Singapore’s Prime Minister has just unveiled a new dialogue series, SGfuture, to forge a vision for the next 50 years, towards SG100. The national narrative will evolve to reflect the aspirations of its future architects. Additional layers and voices are sinews that give the core strength.

2015 HAS been a significant year for Singapore. It marked the 50th year of Singapore’s independence and the passing of the country’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Indeed, the first 50 years of Singapore’s history as a sovereign nation-state can be read as “Singapore Story 1.0” – where Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP Old Guard led Singapore “From Third World to First” in a single generation.

Amid the launch of the new dialogue series SGfuture, it is worth bearing in mind that this story of ‘national struggle’ amidst trying times, however, is far removed from the personal experience of young Singaporeans. The structural geostrategic and physical vulnerabilities faced by Singapore at the outset of independence in 1965 have not gone away, but the narrative of ‘national struggle’ that underscores much of Singapore Story 1.0 may be losing its resonance with a generation that has known only stability and economic prosperity.

… Ong Weichong is Assistant Professor with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.