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The Istana
Speeches

Speech by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the SG Youth Forum 2026 on 25 July 2026, 11.45AM – 1.35PM, Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, Engage Theatre 2, Halls 401-402

25 July 2026

Acting Minister David Neo,

Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Young Singaporeans and friends,


Introduction

  1. It is a real pleasure to join you all at today’s SG Youth Forum, and for the launch of the SG Youth Plan.

  2. It is only natural that young people ask: What sort of future lies ahead for us? How will I find my place in it? Will I be able to have a life that means something to me?

  3. Let me start with a quick reflection on what it was like for my generation when we were young. We grew up in Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a very different time. But there are some things that do not change, which I will get to in a minute.

  4. The song ‘Que Sera, Sera’ was often in the air, on the radio or in the community. “Que Sera, Sera / Whatever will be, will be / The future’s not ours to see / Que Sera, Sera / What will be, will be”.

  5. It was, after all, a time of uncertainty, and few people could tell what the future would bring. Southeast Asia comprised newly independent states finding their own way in the world. The Vietnam War was at its height. And here we were in Singapore, a small, fledgling nation that few in the world expected could succeed or even survive.

  6. Yet the simple, cheerful optimism in the song struck a chord. Yes, we couldn’t tell what the future would bring, but we weren’t just leaving it to fate. We did not think “the future’s not ours to see.” The future was ours to make. 

  7. People had little to start with, and could not be sure where jobs would come from, but there was a feeling of optimism around the island: a feeling among parents, children and teachers that we were going to make life better for ourselves.

  8. There was a great appetite for education. But most like myself did not actually think far ahead or make plans for our lives. I certainly didn’t have a plan, or even a clear idea of what I wanted to do in life. But I was very clear about one thing. I wanted to do what I enjoyed while I was young, and I took what I enjoyed very seriously.

  9. For me, that meant sports. It filled all my time. (I kept a small diary when I was in secondary school, recording what sports I did each day. And I remember looking at the diary at the end of the year when I was 15, and finding that I had played sports every day of the year, including Sundays, except for three days. Sometimes two different sports in a day.)

  10. I didn’t realise it at the time, but doing what I enjoyed, and taking it very seriously, was what shaped me for the rest of my life.

    1. It was through sports that I made friends from all backgrounds - different races and with parents who were doing different things, including humble jobs.

    2. We learnt how to win and lose - so winning never got to our heads, and losing only made us want to work on the gaps in our game.

    3. We knew that every member of the team counted, and we wanted everyone to be as good as they could be.

    4. And we found ourselves looking at each other not as youths who were different from each other, but the same. We had the same interests, and had that same exhilarating feeling when we gave it our all in a game.

  11. I believe that still works today.

  12. Young Singaporeans today face uncertainties, although not as profoundly as your parents’ and grandparents’ generations did. You also have greater aspirations, and in fields of aspiration that never existed before.

  13. But I believe what hasn’t changed is this: if you spend time on what you are interested in and enjoy, and do what you enjoy seriously, you will develop an aptitude for life that takes you forward. And if you do it with people of different backgrounds, as much as you can, you will find your horizons widening, and life having that much more purpose.   

  14. So I am heartened by the aspirations of today’s youth, as the National Youth Council’s engagements and latest (2025-26) survey highlight. Among the most widely held aspirations:  

    1. They hope to acquire skills that can be useful in their careers, but they also want to pursue their interests and hobbies, not just career goals.

    2. They want to do good for others, and want to be part of a society where people of different backgrounds can be friends.

  15. We must make this possible for your generation. We can and must defy the trends seen around the world, where social belonging is weakening, and people are becoming more divided – along lines of ethnicity, educational status, and socio-economic circumstances.

  16. We are starting from a good place. And we can make the most of the greater exposure and knowledge that today’s youth have compared to any previous generation.

  17. We can also make the most of their constructive discontent with the present. Not the cynicism that says nothing can improve, but the restlessness and fresh pair of eyes that says: surely, we can do better; we can widen opportunities; we can live with greater purpose; and we can build a fairer, and more caring society.

  18. We see this sense of purpose among many of today’s youth, including those who have rebounded from great disadvantage. Many have become mentors in their own right.

    1. Shirlene Ng experienced profound loss when her mother died by suicide, and nearly lost her own way too.  A Temasek Polytechnic Psychology graduate and President's Challenge Springboard Fellow, she now volunteers with Owena, supporting young female trauma survivors.

    2. Narish Ansari is another example. He overcame severe childhood adversity, gang involvement, and drug addiction to make it through ITE successfully. More than that, he now serves as a youth community builder at Circle@Nee Soon Central – as a coach, mentor, and friend, he helps young people develop a sense of purpose.

    3. Afzal Hadi developed a system of mentorship for those embarking on a social work career. He co-founded a Social Work Student Mentorship Programme while completing his final year of university in 2021. The initiative’s success has become a valuable model for the Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW) in its efforts to enhance its own framework for mentorship.

    4. Chester Matthias Tan is making an impact in a different field. He founded the Heritage Business Foundation, a non-profit which partners traditional businesses to help them stay afloat and thrive, and to keep Singapore's heritage alive. Beyond heritage, Chester also contributes actively in other areas, such as sustainability and equal opportunities, and serves as a volunteer lawyer and mentor to other youths.

Making Space for Youth to be Heard and to Lead

  1. We will give our youth the space and support to find their own purpose, like Shirlene, Narish, Afzal and Chester have done.

  2. This is what the SG Youth Plan is about. Over the past year, the National Youth Council listened to the voices of over 60,000 youths, learning about their hopes and aspirations.  The SG Youth Plan seeks to translate these aspirations into reality.

    1. It will be a whole-of-society effort, involving first and foremost the youth, but also government, corporates, and the community.

    2. For instance, the public sector, corporate partners, and people sector organisations will provide 20,000 mentoring opportunities and 30,000 job taster opportunities by 2030, to help youth figure out their interests and aptitudes in the changing jobs landscape.

    3. There will be more opportunities for our youth to gain overseas exposure. The Government will work with Institutes of Higher Learning to provide up to 20,000 overseas exposure opportunities yearly to youth, focused on ASEAN, China, and India.

    4. Together with community partners, we will establish 12 spaces for youth island-wide, where they can interact freely outside of school or college or work, pursue their interests, and build friendships naturally.

    5. We will also help youth develop the resilience they need as they go through key transitions in their lives – going for higher education, starting their careers, finding a partner and creating their own families. Our collaborators in the people sector will offer a suite of new programmes to help them navigate each major turn in their journey, overcome the stress it sometimes brings, and find joy in life.

    6. The Government will also be expanding opportunities for youth with ideas who want to make a positive change to gain access to funding and other support. NYC will set aside $20 million over the next 5 years to support up to 3,000 youth-led projects.

    7. Many of these opportunities will be made available through a new Discover portal. The online portal will connect youth to activities, programmes and mentors based on their interests and stage of life

The future is yours to make

  1. Above all, the SG Youth Plan is our way of saying that Singapore believes in you. The future is yours to make. Have no doubt: Singapore’s best chapters are still ahead of us.

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