HAVING CONVERSATIONS WHEN THE HEAT RUNS HIGH
As Chair of REACH, Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How said at the Singapore Perspectives conference in January: “If we do not talk about differences, friction will escalate.” The key word is talk – talking to, not past each other, and without assuming the worst about the other.
This is how social capital is built. At the same conference, IPS Director Janadas Devan spoke of the “retreat into insularity” we are witnessing everywhere: the reluctance to trust or interact with anyone different from ourselves.Â
