Students voice concerns about growing cynicism

SINGAPORE: A national conversation session among a group of Singapore Management University (SMU) students revealed one concern: growing cynicism among young Singaporeans.

Close to 30 students and alumni joined the late afternoon dialogue organised by SMU and the Our Singapore Conversation Committee on Friday.

Discussion kicked off on how Singapore could embrace alternative definitions of success, and how to bring about the necessary cultural changes.

For this, there was consensus on the need for a national conversation, but there were doubts about the process.

Many, including second year student Jonathan Tan, agreed that young Singaporeans did not feel they could express their views freely.

"I think for most of us there’s this thought process within our minds where we might think, ’oh no, if we say this, will something happen to us?’," he said. "We fear that we may say something politically incorrect in Singapore, or a view not accepted by the majority of society."

However, third—year student Indera Arun remains positive about the future.

"We’re cynical about the whole thing mainly because everybody has enforced this idea that things are never going to change and that there’s no reason for us to try as well," she said. "I’m not sure if we have the right to be as cynical as we are now because we haven’t tried."

— CNA/xq