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SINGAPORE \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
The first-term Tanjong Pagar GRC MP, who is now two months into political office<\/span><\/a>, said he believes in citizen participation.<\/p>\n \u201cBut to give more space, you need to educate first. Because if you don\u2019t share with people the basis and the context and the information, then of course you cannot expect something constructive to come out of it,\u201d said Foo, 41.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n His experience as a civil servant reinforced that conviction, when he saw that the service could \u201cdo more\u201d with public consultation.<\/p>\n Foo has overseen several pilot projects in this vein over the past year and a half in his Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru ward.<\/p>\n These include a recycling trial in Tiong Bahru and a participatory budgeting project in Spottiswoode Park estate<\/span><\/a>, which allows residents to have more say in how funds are allocated for neighbourhood improvements.<\/p>\n Both exercises spanned several weekends and brought together different agencies and people involved for conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has been great because the community has come together, and that is the value,\u201d he said. \u201cI thrive on this thing where people come together and get something difficult done.\u201d<\/p>\n He had pushed for more such engagements in Parliament in May as a backbencher.<\/p>\n His speech, titled Building A Democracy Of Deeds, championed an approach where an active citizenry works with the Government to solve problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n His experience with frequent engagement is now useful in his work as a political office-holder.<\/p>\n Much of his time now is spent meeting stakeholders, including workers, unions, foreign counterparts as well as local and foreign companies.<\/p>\n Foo, who took on his roles on Sept 1, had imagined that they would be quite similar to his past experience in the civil service \u2013 \u201ca bit more time in front of the computer, thinking about policies, developing policies\u201d.<\/p>\n He was a director at the Transport Ministry before joining port operator PSA Singapore as its vice-president for port ecosystem development in April 2025, and entered politics in the 2025 General Election.<\/p>\n In announcing changes to his Cabinet in July, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said he was bringing Foo and Jalan Besar GRC MP Shawn Loh into the Government as \u201cthey have made a good start as MPs\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n With trade now one of his assigned portfolios, Foo said he recognised that travelling is 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.<\/p>\n He has made three overseas trips in three months. It included 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n