Heng Swee Keat's Committee

And here are the second and third reasons.

The second is that Singapore needs to adapt to global trends like emerging economies developing, and science and technology breakthroughs, while its own economy and society matures. 

“These global and domestic trends will fundamentally change the way we live, work and play. We need to plan ahead and adapt to changes so that each Singaporean, and our country as a whole, stays relevant and engaged,” he said. 

The third reason he gave is that finding out the aspirations and shared values from that conversation will inspire the country and shape its decisions. He said: “Many decisions that we take today will shape the Singapore of tomorrow. "We need to tackle immediate issues as well as plant the seeds of our future success.”

Just as in previous committees, I don't think they will get what they hope for. Such exercises are done in many places with confident managements but they almost always end up as hubris. The future is unpredictable and we are foremost price takers.

So why bother? What are the possible real reasons for such exercises? Rehearsing the future, understanding the present.

Human minds and senses only understand by comparing one thing with another. Just as we can only compare one color TV with another; sense relative and not absolute temperature with our bodies etc., we create a vision and conceptual objects to compare our present against the imagined and so help us understand our circumstances better than our competitors. Unfortunately the man in the street isn't likely to understand its usefulness this way. In the end he will use it as report card that the government had missed the targets again. When the government in the early days did not have such committees and share the results, they met targets. Go figure.

I think I have made the mistake of thinking too highly of the government. I don't recall any organization capable of achieving this consistently. It paid off for Shell once but they could not sustain it and eventually tripped.

At least this exercise will help young ministers get on the same page. It is also an educational journey they are taking together. If they want to improve on the past, make the deliberations public and allow all to participate. For such efforts, the thinking process is always more valuable that the results. We will not get to our planned destination but it is vital we ride together wherever we end up. If we journey well, we shall end well.