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As digital technologies reshape how people work and interact, DPM Gan Kim Yong outlines why trust, diverse social ties, and everyday cooperation are central to Singapore’s economic competitiveness, social resilience, and shared identity.
Singapore is living through a period of rapid change. Digital technologies are reshaping how economies function, how work is organised, and how people interact. Artificial intelligence is beginning to influence productivity and decision-making, while social media and digital platforms have transformed how information flows and relationships are maintained.
Alongside these shifts, questions of trust, social cohesion, and belonging are coming into sharper focus. These concerns are familiar, but they carry added weight at a time when economic and social change is happening at speed, and more interactions are mediated through technology.
It was against this backdrop that Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry opened the Institute of Policy Studies’ Singapore Perspectives 2026 conference on 26 January (Monday). For Singapore, a small and diverse society, he noted that these issues are not abstract. Social cohesion does not come from a single identity or shared background, but from how people of different backgrounds live, work, and interact over time.
Snippets of his speech are as follows:
DPM Gan pointed out that this year’s conference theme, fraternity, reflects that reality. Often described as social capital, fraternity refers to the relationships, shared norms, and everyday habits of cooperation that allow people to trust one another and function collectively, even amid diversity. It is not about being the same or constant agreement, but about whether people who differ in outlook or circumstance still see one another as part of a shared social community, he highlighted.
In a society where diversity is a fact of life, fraternity has long been what allows difference to become a source of strength rather than division.
Fraternity in a digital society
As societies become more digitally connected, DPM Gan acknowledged that it is sometimes assumed that traditional social ties rooted in place or institutions will fade. The reality, however, is more complex.
Digital tools have made communication easier and faster, but they also shape who people interact with. Personalised feeds, self-selected networks, and interest-based communities can result in people being highly connected, yet within relatively narrow social circles.
In that vein, he noted that while access to information may expand, trust does not deepen automatically. Communication becomes more efficient, but shared understanding still takes time to build. In this sense, digitalisation has not reduced the importance of fraternity. Instead, it has placed greater weight on the social fabric that underpins trust, cooperation, and a sense of shared purpose.
What social ties look like in Singapore
Recent IPS survey research on friendships and social networks offers a clearer picture of how these dynamics play out in Singapore.
Close and meaningful relationships continue to form mainly through in-person settings, such as schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods, and community spaces. Digital platforms play a role in maintaining contact but tend to support rather than replace face-to-face interactions.
The diversity of social ties also matters, the DPM affirmed. People with friendships that cut across age, income, education, housing type, or ethnicity are more likely to report a stronger sense of belonging and higher levels of trust. They are also more confident that others share common values and more likely to take part in civic and community activities.
Where social networks are narrower and more homogeneous, these outcomes tend to be weaker. This suggests that fraternity is shaped not only by how many connections people have, but by how broadly those connections extend across society.
Social networks, however, do not form in isolation. They often reflect wider social and economic structures. Without opportunities for interaction across different groups, networks can remain segmented, even in a digitally connected society.
Why fraternity matters
These patterns have practical consequences. For Singapore’s economy, openness has always been central, openness to trade, capital, ideas, and people. Competitiveness, however, depends on more than policies and incentives. It is also shaped by how society functions on a day-to-day basis.
People with more diverse social networks tend to report higher trust and a stronger sense of belonging. These traits influence whether a society feels welcoming and adaptable, and whether newcomers can integrate more easily.
For global talent, the decision to come and to stay is rarely based on work alone. It is also shaped by whether individuals can build relationships beyond the workplace and feel accepted within the wider community. Stronger social bonds make this integration easier, while segmented networks can increase friction and make openness harder to sustain in practice.
Fraternity also support social resilience. During periods of economic restructuring, technological disruption, demographic change, or global uncertainty, diverse social networks reduce isolation, support cooperation, and act as informal support systems. They influence how disruption is experienced and how well societies are able to adapt.
Beyond economics and resilience, fraternity shapes national identity. In a small, multicultural society, identity is not inherited automatically. It is built through everyday interactions that make difference familiar rather than threatening. When social ties cross boundaries, people are more likely to feel emotionally attached to Singapore and to believe that society shares common values.
Moving forward
Singapore’s development has long rested on a careful balance between openness and cohesion, and between diversity and shared purpose. Trust, between citizens, communities, workers, employers, and the Government, has been a quiet but critical foundation.
As the country navigates its next phase amid technological change, demographic shifts, and a more uncertain global environment, strengthening everyday social bonds remains central. In a digital age, what matters is not only how people are connected, but how connected they are to one another.
DPM Gan concluded:
"By strengthening the everyday bonds between us, we give Singapore the confidence to remain open, resilient, and united in a changing world."
Lead image / DPM Gan Kim Yong
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