August 9, 2003
SINGAPORE is good at setting up committees to tackle challenges.
The Economic Review Committee and the Committee on Remaking Singapore are some prominent ones.
But as Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said at a National Youth Achievement Award dinner celebration last year: 'It will be not be these committees, but our people, who will determine whether we can successfully cope with the challenges ahead.'
In particular, the youth, who make up one-fifth of the country's four million population, will shoulder 'the main responsibility', he added.
And so it is that this National Day Special celebrates Singaporeans born in, and after, the year of independence in 1965.
They have lived in peaceful times and reaped the fruits of their parents' labour.
But far from stereotyping the youth as archetypes, we revel in the diversity of individuals.
From liberals to conservatives, from civil servants to entrepreneurs, they address their aspirations and anxieties in different ways, often complementary, sometimes contradictory.
Some raise eyebrows with their candid views. Others break new ground by taking the road less trodden, away from the public eye.
In their quiet ways, they are already remaking Singapore.
Covering politics, the civil service and the fields of education, the sciences, commerce, entertainment and the arts, here are young Singaporeans who are making an impact, or rewriting the rules of their game. The list will invite rebuttal and scepticism. It is easy to disagree with some of the choices, and proclaim others not covered more deserving, more publicly decorated.
But better these people's impassioned convictions - having the courage to follow their heart and do something - than a litany of safe, calculated career decisions.
-- Yeow Kai Chai
Editor, 38 Under 38
Dawn Kua, 27, cat welfare campaigner
Believing that 'learning compassion towards animals makes us better people', she cites studies showing that many serial killers abused animals as a kid.
Recently, she was involved in talks with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) over the nationwide culling of strays as a result of the scare over the severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The only child in a family of animal lovers, Ms Kua lives in a Braddell Heights bungalow which is home to more than 10 cats, three dogs and a litter of rabbits.
Her association with the four-year-old Cat Welfare Society began in September 1999, when her retired-teacher mother signed them both up as members.
As a volunteer, she says she found her calling in life. And her passion is infectious. Her mother helps the society out by taking stray cats to the vet to be sterilised. The group advocates sterilisation as a humane way of controlling the number of cats.
As she puts it: 'Our goal is to try and get people to be more tolerant to animals.'
Off the cuff:
'Singapore is not a pet-friendly place. People will call up to complain if there's just one cat in an HDB block, even if it's sterilised and not bothering them.'