks and organisations we should host; as well as
If you’d like to be involved in one way or another.
Singaporean social service news
Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR) – or the average number of children born to a woman during her life – fell to a record, historic low of 0.97. This is also the first time the resident TFR has dropped below one. The fact that South Korea has the world’s lowest TFR of 0.72 is of little comfort.
The National Council of Social Service will invest S$100 million to help social service agencies attract and retain social work talent, through areas such as volunteer management and innovation. Separately, with help from social workers, the Open Government Products division of GovTech launched a new online donation platform named KampungSpirit.
Finally, if you’re interested in community engagement and development work in Singapore, be sure to sign up for the inaugural ArtsWok Learning Forum, titled “Developing Community Creatively”, happening on March 29 and 30 at Goodman Arts Centre. Explore the programme and register for the event.
Global news roundup
The human tragedy in Gaza, following Israel’s months-long invasion, has unfortunately persisted, as the death toll exceeded 30,000. For the third time since the invasion, the United States blocked a United Nations resolution for a Gaza ceasefire.
There were other episodes of human tragedy. In Chile, over a hundred people died in fires on its densely populated coast. In Russia, leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny died in prison. Broadly too, as both Japan and the United Kingdom entered a recession. South Korea’s fertility rate – also the world’s lowest – dropped to 0.72 in 2023 (from 0.78 in 2022).
Also read about the following in this month’s roundup:
Electoral and political developments; as well as
Russia-focused geopolitical news.