For effective community engagement, both Govt and citizens must play part

Few would disagree that community engagement, when done effectively, could reduce groupthink within the public sector and improve policy engagement, citizen discussions and government legitimacy (“Getting community engagement right”; Oct 21).

The Government touts its endeavours in recent years, such as Our Singapore Conversation and the SGfuture series, as indications of its willingness to listen to Singaporeans.

Alternatively, Singaporeans are banding together in civil society and through online platforms to get perspectives across. The tougher question to answer is how effective engagement can be achieved.

On the Government’s part, it must understand that useful feedback can come from any and all channels, not only those that it has sanctioned, such as the Reach website, or events it has organised.

Time and effort are needed to sieve through misinformation, especially on the Internet, yet government agencies must be sensitive to informal, spontaneous engagement, and to be comfortable with the growing heterogeneity of backgrounds and perspectives.

The Government should give Singaporeans a greater stake by involving them early on in the policy-making process, instead of seeking affirmation of policies that are about to be made, and letting them understand how their contributions may influence decisions.

As for citizens, community engagement should be inclusive, in the sense of getting a diverse group of participants in these exercises.

While better-educated citizens may want to be more involved in the governing process, they also have a responsibility to articulate the concerns of those who may not necessarily have the bandwidth to attend such exercises.

That means reaching out to the less privileged and the disenfranchised, through volunteerism or community action, for instance, so that viewpoints are not disproportionately represented.

Such outreach need not be directed by the Government or facilitated through formal channels. Self-directed undertakings are healthy signs of an active citizenry and should be embraced by more.