Ahead of Singapore’s 59th birthday, young people voice their hopes for the country.

       I hope the country can keep its vibrant hawker culture. Understandably, many young people today are unwilling to go into a hawker biz due to its laborious nature. If the trend continues, our local hawker scene will gradually die. It would pain me to see that, as I believe hawker culture is an integral part of Singapore’s identity. I have personal experience with the kindness of these hawkers: When I was younger and financially dependent on my parents’ allowance, I had very little money to buy food. A chicken rice stall owner knew about my situation and always sold me larger portions of chicken rice at discounted prices.

       Hence, hawker centres are really special to me and moving forward, I hope to see young people being more open-minded about venturing into a hawker business.

       My deep love for Singapore’s hawker culture stems from years of patronising their stalls. My concern for the sustainability of Singapore’s hawker culture emerged from an interaction with the stall owner of Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow at Ghim Moh Food Centre. After 50 years of serving mouth-watering char kway teow, this iconic stall ceased operations in 2023. The owners, whom I had the privilege of speaking with two years ago, shared their struggles in finding young people willing to take up the trade. The long hours and harsh, warm environments deter many from considering this profession. It was heart-wrenching to see them retire without successors, knowing that their culinary expertise and the hawker spirit they embodied would fade away. To safeguard this invaluable aspect of our identity, I believe government intervention is essential.

       When I read recently about people in Singapore being radicalised, it made me feel more in danger of terrorist attacks. I think that Singaporeans are generally quite complacent about emergency preparedness; most people I see on the train are looking at their phones and not really aware of their surroundings. I think that Singaporeans should all be more vigilant and ready to respond to crises.

       We are a small island nation and are always vulnerable to attacks, so we must continue to foster international cooperation and engagement as well.

       Within my circle of friends, it seems every other person is pursuing a degree in computer science. When asked why, more often than not, I get the answer, “the pay is good”. We need people who are passionate about what they do. This way, not only will they be happy doing what they love, but everyone else will also benefit because we know they are likely to be giving their best, benefiting society as a whole.

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       I believe that the responsibility of helping students figure out what they like and how they can chase their dreams lies in our education system. Admittedly, there has been much change in the education system to reduce textbook rote learning, but at its core, it is still all about grades and streaming. I would like to see an education system that produces people who know what they want and what needs to be done to get there.

       As someone from a single income household, hardships are nothing new. One thing I hope can be improved is financial support in education, especially for those diving into the arts sector. While applying for university, I discovered there were few schools that had courses for my chosen field of design studies, besides Lasalle College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

       Overseas options would be almost impossible to afford.

       With less government funding for courses like mine, the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Design for Social Futures programme, and fewer opportunities for scholarships and bursaries than for STEM courses, paying for school can be a lot harder.

       Luckily, I was able to secure bursaries at Lasalle, but without those, I might have had to give up my dreams. It would be unfortunate for students to have to give up their goals just because they cannot afford to fund their education.

       Now I hope to do more to guide future juniors who have similar financial woes in producing good essays and submissions for scholarships, as well as help them to grow in awareness and the importance of financial literacy so that they may better prepare themselves to apply to university.

       I hope Singapore can turn to cleaner energy, because right now, a lot of vehicles still use fuel, and they produce a lot of greenhouse gases. Hopefully, the Government can promote electric vehicles over the conventional kind, and use electric buses too. I heard on the radio that July 21 was the hottest day on earth so far. I am quite scared of global warming.

       Socially, I hope people can be nicer and kinder to one another because most people now seem angsty all the time, and that just makes it unpleasant for the people around them too. A few weeks ago, I was on a public bus to NTU, but it took me a while to get off because I was moving into the hall of residence and lugging a lot of stuff. After I alighted, I noticed that the bus didn’t drive off, and I turned to look over at the driver, who to my shock was scowling angrily at me. Only when I looked at him did he look away and drive off.

       I’m not sure how realistic this hope is because the angst is probably caused by the competitive nature of Singaporeans, which leads to just wanting more and more, forever. It is my hope that people will be more pleasant in the future.

       My hope is that Singapore can become even more connected with the world in the future. This connection with the outside world has allowed me to travel home to China easily, make more friends from other countries, and also have a very enriching overseas experience during my studies.

       When I came to Singapore 13 years ago, I saw Chinese, Malays, Indians and Caucasians.

       But throughout the decade, I’ve seen more and more people of different cultures and backgrounds flock to and even settle down in Singapore. Coming from a country where a majority of the population is Han Chinese, seeing the growth and development of a multicultural nation was and still is an eye-opener for me.

       I’ve had the opportunity to connect and communicate with others of other races and cultures and learn about their history and backgrounds.

       I want everyone to be able to share this eye-opening and educational experience that I had, as I believe that being able to understand each other and embrace one another’s differences is key to maintaining racial harmony, which is something Singapore prides itself on.