New PM, new era? What youths think of DPM Lawrence Wong

Updated

May 06, 2024, 07:02 PM

Published

May 02, 2024, 05:00 PM

SINGAPORE - When Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong becomes Singapore's fourth prime minister on May 15, it will be a politically significant moment to remember for many millennials and Gen Zs.

A YouGov survey found that Singaporeans have high expectations of the incoming Prime Minister, with 38 per cent saying they have "a lot of expectations" of him, having considered his work as DPM and Finance Minister.

Notably, Gen Zs, the youngest adults in the survey aged between 18 and 27, were slightly more likely than those in other age groups to have higher expectations, hitting 41 per cent. The survey by the global public opinion and data company was conducted online between April 18 and 20, with 1,025 respondents aged 18 years old and above residing in Singapore.

What do young people want to see from their next prime minister? To help answer that question, I sat down with Joel Lim, 31, host of Political Prude: The Podcast; Gautham Vijayan Kumaran, 26, a final-year biomedical engineering student at the National University of Singapore (NUS); and Carissa Cheow, 28, the chief strategy officer for a tech firm and a career counsellor.

Joel, who is also the managing director of digital media house Zyrup Media, said that he was looking for the new prime minister to be "someone that can represent the country well.... (and) also listens to the people".

Gautham, who is also a student at NUS College, was buoyed by DPM Wong's consultative approach - something he noted from the minister's past speeches. He said he and his friends wonder if this manner of connecting with Singaporeans will be the new way forward, and if young people will be heard by those in Parliament. The announcement of the leadership transition also ignited discussion over when the next general election will take place. Some political pundits believe that an election will be called by 2024. I asked my guests what issues they would like to see during campaigning when election season kicks in. Carissa - who works for Hyan Technologies, a start-up firm that aims to make technology open and accessible to everyone - proposed looking at the future of Singapore through a five-point framework. The framework includes creating "fit-for-purpose futures" that are tailored to the needs of the population, and "fixing problems, not people". She explained how Singapore can move forward through inclusive, participatory processes.

"Singapore is not just made of one group of ruling people. At the end of the day, when we look at the general election, you're electing the next government. "You need talent (on) every bench, in every rank across all the different political parties, and...across every sector as well...do we have this national understanding, this national consensus...that goes beyond partisan politicking," said Carissa, who has a master's degree in public policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Social media, and how politicians should use it, also came up in our conversation. One thing Joel is looking forward to in the general election is the memes. While he said that the lead-up to the election is important, he believes campaigning will play a "huge part" during election season. "There will be social media moments, and then you can see (how) people just react to it. I feel that's special," he said, agreeing with me that the meme culture here is uniquely Singaporean.

But he said social media will not be everything. As an example, he pointed to the 2023 Presidential Election where one of the candidates, Ng Kok Song, ran a strong social media game, but it did not translate into a win at the ballot box. Joel said: "There're so many different ways to communicate on social media. It cannot be as simple as I have one video, and I'm going to post it on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (and) Facebook. The (politicians have) to know the platforms." As we rounded off the discussion, I asked my guests what they wanted their peers to know about or keep up with as the next general election looms. Gautham said: "Every vote matters. Be an informed voter."