Sir, I would like to talk about physical space and a challenge which many young Singaporeans live with: loneliness.
A 2024 Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) poll found that Singaporeans aged 21 to 34 face the highest levels of loneliness and social isolation of any age group. This is not a uniquely Singaporean challenge. Last year, the WHO Commission on Social Connection described loneliness as a pressing global health threat. But in Singapore, this is a serious and growing challenge that interacts with something very specific to us: our relationship with space.
Singapore is a land-scare country where every square metre must justify its economic value. We are not short of communal spaces – we have parks, community centres and integrated hubs like One Tampines Hub. But space alone does not guarantee connection. There is a difference between programmed spaces and open spaces. Many of our communal facilities are curated with specific demographics and aims in mind. They function well as spaces of organised activity, but less well as spaces of spontaneous encounter.
The void deck understood this intuitively. It was the default third space for an entire generation of Singaporeans, including mine. There, community happened without anyone having to organise or pay for it. But the ground-level openness that made the void deck a place you passed through and stayed in has given way to something more structured, purposeful and less porous. Newer HDB estates have moved towards designs where communal spaces sit between floors or atop buildings – spaces that require intentional visits rather than chance encounters.
I invite the House to consider what is the default third space for young Singaporeans today. Where can they show up without a booking, a programme or a minimum spend? And have the kind of organic encounters that build friendships, spark passion projects and forge civic bonds?
Young Singaporeans are already trying to answer this themselves. We see it in ground-up initiatives like FriendZone and the Casual Poet Library. These are signs of unmet need for spaces that are free and open to all, where people can just be.
Mr Chairman, we cannot build a “We First” society through youth panels and volunteerism drives alone. We need physical space for togetherness - spaces where “We” can actually form. I urge MCCY to work with MND and young Singaporeans to co-design a new generation of open, accessible community spaces in our heartlands. Spaces that treat the need to gather and belong not as a luxury, but as essential social infrastructure.
