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Future Deck Future Deck FUTURE DECK FUTURE DECK Why Future Deck? The cards Comments and New Ideas. We are intended to spark conversations are always looking for new ideas to about the emerging challenges and incorporate into the card deck. Do write opportunities facing Singapore and to us with comments and ideas Singaporeans. at [email protected]. Creating the Deck. The issues in the Best wishes, deck emerged from research by our team at the Centre for Strategic Futures, interviews with domain experts, and discussions amongst a cross-agency team. The Centre for Strategic Futures Singapore Using the Cards. The deck can be www.csf.sg used in workshops to prioritise issues for further research, to examine the impact of the issues on public policy, Note: The views expressed in the cards do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre for and to craft scenario narratives about Strategic Futures or the Singapore government. the future. photo overleaf: CC BY-NC-SA William Cho FUTURE DECK Future oF Singapore Society REFERENCES Report of Workshop on the Future “Gender Parity Index for Primary, Joel Kotkin et. al., “The Rise of of Singapore Society, May 2012, Secondary, and Tertiary Students”, Post-Familialism”, Civil Service Centre for Strategic Futures. Ministry of Education, Singapore, College, 2012. 2009. Daniel P. S. Goh, “Chinese Religion Robert H. Binstock, “Older Voters and the Challenge of Modernity in Tom de Castella, “Just who are and the 2010 U.S. Election”, Malaysia and Singapore”, Asian men’s rights activists?”, BBC, The Gerontologist, Vol. 52 No.3, Journal of Social Science, 2009. 2 May 2012. November 2011. Interview with Prof. Kenneth Paul Alex Au, “Education in Singapore a Teo Xuanwei, “Greying population Tan, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public High-Stakes Board Game”, Yawning could cost Government S$13 billion Policy, 7 February 2012. Bread Blog, 25 January 2012. more by 2025”, Today, 30 October 2012. Population in Brief, Ministry of Debbie Lau, “Flying Solo”, Readers Community, Youth and Sports, Digest Asia, 2012. “Singapore Census of Population Singapore, 2011. 2010”, Department of Statistics, Catherine Lim, “Someday, Today, Singapore, 2010. “Statistics on Marriages”, Now!”, Pink Dot Blog, 8 June 2012. Department of Statistics, Website of the Humanist Society of Singapore, 2011. “Beyond 377A”, Aware Blog, Singapore. 11 September 2012. Interview with Prof. Lily Kong, Benjamin Detenber, “Homosexuality National University of Singapore, Neo Chai Chin, “Traditional in Singapore: Perceptions, Public 1 February 2012. family still key: PM Lee”, Today, Opinion, and the Media”, Nanyang 15 September 2012. Technological University, January “Report on Wages in Singapore”, 2011. Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, Julia B. Isaacs, “Spending on 2011. Children and the Elderly”, Brookings Institution, November 2009. Is intra-faith diversity the future of religion? Greater DIversity Within RElIgIons Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy There is an emerging trend towards For example, amongst Protestants, more greater diversity within mainstream Singaporeans are joining independent religions in Singapore. The driving churches, rather than the established forces behind this are globalisation and denominations. greater individualism. Church Membership According to Globalisation is bringing new currents Protestant Denomination of religious thought into Singapore, as (Daniel P.S. Goh, Asian Journal of Social Science, 2009) religious communities become more inter-connected globally. At the same time, the desire for greater individual expression is leading Singaporeans to seek new forms of religious practice in the “marketplace” of religion. The result is greater diversity within Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. photo overleaf: CC BY Wonderlane Is “race” still relevant? post-EThnic Singapore? Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy Rising immigration means that a greater variety of ethnic identities are % of Marriages that are Inter-Ethnic (Department of Statistics, 2011) represented in our population. Categories such as “Chinese” and “Indian” have become less meaningful, because of greater diversity within the Chinese and Indian communities. Transnational marriages, where one partner is non-Singaporean, now comprise 41% of new marriages, while 20% of new marriages are inter-ethnic, and this figure is rising steadily. In the future, more Singaporeans may refuse to identify themselves as belonging to any particular ethnic group. photo overleaf: CC BY-NC-SA chooyutshing Will the “culture wars” come to Singapore? LiberalS vS. Conservatives Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy More Singaporeans identify with what might be termed “liberal” or Almost Evenly Balanced: Singaporean Views on Gay Couples “conservative” values and political beliefs. (Nanyang Technological University, 2011) “Conservative” groups such as pro-life and anti-gay groups are becoming more vocal. At the same time, “liberal” groups such as gay rights groups are becoming better organised. There are signs that liberal and conservative groups in Singapore are networked with similar groups overseas that are actively engaged in the “culture wars” of countries like the U.S. In the future, could the “culture wars” come to Singapore? photo overleaf: CC BY-NC BXGD Does gender discrimination affect men? Gender EqUality and Men Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy “Gender equality” may increasingly become a concern of men, rather Gender Differential in Favour of Women Aged 25-29 than women. (Median Gross Wages, Ministry of Manpower, 2011) There are signs of a reversal in the gender gap in wages. Women in Singapore in their late 20s now earn more than men for service sector jobs. Since 2007, there have also been more women than men enrolled in tertiary education. Some are questioning the exemption of women from conscription, the disproportionate number of boys in the Normal Technical stream, and the inclination of the courts to award child custody to women. photo overleaf: CC BY-NC-SA Stuck in Customs What if marriage went out of fashion? New ModelS oF parenthooD Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy The traditional model of parenthood may be shifting in Singapore: Acceptance of Unmarried Couples Having Children* (ChannelNewsAsia, 2012) • Single Women Choosing to Have Children There is more acceptance and support for single mothers, through groups like Flyin’ Solo. • Gay Couples with Children Gay couples are raising children together, after adoption or IVF treatment outside Singapore. • Unmarried Couples with Children In an informal poll of participants at a government dialogue, 46% reported *Poll of 50 participants at a government dialogue. that they accepted non-married couples having children. photo overleaf: CC BY-NC whatsthatpicture The next powerful political force? ThE Elderly aS political Force Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy The elderly of the future might have higher expectations and be better Voters Too: % of Singapore Population Aged ≥ 64 Years organised and more politically active, as (Accenture, 2012) they will be more tech-savvy. They may be “more demanding” than the current generation of elderly. They may expect better and costlier care, and assurances of a high standard of living, past retirement. As with the AARP in the U.S. which is one of the most powerful lobbying blocks in the country, the elderly in Singapore “Parents and grandparents may be worried about their offspring’s prospects, but not so could become a powerful political force, worried as to sacrifice their own.” demanding greater benefits. – Robert Samuelson photo overleaf: CC BY-NC-SA chooyutshing What if non-believers become more organised? Organised Atheism Future oF SINGAPORE SoCIETy Non-believers in Singapore are becoming better organised, and more actively % of Singaporeans That Profess No Religion defending the principle of secularism. (Department of Statistics, 2010) In 2010, the Humanist Society was established in Singapore to advocate for the rights and privileges of non-believers. The society has several hundred members. The group organises workshops and talks, and networks with other atheist organisations in Southeast Asia and beyond. They also invite members to participate in inter- religious dialogues. photo overleaf: CC BY Atheist Bus Canada FUTURE DECK techNology and Society REFERENCES “Raising capital online: The new Brendan I. Koerner, “Mr. Know- John Keane, “Monitory democracy thundering herd”, The Economist, It-All: Office Pill-Popping, Blog and media-saturated societies”, 16 June 2012. Amending, Pub Surfing, Wired, Griffith Review, May 2009. 24 March 2008. “Crowdfunding science: many Tom Downey, “Human-flesh Search a mickle makes a muckle”, The Ellen Huet, “All About Adderall”, Engines in China”, New York Times, Economist, 20 October 2012. Stanford Daily, 3 June 2010. 3 March 2010. Bill Halal and Ken Harris, “Intelligent Brendan Maher, “Poll Results: Look Marko Skoric et. al., “Online Cars”, TechCast Forecast, 2012. Who’s Doping”, Nature, April 2008. Shaming in the Asian Context: Community Empowerment or Brad Templeton, “New Design Aaron Saenz, “fMRI Reads the Civic Vigilantism?”, Surveillance & Factors for Robot Cars”. Images in Your Brain”, Singularity Society, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2010. Hub, 17 March 2010. Alexis Madrigal, “Driverless Cars Would Reshape Automobiles and Keith Kleiner, “Devices That Read the Transit System”, The Atlantic, People’s Minds”, Singularity Hub, 27 September 2012. 24 April 2009. Donald Shoupe, The High Cost of Ian Sample, “Mind-reading Free Parking, 2011. programme translates brain activity into words”, The Guardian,
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