Govt looking to co-create citizenship programme with Singaporeans
Govt seeks S'poreans to co-create curriculum that applicants must complete
Singaporeans can now be part of a group of 100 who will have a say on what it means to be Singaporean and shape a programme that new citizens must undergo.
The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) wants to recruit a diverse group of people who reflect local society to form a workgroup to co-create content for the Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ).
This initiative was launched yesterday during the ministry's annual year-in-review session with the media. The first of its kind, it will involve Singaporeans in the process of capturing the shared values, norms, rights and obligations of new citizens. It will be used to help future citizenship applicants deepen their understanding of Singapore.
The group will include community and civic leaders from a range of fields and organisations.
Introduced in 2011, the SCJ is a mandatory programme for all citizenship applicants, aged 16 to 60, who have been granted in-principle approval by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
They have up to two months to complete the SCJ before their citizenship formalities to receive their pink national registration identity cards and citizenship certificates.
The programme is aimed at helping them deepen their understanding of Singapore and what it means to be a well-integrated citizen. It also provides them with an opportunity to build ties with and integrate into the local community.
The SCJ is a collaboration between the National Integration Council, the People's Association and the ICA.
Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu, who spoke about her ministry's various initiatives at yesterday's session, said the SCJ review is timely as the National Integration Council marked its 10th anniversary last year.
Ms Fu added: "Singaporeans have given us a lot of feedback over the last few years. Whether it's kinship, having married a Singaporean, or understand social norms, I've lived here, studied here or done national service, and therefore I'm a citizen. Singaporeans have a lot of views on this topic (of what it means to be a Singaporean).
"So I think Singaporeans have a lot of views on this topic, and we thought that it was timely for us to review the citizenship journey.
"It's also a good process for us to engage Singaporeans and have a common understanding of what a new Singaporean would look like."
Singaporeans aged 15 and above who want to be part of the workgroup can register at ideas.gov.sg/public/cw_scj
Applications close on Feb 21.
Participants will get together over sessions from March to July. The workgroup's suggestions are planned to be rolled out progressively by end 2020.
MCCY will carry out engagement with the wider public via social media at a later stage.
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