PRESS RELEASE
REACH-ING TO THE HEARTLANDS
REACH launches its first roving interactive exhibition in the heartlands to promote citizen engagement
Singaporeans will soon be treated to a host of fun, informative and interactive exhibits right at their doorsteps! This is part of REACH’s latest initiative to reach out to Singaporeans to raise their awareness of the slate of public engagement channels available to them.
Launch of REACH’s Roving Interactive Exhibition
2 REACH will be launching its Roving Interactive Exhibition on 27 June 2008 (Friday), 4.30 – 5.30pm at HDB Hub Mall, Toa Payoh. The launch venue could not have been more apt as the HDB Hub epitomises the true Singaporean ‘heartland’ experience. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be the Guest-of-Honour at the launch. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Dr Amy Khor, Chairman, REACH Panel will be officiating the event as well. The highlight of the launch will see the Prime Minister viewing REACH’s profile on Facebook, touring the exhibition and interacting with heartlanders who would be viewing the exhibits.
3 The aim of the Roving Exhibition is to reach out to heartlanders to increase their awareness of REACH and showcase the different feedback channels they can use to engage the government. As the public interacts with the myriad of exhibits, they will gain greater awareness of the channels through which they can give feedback and this will in turn, encourage them to share their views on government policies and social issues that impact them with a view to further improving public policy making.
Pro-actively reaching out to the heartlanders
4 This is yet another major effort by REACH since its revamp in 2006 to reach out to a larger and more diverse segment of the population, raise their awareness and interest in engaging the government through REACH and facilitate exchange of views and perspectives between the people and the government.
5 “With the revamp of REACH, we have moved beyond merely gathering feedback to proactively reaching out to and engaging the people, and we are constantly introducing new platforms to extend our reach. Since most Singaporeans live in the heartlands, the best way to reach out to them is to go to them. REACH wants to engage them, as their views are important.” said Dr Amy Khor, Chairman, REACH. “The launch of the Roving Exhibition is thus a testimony of our efforts to reach out to the people through all available means, to get them to play a more active role in shaping government policies. It also offers an excellent platform for us to reach out to the masses and make our feedback channels known to them. What better way to do this than to let the public have a first-hand experience of these channels, literally right at their doorstep.”
Key highlights of the exhibition
6 Besides the standard static displays, the exhibition will comprise an interactive element. The three major interactive interfaces are face-to-face through interacting with members of the public; people-to-computer where people can provide feedback online at the on-site laptops, view REACH’s flash animation online, and explore REACH’s Facebook profile page; and people-to-interactive displays where participants learn more about the consultation process by taking part in quizzes and games, and other interactive displays. The exhibits, which are translated in four different languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil), are specially designed to suit people of all ages and serve as perfect infotainment tools to educate the public in a light-hearted manner. Our Junior REACH Ambassadors, who were appointed at the launch of the JRA programme in February this year as part of REACH’s efforts to better engage youths, will also be present at the exhibition to interact with the public.
REACH is on Facebook!
7 Dr Khor said, ”Many Singaporeans, especially the youths, are very comfortable with new media. Leveraging on new media platforms to engage more Singaporeans is not only logical, but vital. Take the example of Facebook. Since its launch in 2004, it has gained extensive popularity, with many people, tapping on it to connect with people. With its proven success, it comes as no surprise that REACH too hopes to leverage on the popular networking site to connect with those active in this vast network. The multiplier effect could be tremendous.”
8 Dr Khor also stressed, “Whilst there is a need to embrace new avenues of communication and harness their ability to reach out to a wider group, “old media” and traditional forms of feedback such as face-to-face dialogues and letters still remain as important and useful feedback channels. New media tools are an extension of what REACH can do to engage other segments of the population, who might otherwise be left out of the feedback process.”
Subsequent roves
9 The first roving exhibition will be held at HDB Hub Mall from 2 to 4 July 2008. Following this, the exhibition will rove to various locations around the island over the next two years. These include venturing into the heartlands and schools islandwide.
Issued by:
REACH
27 June 2008