Educate first for more constructive outcomes, says Foo Cexiang of his push for citizen participation

Minister of State for Manpower and Energy, Trade and Industry Foo Cexiang said he hopes to build platforms for anyone with a passion to thrive.

Published Nov 01, 2026, 12:01 PM

Updated Nov 01, 2026, 12:01 PM

Foo Cexiang says education must come first if Singaporeans are to join policy talks, so public feedback leads to more constructive outcomes.

He has backed citizen engagement through pilots in Tiong Bahru and Spottiswoode Park, including recycling and participatory budgeting.

As a new Minister of State, he spends much time on speeches, meetings and travel, while still doing grassroots work.

SINGAPORE – Education is the first step to widening the space for Singaporeans to be part of policy discussions, said Minister of State for Manpower Foo Cexiang.

The first-term Tanjong Pagar GRC MP, who is now two months into political office , said he believes in citizen participation.

“But to give more space, you need to educate first. Because if you don’t share with people the basis and the context and the information, then of course you cannot expect something constructive to come out of it,” said Foo, 41.

Foo, who is also Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry, said his belief in involving more people in decisions stems from his undergraduate days studying urban planning, when he was particularly interested in community planning.

His experience as a civil servant reinforced that conviction, when he saw that the service could “do more” with public consultation.

Foo has overseen several pilot projects in this vein over the past year and a half in his Tanjong-Pagar-Tiong Bahru ward.

These include a recycling trial in Tiong Bahru and a participatory budgeting project in Spottiswoode Park estate , which allows residents to have more say in how funds are allocated for neighbourhood improvements. Both exercises spanned several weekends and brought together different agencies and people involved for conversations.

“Everyone has been great because the community has come together, and that is the value,” he said. “I thrive on this thing where people come together and get something difficult done.”

He had pushed for more such engagements in Parliament in May as a backbencher. His speech, titled Building A Democracy Of Deeds, championed an approach where an active citizenry works with the Government to solve problems.

In an interview with The Straits Times on Oct 26, Foo said the Government should place citizen engagement at the heart of its planning approach as it shapes communities and neighbourhoods.

His experience with frequent engagement is now useful to his work as a political office-holder.

Much of his time now is spent meeting stakeholders, including workers, unions, foreign counterparts as well as local and foreign companies.

Foo, who took on his roles on Sept 1, had imagined that the new roles would be quite similar to his past experience in civil service – “a bit more time in front of the computer, thinking about policies, developing policies”.

He was a director at the Transport Ministry before entering politics in the 2025 General Election. Prior to joining the Government, he was with port operator PSA Singapore as its vice-president for port ecosystem development from April 2025.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had in announcing changes to his Cabinet in July said he was bringing Foo and Jalan Besar GRC MP Shawn Loh into the Government as “they have made a good start as MPs”.

Asked how he reacted to the portfolios he was assigned to, Foo said he had previously told PM Wong that as his children were young, he hoped not to travel too much in the immediate term.

With trade now one of his assigned portfolios, Foo said he recognised that travelling was an important part of the job and has had to explain it to his three daughters, aged four to nine, who hate that he has to go away.

He has made three overseas trips in three months. This includes travelling with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for over a week in August, right before he rejoined the public sector on Sept 1.

He was away for three days in September to attend the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting held in Nanjing, China, and was part of the delegation accompanying President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on a five-day state visit to Sweden in October .

Foo said his wife has helped to explain his absence to their children by printing out information and trivia about each destination. His daughters were excited in October that Foo would be meeting Swedish royalty.

The other change to his schedule is that he spends a large amount of time making speeches and attending events, which he sees as an extension of his MP role.

He has given more than 12 speeches since taking political office, averaging one speech every two to three days, not including those in his capacity as an MP.

“The large majority of my time now as a political office-holder is spent on communication,” he said, adding that it is important to inform and get feedback on policies.

He has also moved from asking questions in Parliament as a backbencher, to answering them. Since taking office, he has responded to about five questions in the House, including some “to and fro” with opposition MPs.

“I think I was able to communicate what are the underlying principles, objectives and implications… that was something that I had confidence doing.”

He describes himself as an “optimist and a realist”, and responds with a swift “nothing” when asked if any issue keeps him awake at night.

After making a decision, he does his best to make it work. If it does not, he pivots to make the right decision, he said.

Foo has kept up his grassroots events tempo for now, though he is not sure if that will hold with his travel schedule.

He tries to make an extra effort when attending these events, he notes, as he wants to play a bigger part in mobilising and helping such events succeed.

Foo recently went viral for his performance in the ring at WrestlePagar 2 at Tanjong Pagar Community Club on Oct 10 . He performed under the Hunclemania banner to promote the H.U.N.C.L.E programme – which stands for Healthy Uncles who Network, drink Coffee, Learn and Exercise – for men aged 50 and above in his ward.

He delivered moves including an arm drag, rebounded off the ropes and executed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s signature “People’s Elbow” wrestling move.

Foo, who has done his fair share of dancing and singing to engage his residents, attended basic wrestling training sessions prior to his act.

He added: “We need to be a society where anyone with a passion will have a platform to thrive and do well, and it just so happens that in the capacities that I am as a grassroots advisor, as MOS in manpower and trade, I can facilitate so many of these platforms.”

Chin Soo Fang is senior correspondent at The Straits Times, covering a wide range of topics including community, politics, social issues, consumer, culture and heritage.

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人力及能源、贸易及工业部政务部长傅策祥表示，他希望为所有有志之士搭建发展平台。

发布于 2026 年 11 月 1 日 下午 12:01

更新于2026年11月1日下午12:01

傅策祥表示，如果新加坡人要参与政策讨论，教育必须放在首位，这样公众的反馈才能带来更具建设性的结果。

他通过在中峇鲁和斯波蒂斯伍德公园开展试点项目来支持公民参与，包括回收利用和参与式预算。

作为新任国务部长，他花费大量时间发表演讲、参加会议和出差，同时仍然坚持基层工作。

新加坡——人力部政务部长符策祥表示，教育是扩大新加坡人参与政策讨论空间的第一步。

这位丹戎巴葛集选区首任议员，上任仅两个月，就表示他相信公民参与。

“但要想给予更多空间，首先需要进行教育。因为如果你不与人们分享基础、背景和信息，那么你当然不能指望从中产生任何建设性的结果，”41岁的Foo说道。

同时担任能源、贸易及工业部政务部长的傅海燕表示，他相信应该让更多的人参与决策，这源于他本科学习城市规划时对社区规划特别感兴趣。

他担任公务员的经历更加坚定了他的这一信念，他发现，通过公众咨询，公务员部门可以“做得更多”。

在过去一年半的时间里，Foo 在他的丹戎巴葛-中峇鲁选区监督了几个此类试点项目。

这些项目包括在Tiong Bahru开展的回收利用试点项目，以及在Spottiswoode Park社区开展的参与式预算项目，后者让居民在社区改善资金分配方面拥有更多发言权。这两项活动都持续了几个周末，并汇集了不同的机构和相关人员进行讨论。

“大家都很棒，因为社区团结一心，这才是最重要的，”他说。“我喜欢这种大家齐心协力完成困难事情的感觉。”

今年五月，他作为一名普通议员在议会中力主开展更多此类活动。他题为《建设行动民主》的演讲倡导一种公民积极参与政府解决问题的方式。

10月26日，Foo在接受《海峡时报》采访时表示，政府在塑造社区和邻里关系时，应该将公民参与置于规划方法的核心位置。

他以往频繁参与政治活动的经验，现在对他的政治职务工作很有帮助。

他现在的大部分时间都花在会见利益相关者上，包括工人、工会、外国同行以及本地和外国公司。

Foo于9月1日上任，他原本以为新职位会与他过去在公务员岗位上的经历非常相似——“花更多时间在电脑前，思考政策，制定政策”。

在2025年大选步入政坛之前，他曾担任交通部主管。加入政府之前，他于2025年4月起担任新加坡港务集团（PSA Singapore）港口生态系统发展副总裁。

总理黄循财在7月宣布内阁改组时表示，他将傅海燕和惹兰勿刹集选区议员罗晓明纳入政府，因为“他们作为议员已经有了一个良好的开端”。

当被问及对所分配的职务有何反应时，傅海燕表示，他之前曾告诉黄循财总理，由于他的孩子还小，他希望近期不要出差太多。

Foo表示，贸易现在是他负责的领域之一，他意识到出差是工作的重要组成部分，并且不得不向他四岁到九岁的三个女儿解释这一点，她们很讨厌他要离开。

三个月内，他进行了三次海外访问。其中包括8月份与高级部长李显龙一同前往哈萨克斯坦和乌兹别克斯坦，进行为期一周多的访问，之后他于9月1日重返公共部门。

9 月，他离开三天前往中国南京参加亚太经合组织人力资源发展部长级会议；10 月，他作为代表团成员陪同尚达曼总统对瑞典进行了为期五天的国事访问。

Foo说，他的妻子为了向孩子们解释他不在家的原因，打印出了每个目的地的相关信息和趣闻。十月份的时候，他的女儿们听说Foo要去见瑞典皇室成员，都非常兴奋。

他日程安排的另一个变化是，他花大量时间发表演讲和参加活动，他认为这是他议员职责的延伸。

自他担任公职以来，他已发表过 12 次以上的演讲，平均每两到三天发表一次演讲，这还不包括他作为国会议员发表的演讲。

他说：“我现在作为政治官员的大部分时间都花在了沟通上。”他还补充说，向民众宣传政策并获得反馈意见非常重要。

他也从一名普通议员在议会提问，转变为回答问题。自上任以来，他已在议会回答了大约五个问题，其中包括与反对党议员的一些“来回辩论”。

“我认为我能够清晰地传达出其基本原则、目标和影响……对此我很有信心。”

他自称是“乐观主义者和现实主义者”，当被问及是否有任何问题让他夜不能寐时，他迅速回答“没有”。

他说，一旦做出决定，他就会尽力去实现。如果失败了，他会调整方向，做出正确的决定。

Foo 目前仍保持着参与基层活动的节奏，但他不确定这是否会与他的旅行安排相冲突。

他表示，参加这些活动时，他会格外努力，因为他想在动员和帮助这些活动取得成功方面发挥更大的作用。

Foo 近日因 10 月 10 日在丹戎巴葛民众俱乐部举行的 WrestlePagar 2 摔跤比赛中的精彩表现而走红网络。他以 Hunclemania 的名义进行表演，旨在推广 HUNCLE 计划——该计划旨在为他所在选区的 50 岁及以上男性提供交流、喝咖啡、学习和锻炼的健康大叔计划。

他使出了包括手臂拖拽、从绳圈反弹以及巨石强森标志性的“人民肘击”摔跤动作等招式。

Foo 经常载歌载舞来逗乐居民，在表演之前他还参加了基础摔跤训练课程。

他补充道：“我们需要一个让任何有热情的人都能拥有发展和取得成功的平台的社会，而我恰好以我作为基层顾问、人力和贸易部国务部长的身份，能够为许多这样的平台提供便利。”

Chin Soo Fang 是《海峡时报》的资深记者，报道范围广泛，包括社区、政治、社会问题、消费者、文化和遗产等话题。

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