Building a Better Singapore for Us All

Summary

Singapore’s resilience has always been anchored in its people. But in a world shaped by rapid change, social fragmentation, and rising uncertainty, maintaining a strong sense of connection cannot be assumed — it must be intentionally cultivated.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), this study explores how Singaporeans experience Care, Cohesion, and Confidence — three foundational pillars of social connection that underpin a resilient and future-ready nation. Drawing on a blend of lived experiences, national-level evidence, and participatory engagement, the research uncovers the deeper moral values, shared experiences, and everyday behaviours that shape belonging in Singapore today.

The findings offer more than insight. They provide a practical, people-centred evidence base to inform how policies, programmes, and public engagement efforts can strengthen Singapore’s social compact — not just in principle, but in how people experience the nation in their daily lives.

Detailed Findings

Introduction

Singapore’s progress has been built through collective effort — across generations, communities, and institutions. Yet, in today’s increasingly complex global and domestic environment, social connection can no longer be taken for granted.

Global uncertainty, economic pressures, demographic change, and evolving social norms all shape how people relate to one another — and to the nation. At the same time, everyday concerns such as cost of living, mental wellbeing, and inequality can amplify differences in values, expectations, and lived realities.

In this context, social connection becomes more than a social outcome. It is a behavioural foundation for resilience — influencing trust, participation, optimism, and the willingness to contribute to the collective good. The question of what it means to feel Singaporean — and to feel invested in Singapore’s future — has never been more relevant.

Methodology

This study was designed as a progressive inquiry into how social connection is experienced and shaped in everyday life. Rather than treating Care, Cohesion, and Confidence as abstract ideals, the research approached them as behavioural outcomes — influenced by values, environments, and lived experiences.

1. Listening to Lived Realities
   The study began by listening closely to how people naturally talk about connection — what makes them feel heard, valued, and cared for, and what weakens those feelings. This phase drew on reviews of policy and public discourse, digital narrative analysis, and in-depth conversations with community “local champions”, surfacing early insights into shared values, moral drivers, and social tensions.
   
2. Making Sense of National Patterns
   These emerging themes were then explored more deeply through 72 facilitated discussions with Singaporeans and foreign residents, capturing how Care, Cohesion, and Confidence are experienced across different life stages and backgrounds. Insights were validated at scale through a nationally representative survey of 4,200 respondents, allowing the team to identify widely shared drivers of connection — as well as where perceptions begin to diverge.
   
3. Co-Creating Pathways Forward
   Finally, evidence and experience were brought together through a full-day Social Connection Engagement Workshop, involving 71 participants from the public, community leaders, and stakeholders. Participants reflected on the findings and collaboratively developed ideas for strengthening social connection — ensuring that proposed directions were not only evidence-based but grounded in lived realities.

Together, this approach ensured the study remained credible, people-centred, and action-oriented — bridging insight and implementation.

Connecting through a Cohesive, Caring and Confident Singapore

How people experience connection to Singapore is shaped by more than policy or programmes alone. It is built through values, participation, optimism, and everyday interactions that make people feel they belong.

Conducted through multiple studies, MCCY and Verian explored the deeper moral values, attitudes, and behaviours that influence how Singaporeans relate to one another and to the nation. From this work, four interconnected drivers of social connection emerged — together forming a pathway from internal values to lived experiences of belonging.

1. Moral Values: The Starting Point of Connection

Moral Values Most Singaporeans Resonate With

2. Civic Engagement: From Voice to Participation

Verian's Citizen Engagement Model

Preferred Modes of Civic Engagement

 3. Personal Optimism: Confidence in a Shared Future 

4. Sense of Belonging: When Values, Experience and Opportunity Align

Our Findings

Singaporeans largely believe in the importance and benefits of getting along with everyone and feel they know how to do this well. Yet, for most people, their in-groups still largely consist of people from their own ethnic circle.

Conclusion

Strengthening Social Connection for a Resilient Singapore

This study reinforces a simple but powerful insight: social connection is not built through policy intent alone, but through how people experience the nation in their daily lives.

Feeling heard, valued, and cared for shapes how Singaporeans choose to participate, contribute, and commit to the collective good. Civic engagement strengthens confidence when people see their voices translate into meaningful outcomes. Belonging deepens when shared values are reinforced by shared experiences and everyday interactions across differences.

By grounding policy development in lived realities, national evidence, and citizen-led ideation, this work provides a people-centred foundation for strengthening Singapore’s social compact. As the country continues to navigate change, intentionally designing for Care, Cohesion, and Confidence will remain essential to sustaining trust, resilience, and a shared sense of future.