SG50: What The Public Service Learnt
By Yee Lai Fong
Last updated 23 July 2026
ETHOS Issue 16, Dec 2016
In 2015, Singapore celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence with SG50: a broad, year-long series of inclusive and people-oriented activities, initiatives and programmes — from large-scale signature events to sectoral or community-led projects, and ground-up initiatives. SG50 sought to rally Singaporeans to reflect on and celebrate what we had achieved together and what being Singaporean meant, in order to deepen national pride and cohesion, and optimism about our future.
There were many avenues for Singaporeans to be involved in SG50: as a participant, a volunteer, an organiser, a vendor or a sponsor; or a combination of different roles in various initiatives. For the Public Service, SG50 was a remarkable opportunity to connect with Singaporeans in diverse new ways. As recounted by public agencies after the event, SG50 yielded a range of learning experiences and insights centred on four aspects: planning and strategic communications, multi-agency collaboration in large-scale events, community engagement and the government as catalyst.
PLANNING & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
Planning for the celebrations started over two years leading up to 2015 and played a critical role in weaving the range of SG50 activities into a cohesive whole. Public communications was important in ensuring that the SG50 celebrations were broad-based and inclusive — involving all ages and the less privileged. Strategic communications was also important in galvanising the public to participate through tailored messaging and activities, and building the mood from a tone of reflection and memory to shared celebration and optimism about our future.
PLANNING AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
A guiding narrative based on people and shared values
A reference narrative was developed to guide the overall planning of programmes and communications. Conceived as the story of Singapore’s people and the nation’s shared values (rather than the conventional storyline of economic and technical progress) it provided a coherent thread across the broad range of celebratory activities, with a crucial human touch.
Inclusiveness
Special efforts were made to reach out to Singaporeans from all walks of life, including, the elderly and those with special needs. The novel approach to allow free use of the SG50 logo helped to encourage mass awareness and adoption. Staying true to this principle of inclusiveness allowed the SG50 celebrations to resonate widely with Singaporeans.
Keeping track of public sentiment
Investment in research and regular monitoring enabled a timely understanding of public mood and the impact of other national developments. This allowed adjustments to programming and communications to be made. For example, all SG50 campaigns, programmes and activities were significantly toned down during the week of mourning following Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s passing. In the weeks that followed, marketing campaigns were reviewed in response to online chatter about Singaporean spirit and values.
Contingency Planning
To mitigate potential risks, contingency planning was taken seriously throughout the celebrations. For example, the Jubilee Weekend programmes, which were enjoyed by 1.7 million Singaporeans, entailed extensive co-ordination and pre-planning to minimise the chances that any incidents might mar the celebrations.
MULTI-AGENCY COLLABORATION IN LARGE-SCALE EVENTS
The year-long SG50 celebrations was marked by several signature, national and even regional events: from the SEA Games to the Jubilee Weekend around National Day itself and the future-oriented Future of Us exhibition1 which capped the jubilee year. All of these involved extensive multi-agency collaborations and coordination, as well as tens of thousands of volunteers from all walks of life, on a much larger scale than in past years. The planning and execution of this range of mass events in a single year tapped not only the public sector but also people and private-sector resources.
The complexity and significance of the SG50 events were further heightened by the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, on 23 March. The week of national mourning that followed Mr Lee’s passing saw an unprecedented outpouring of emotions by Singaporeans. Events to mark his passing, including the Lying-in-State, demonstrated exemplary coordination and collaboration within Government and also between the public, private and people sectors. It was a poignant moment that brought forth the very essence of the Singaporean spirit, values and sense of national unity that SG50 hoped to evoke.
WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT THINKING, WHOLE-OF-NATION OUTCOMES
Multi-agency coordinating structure to facilitate planning and execution
A central coordination platform comprising multi-agency representatives formed the backbone of the organising structure of mega events under SG50. Roles were identified based on the strengths of each agency, for example: People’s Association’s extensive experience in community engagement, the Home Team in handling public safety and security, and the Ministry of Communications and Information in public communications. Within the central coordinating team, regular communications was integral in keeping everyone posted on developments, facilitating coordination and anticipating issues. Agencies also set aside or modified their agendas in order to achieve more impactful, whole-of-government outcomes. For example, the Urban Redevelopment Authority adjusted their plans for the launch of the Jubilee Bridge in order to accommodate the Jubilee Big Walk1 in November 2015.
Collaborations to Manage Resources
To make prudent use of resources given the scale of SG50, the organisers leveraged existing and planned events as far as possible. This helped to contain budgets and the use of agency resources. Partnership was a key approach in the development of programmes, tapping on external expertise from the people and private sectors. This also generated a sense of ownership from all involved.
Real-time Updates and ‘Go-To’ Persons
In organising mega events, public safety and security were of paramount importance. During the Jubilee Weekend, a central operations centre carried out real-time coordination; a mobile application offered live updates to help manage crowd control and traffic. Mainstream media, including newspapers, radio and television broadcasts in the different national languages remained essential in public communications. The establishment of ‘Go-To’ persons in the respective agencies — points of contacts familiar with in-house efforts in relation to the bigger national SG50 vision — was critical for making it possible to coordinate across agencies in a timely and effective manner.
Notes
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: A SHARED SENSE OF PLACE
Developing a shared sense of place was one of the intents of community engagement during SG50. This refers to “a sense of the character or identity” associated to certain places, as well as “a sense of belonging” or “a sense of our own identity as shaped in relation to those places”.2 Scholars have highlighted the critical role of community participation and storytelling in developing the sense of place, in making heritage a living practice. They described such collective engagement as occurring not only in space, but also over time, “with meaning evolving as the past becomes more distant and the present changes.”3 These seem to have been borne out throughout the various SG50 experiences.
Community engagement during SG50 involved the community organising and participating in activities, often in ways that expressed values of mutual care, social cohesion, national pride and belonging. Many of these initiatives helped strengthened Singaporeans’ connection with their shared physical and communal heritage and with each other. Such activities included: the SG Heart Map, SG50 Concerts in the Park, mySG trails and exhibitions, Portraits of the People, PAssionArts, revamp of the National Museum, SEA Games, ASEAN Para Games, and the Care & Share Movement.
SG50: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN ACTION
Fostering Human-to-Human Connections through Stories
Through a six-month crowdsourcing exercise, the SG Heart Map1 initiative encouraged Singaporeans to tell their stories of fond memories and emotional connection with specific places in Singapore. The exercise generated some 100,000 stories, which underlined the power of stories in nurturing a sense of place and making heritage a living practice. Some 70% of the stories were submitted through hardcopy, despite the availability of digital submission channels, highlighting the value of physical interaction and the human touch, even in an age of digital technology. The involvement of some 74,000 students in the mySG trails and exhibitions,2 one of the Ministry of Education’s SG50 initiatives, helped our youth to appreciate the deeper meaning and values behind a community’s experiences of a place as it evolves over time. It also helped strengthen personal bonds between the students and the 36,000 members of the public they led on the guided tours, offering a fresh perspective on Singapore viewed through the eyes of its young people.
Creating Conditions for the Community to Contribute
Under the guidance of professional artists, ordinary citizens were encouraged to express themselves with art, and to contribute to the beautification of their neighbourhoods through art, through the People’s Association’s PAssionArts movement.3 When residents saw their artistic creations displayed in their estates, they experienced a great sense of pride. The process of co-creation with fellow residents also helped to deepen neighbourly ties across different backgrounds and ethnicities. The use of art to engage the community was also instrumental in the Portraits of the People campaign,4 which encouraged members of the public to express their reflections and hopes for Singapore through art. It took place over 30 weeks across 60 locations nationwide, covering education institutions, shopping malls, libraries, and community platforms, and yielded some 73,000 responses from the public. Such participatory arts initiatives often involved an iterative process of experiential learning and experimentation, underpinned by a belief in the value of hearing from citizens at large from all walks of life.
Furthering Shared Interests, Engendering Ownership
The revamp of the National Museum of Singapore in time for SG50 was part of the bigger aspiration to make it the people’s museum. Shifting in its role from a traditional content provider and subject expert to a facilitator actively involving people in shaping its content, it sought deeper connections with people and organisations which already had an interest in history and heritage, finding ways to further those interests and engender ownership of the museum.
United by a Shared Responsibility in Service of Others
Singapore hosted the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games in June and December 2015, respectively. “Team Nila” — the 23,000-strong community of tireless volunteers of all ages and walks of life, who served many roles from performers to protocol officers, photographers, ushers and cheer leaders — were the unsung heroes of the games, exemplifying unity towards a higher calling: Service of others. Volunteers in their teens alongside those in their 70s; children alongside their parents; expatriates alongside citizens. Many amongst the volunteers, beneficiaries and organisers recounted stories of transformative experiences. Elsewhere, the Community Chest’s Care & Share Movement5 rallied voluntary welfare organisations, corporations and individuals to reach out and help the needy. Over 110,000 volunteers responded, raising in excess of $300 million through more than 2,000 fund-raising and volunteerism events. This was matched by a Government grant of $500 million.
Notes
PAssionArts was established in 2012 by the People’s Association (PA) as one of the key pillars in the Community Engagement Masterplan. https://www.pa.gov.sg/Our-Programmes/Community-Arts
https://www.nationalgallery.sg/see-do/highlights/portraits-of-the-people
GOVERNMENT AS CATALYST: MAKING THINGS POSSIBLE
As an inclusive, people-focused celebration, SG50 opened up many avenues to actively pursue a participative approach to involve as many Singaporeans as possible in planning, execution and involvement in its many public programmes.4 A wide range of initiatives was generated based on different modes of public participation, with Government playing the role of catalyst. These included ground-up initiatives supported by the SG50 Celebration Fund and the YouthSpeak conversation series convened by the National Youth Council in partnership with youth organisations.
This catalytic role may involve providing information, platforms and funding; connecting people with similar interests and ideas to achieve synergy; and connecting them to others with the experience and expertise to further shape and actualise their ideas towards the betterment of society. It has been described as government becoming the hub of a series of relationships in society, organised for acting with others rather than doing things to or for them.5
CATALYSING CHANGE
Government as Enabler
The SG50 Celebration Fund, set up to support worthwhile ground-up initiatives to engage and connect Singaporeans in meaningful ways, attracted some 2,095 applications — 10 times the original forecast. A total of 420 projects were approved, each funded for up to $50,000. The success of the fund showed that Government can indeed help catalyse self-organising, ground-up initiatives that benefit society. A new $25-million Our Singapore Fund1 has since been launched to sustain the momentum of active citizenry in shaping the future of Singapore.
Government as Convenor
Complementing MOE’s National Education dialogues, the National Youth Council (NYC) organised “YouthSpeak”,2 a series of 50 youth engagement conversations, reaching over 5,000 participants. The organisers worked with different youth influencers to boost the reach and impact of engagement. For SG50, the National Arts Council also convened the “Got to Move” platform to encourage ground-up, broad-based participation in dance, attracting over 7,200 participants island-wide. Both initiatives highlight the public sector’s role in bringing specific interest or target groups together, by creating the initial conditions for them to foster new connections and explore new possibilities. To be an effective catalyst, public officers have to invest time in nurturing relationships with key influencers and stakeholders within different networks, and to be aware of issues and interests that matter to them.
Government as Facilitator
Singapore: Inside Out was a travelling showcase celebrating Singapore’s spectrum of contemporary creative talents across various disciplines.3 The showcase, which rallied local talent from across fields as diverse as architecture, cuisine, design, fashion, film, music and the literary, performing and visual arts, travelled to Beijing, London and New York before returning to Singapore.4 In the same spirit of collaboration, the SG50 Partnership Committee, comprising industry leaders from 32 associations and federations,5 developed a framework to coordinate efforts by corporate organisations to support or start SG50 initiatives.6 Such platforms point to the need for public officers to have a good grasp of the Public Service’s goals and priorities and the skills in bridging interests of diverse stakeholders — bringing the most unlikely partners together, resolving conflicts and facilitating agreements for collective actions. Such public officers have been described as “public entrepreneurs”.7 They have also been depicted as “boundary spanners”,8 rising above agency silos to work across boundaries in managing inter-organisational relationships.
Notes
http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/budget_2016/BudgetSpeech.aspx
Singapore: Inside Out Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/singaporeinsideout/
Singapore (Tan Quee Lan Street, Bugis) 27 November to 6 December 2015; https://www.stb.gov.sg/content/stb/en.html
Companies and associations were invited to participate in the following ways: https://www.msf.gov.sg/
B. Ryan, et al, “Managing for joint outcomes: Connecting up the horizontal and the vertical,” Policy Quarterly 4(2008): 14–21.
P. Williams, “The competent boundary spanner," Public Administration, 80(2002): 103–24.
ANALYSIS: SINGAPORE AS RELATIONAL STATE?
The learning aspects that have emerged from the public sector’s SG50 experience — planning and strategic communications, multi-agency collaboration in large-scale events, community engagement and government as catalyst — are consistent with concepts of the relational state6 and collaborative, networked government7 proposed by contemporary public sector thinkers. These also reflect the new approaches needed in order for governments to navigate the realities of today’s increasingly uncertain and complex environment, in which national outcomes are beyond the control of any one public agency, or even the Government, alone. The success of society will come to depend not on traditional, vertical hiererachies alone, but on a complex web of interdependencies between flexible, connected, collaborative nodes, both within the public sector and across the different sectors in society. Describing this shift, Mulgan envisions government becoming the hub of a series of connections in society “which are organised in ways that create trust, legitimacy, and public value.” Relationships become the core.
Reflecting this paradigm shift in governance, Head of Civil Service Peter Ong made the point in The Straits Times that “No one has the monopoly on ideas and the public service may not always have the answer, or be the answer. We are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to crowdsource, consult and co-create — both within the service and with Singaporeans — as we shape our future together … Beyond hard structural changes, we must internalise systems thinking and collaboration as part of our shared culture so that it will be second nature for all of us to work across agency boundaries and tackle issues of priority. We will then be able to tap the wisdom of crowds as well as innovate and adapt as we work at delivering higher public value.”8
The success of the SG50 celebrations would not have been possible if these new capabilities, mind-sets and behaviours have not already begun to take root. Having delivered on SG50 in partnership with Singaporeans, the Public Service has gained the experience and valuable insights necessary to continue on its journey of transformation with confidence, as Singapore looks forward to the next 50 years and beyond.
THE LEGACY OF SG50
The impact of SG50 continued to be felt even after 2015 drew to a close:
The SG50 Care & Share movement continued to benefit many through the substantial funds it raised for voluntary welfare organisation programmes.
The SG50 Jubilee Walk, now a permanent marked route in the Civic District, continues to draw many to reflect on the story of Singapore’s past, present and future.
The SG50 Time Capsule, containing items and messages by thousands of Singaporeans, is buried in Gardens by the Bay, slated to be opened in 2065.
Together with the Future of Us exhibition in November 2015, the SGfuture series of thematic discussions and workshops was launched to engage Singaporeans in imagining and being involved in our nation’s future.
Building on the successful SG50 Celebration Fund, Our Singapore Fund was launched in August 2016 to support projects to strengthen national identity or meet community needs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Yee Lai Fong is Principal Researcher at the Institute of Governance and Policy, Civil Service College. Her research and teaching focus is on public engagement. She was attached to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s SG50 Programme Office as a learning historian to distil the public sector’s collective learning insights and key considerations behind the planning and execution of SG50. She holds a Doctorate in Human and Organisational Learning from The George Washington University.
NOTES
J. Malpas, “New media, cultural heritage and the sense of place: Mapping the conceptual ground,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 14(2008): 197–209.
E. Giaccardi and L. Palen, “The social production of heritage through cross-media interaction: Making place for place-making,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 14(2008): 281–97.
In particular, the SG50 logo was intentionally designed for easy customisation and use by partners and the general public, as a common branding for the Golden Jubilee Celebrations.
Geoff Mulgan, “The Rise of the Relational State” (paper presented at the NS6 International Roundtable, London, United Kingdom, 16–18 November 2010).
See note 5.
Jocelyne Bourgon, “The future of public service: A search for a new balance,” The Australian Journal of Public Administration 67(2008): 390–404; E. Klijin, “Complexity theory and public administration: What’s new?” Public Management Review 10(2008): 299–317.
Peter Ong, “Public service wants to crowdsource, consult and co-create,” The Straits Times, 5 November 2015.