SG CORE @ The Majulah Assembly 2026

Welcome Address by Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Chairman of Humanity Matters

A very good morning to

• Mr Sin Kim Ho – Principal, Tampines Meridian Junior College

• Mr Abdullah Tarmugi – Permanent Member, Presidential Council for Minority Rights

• Mr Ethan Oh – Deputy Director, SGSecure

• School Leaders and Educators 

• Faith and Community Leaders

• Parents and Youth Leaders

• Ladies and Gentlemen

  
  

Thank you all for being here this Saturday morning.

1.             We are gathered today because we recognise a reality that we cannot afford to ignore: our youths are growing up in a world where technology does not merely serve our society — it increasingly shapes societies.

2.             In many ways, we humans have become the product of our own products.  Look at how we walk our streets today: heads lowered, eyes fixed on screens, oblivious to the persons beside us – people physically together yet mentally isolated.  Look around at family dinner tables in restaurants or food courts, and we can witness proximity without presence.

3.             Look at how quickly information travels. A message arrives; we forward it. A post provokes us; we share it. A claim outrages us; we repeat it.  The speed of transmission often exceeds the speed of reflection.

4.             Even the way we feel has been outsourced – to algorithms that decide what should outrage us, what should frighten us, or what should comfort us.

5.             This is not an argument against technology. Technology has connected us, educated us, employed us, entertained us. Technology should take societies up, not tear us down. It should strengthen communication, deepen human interaction, expand education, enable meaningful recreation, improve our professions, and build cohesion, confidence and cooperation.

6.             But technology is only a tool. The direction in which a society moves ultimately depends on the values of the people using it. And nowhere is this more urgent than in the fight against  youth radicalisation globally.

7.             The increasingly menacing currents around the world are no longer distant from Singapore. They enter our communities, our schools and, most intimately, our households – often not over days or hours, but within minutes and seconds. Every person in this room today is part of the solution to this evolving, intensifying problem. We each carry a role – distinct yet interlocking.

8.             It would be easy to say that we already have enough on our plates. It would be even easier to leave this entirely to the elected Government.  But that is not how strong societies are built.  Government has an important role, but it cannot do this alone. Real democracy is about the people’s will and power, which comes with responsibility and collective action, to help enhance our lives, including the safety, security and sustainability of our nation.

9.             In dealing with youth radicalisation, we must really invest our resources, including time, efforts and networks, to truly understand our subject matter – the youths, and particularly the adolscents, given the trend of recent radicalisation cases.  It is therefore critical to appreciate the developmental psychology of adolescents – their physical, intellectual, emotional and social developments, which mould their worldviews, mindsets and motivations, hence behaviours.  

10.        In the season and spirit of our National Day, real democracy lies in rooms like this one here – ordinary citizens choosing, of our own accord, to gather on a weekend, and ask ourselves: we are facing an escalating situation, what more can we do? Every sector has a role.

 11.        First, parents, they are, and must be, the main educators of values and virtues – inculcating and mentoring their own children on empathy, respect, responsibility and resilience.  But perhaps, parents too need some guidance in effective parenting.  In such cases, we do not always have to construct new playbooks.  For example, MSF’s ‘Families for Life’ has a worthy online parenting guide, which is readily useful for MOE, MHA and MCCY, in their respective community engagements involving parents and youths.

12.        Next, school leaders and educators must create and ensure environments where there is no place for bullying, discrimination or exclusion.  A child who feels that he or she belongs, is less vulnerable to those who seek to exploit feelings of alienation.

13.        Our faith leaders have a vital responsibility to promote moderation, contextualisation, inclusivity and mutual respect – reminding their flocks and communities of universal principles that transcend differences: love thy neighbour; and, do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

14.        Civic and community leaders must help build bridges – creating spaces where our youths can participate and contribute actively, question safely, and develop a genuine sense of belonging to Singapore and to one another.

15.        The strength or advantage of civic society organisations (CSOs), such as Humanity Matters, is that we are not usually burdened by bureaucratic demands faced by the State machineries. Public agencies must be able to see and seize such value-add to your work in serving our society.  As a nation, we must be expeditiously and effectively adaptable, especially in navigating this volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.           

16.        We must not simply ask our young to be resilient while leaving them to navigate an increasingly complex world alone. We must give them the knowledge to discern, the confidence to question, the values to choose wisely, and the community to turn to when they struggle. 

17.        Ultimately, preventing or countering radicalisation is not about stopping dangerous ideas from abroad.  It is about building and moulding a society where those ideas find less fertile grounds here.  That means building belonging over alienation; cohesive diversity over divisive discrimination; cognizance over ignorance, respect over arrogance, and empathy over indifference.   

18.        We adults have inherited much from the generations before us – a safe, stable and prosperous Singapore built through decades of collective efforts and sacrifices.  Our responsibility now is not merely to preserve that inheritance, but to wholeheartedly pay it forward to our next generations.  We owe our young people a Singapore that is not only technologically advanced, but socially cohesive; not only prosperous, but compassionate; not only safe, but resilient.

19.        So, I must thank our expert panelists, and every one of you, for sharing and sacrificing your Saturday morning – your rest, your recreation and your personal time – to be here. 

20.        Let us use this morning not simply to identify what others should do, but to examine and determine what we can and will do – individually, collectively and immediately.  Because the future of our youths will not be shaped by one institution, or by one sector, or by one generation.  It must and shall be shaped by all of us.

Thank you all, and I wish you a fruitful forum!