What does the Singapore spirit mean to Singaporeans?

The idea of coming together as one Singaporean, having an appreciation of diversity while being tolerant of every race, religion and nationality, as well as providing support for one another.

These were some answers given by 11 Singaporeans, including Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, in the video by the Night Owl Cinematics and National Youth Council to celebrate Youth Month.

As part of the video, hosts Sylvia Chan and Nina Tan asked the 11 participants, who came from different generations, what the Singapore Spirit meant to them.

Nurani, a student at Raffles Girl School, said that the Singapore Spirit is about more appreciation of diversity.

“You can tell from the surface level where everybody is just multiracial. Singapore demonstrates that it in itself is a very appreciative country of other people’s differences.”

Joe Pang, a student from ITE said: “I want to quote what Minister Lawrence Wong said: ‘To take an extra step to make minorities feel more comfortable’.”

“The idea of coming together and supporting one another, I think that would be the essence of the Singapore spirit,” added Mukti, who is a teacher.

Mr Tong said that Singapore had a special identity, as Singaporeans are all “multicultural, multireligious, multiracial”.

“So it’s about protecting this identity,” added Mr Tong, who had a Youth Month message too.

In his message, he reiterated for youth to embrace Singapore’s diversity as a positive point and a strength, and to look forward to the numerous opportunities that lie ahead.

“[Youth can look forward] to be able to realise their dreams, fulfill their aspirations and to know that every step of the way, the Government will support them, [the] community will support them and will do what we can to help them along this path.

“Finally, we must be thankful that we continue to live, work and play in a country that values our harmony. Our individual peace and respect with each other.

“So we should continue on this path and I hope that people will see that and that we’ll cherish this and continue to grow this for the next generation to come.”

The 10-minute long video also got the participants to share about what happened locally that touched their heart, the most memorable thing they did during circuit breaker and the one thing that got them through 2020.

The participants were also quizzed on how knowledgeable they were on TikTok trends – Mr Tong even impressed the hosts by ‘hitting the Woah’ –  among other things.

Catch the video here below, or on the National Youth Council’s Facebook page!