July 22, 2019

On 18 July 2019, the Social Service Research Centre (SSR) at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences held a conference titled ‘Working with Low-income Families through the Life Course: Challenges to Social Services’. The conference consisted of six discussion panels on insights into working with low-income families, as well as targeted age groups such as children and elderly within these families.

Second Minister for Education and Finance Indranee Rajah, in her keynote speech, outlined how the fourth generation of Singapore’s political leaders plan to approach the issue of inequality and social mobility. Questioning the ‘common call’ to rethink meritocracy, Ms Indranee stated that the principle of meritocracy should not be blamed for inequality and social mobility and presented how it has reaped benefits for many Singaporeans over the years. She addressed further causes for deepening inequality in Singapore, such as advancing technology and economic growth driven by a knowledge-based industry.

Explaining how the fourth generation of leadership plans to tackle these issues, Ms Indranee emphasized the aim to improve access to opportunities among the less advantaged, in order to bridge the gaps of inequality and create an enabling meritocracy.

The SSR Conference was attended by about 300 people, including representatives from social service agencies, academics and policymakers. Read the full article here.