Better Efforts to Communicate Government Schemes to Target Groups

Madam, the Government recognises that it is important for the beneficiaries of the Pioneer Generation Package and MediShield Life to receive accurate and timely information that is relevant to them.

This is why MCI adopted the approach of communicating the Pioneer Generation Package and its benefits in Chinese dialects. Malay and Tamil videos are also being prepared and will be released soon.

The dialect videos were produced primarily to communicate with dialect-speaking Singaporeans at community and grassroots events. For the convenience of many, such as caregivers and family members of Pioneers, who want to access these videos at their own time, we have posted these videos online on key information portals, such as the Gov.sg YouTube Channel and our newly launched Gov.sg Facebook.

We are also using the existing dialect programming time belts on both TV and radio channels to broadcast these dialect videos.

The dialect videos have been aired on Channel 8 during the dialect opera programming belt on Friday mornings. They have also been adapted in different dialects for radio broadcast during the daily Capital 95.8 FM dialect news line-up. Capital 95.8 FM carries news bulletins in Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Foochow and Hakka.

Besides the grassroots dialect videos, we have also produced videos for free-to-air channels in the four official languages on the Pioneer Generation Package and MediShield Life. We will continue to find engaging ways to effectively communicate Government policies. One recent set of English videos on the Pioneer Generation Package which was aired on free-to-air channels was based on the World Cup theme. We have also produced info-ads in the papers as well as flyers for distribution at community events. There will be other videos and collaterals in the coming months.

MCI will continue to enhance the Government communications effort and build up capabilities across all Government agencies.

Madam, I have two supplementary questions. First, I would like to also speak up for public servants holding communications portfolios. Sometimes, communications cannot do wonders and policy itself is very complicated. We may need to nip the issue at the bud at the way the policies are developed. My question is: does MCI play a role in advising the other Ministries how to develop policies that are easier to communicate and, hence, easier for people to understand and appreciate. If so, how? If

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not, why not? I would like to ask my second question in Mandarin, Madam.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Minister of State Ms Sim Ann has been working very hard to produce the YouTube videos in dialects for the Pioneer Generation to understand this very important message. These YouTube videos are uploaded so that people can watch them from anywhere at any time. But they were not telecast on TV except during Friday morning's dialect opera programming belt. So, apart from budget constraints for the TV advertisements, is there any difference in the Government's dialect policies between the traditional media and the social media?

Madam, I think across the whole-of-Government, it is well understood that public communications messages should be as simple as possible. At the same time, we do recognise that policies themselves often have to be complex because the policies do need to cater to Singaporeans with very diverse needs and in very different situations. Simplicity and clarity must not come at the expense of accuracy in conveying important details.

Besides simplifying public messages, good communications are also about ensuring effective support measures, such as having helplines as well as face-to-face outreach and explanation. What MCI does is to help Government agencies work towards clear and effective communications by providing officers who are trained in communications by giving advice in specific instances and also developing new capabilities to reach out to Singaporeans using different platforms, some of which Mr Baey has mentioned. Madam, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] First of all, on behalf of my colleagues in the Ministry of Communications and Information, I would like to thank Mr Baey for his appreciation of the various videos that were put out. Indeed, my colleagues have put a lot of thought and efforts in producing these videos. Mr Baey has asked about the Government's policy towards dialects, and whether there is any difference between the traditional media and social media. Let me explain.

In order to support the Speak Mandarin campaign, we have restrictions on the use of dialects with regard to public broadcasting media, especially free-to-air channels. But this does not mean that dialects are completely prohibited. As I have mentioned earlier, both on radio and TV, we have dialect news and programme belts. As for other communications platforms, the Government did not impose such restrictions. For example, for movies and cable TV, there is more room to use dialects. As for other forms of communications, such as videos, DVDs, public entertainment activities and Internet, we do not restrict the use of dialects.

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I would like to thank the Minister of State for her reply. I just have two supplementary questions. First and foremost, I just want to say as well that the videos that were produced, both the dialect and the Mandarin versions, were quite well received by my residents. I thought it was good work done.

My question is this: the Minister of State did mention that the Malay and Tamil versions will be coming out later. Why were these not produced earlier because these are all official languages and are we prioritising dialects before our two other official languages? I thought, in terms of capacity, given that there are production houses out there which could also help, we could have prioritised the Malay and Tamil language videos earlier.

I want to thank the Member Mr Zaqy Mohamad for his question. MCI is a champion of the use of the four official languages, so we are completely in agreement that producing collaterals and videos in the four official languages is very important.

Allow me to share a little bit on the background on the production of these particular videos that the Member was talking about. I think it also illustrates the way in which we evolve the development of new communications capabilities which I also alluded to in my earlier answer.

The decision to produce the dialect videos, as I have mentioned, arose from the recognition of the need to communicate with dialect-speaking Singaporeans who might not be able to access very readily the collaterals and the videos that were actually already produced in the four official languages. Prior to the appearance of the dialect videos, there was already material that was produced in the four official languages.

Considering the audience that we were trying to reach out to, the production team decided to take a slightly novel approach, which is to take a comedy skit-type of approach. It was not just the use of dialects but the fact that it was the use of a comedy-skit format that made the videos popular. Having learned from that, we then decided to apply that to other languages as well.

That sort of creates the impression that some Members may have that we started off with the dialects first. Actually, it was more because we realised that the comedy-skit format also worked very well and we decided to complement the existing material that is in the four official languages by also putting in something that is more skit-like, that is more interactive, that has a bit of a storyline which, hopefully, will make the messages more engaging.

Madam, I declare my interest as a member of the media and an employer of one of the companies that puts out some of the videos on the

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free-to-air channels. I have to say that some of the videos have been very well received. The fact that thought was put in to make them topical to coincide with the World Cup season, means that the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) message was brought forward in a very engaging way. I agree with what the Prime Minister said on his Facebook that it is very effective.

I would just like to ask the Minister of State: has the Ministry analysed the different channels and avenues where engagement and explanation have been pushed out? Many Members of this House have been doing face-to-face engagement. They have been working with REACH, they have been doing Facebook chats which is a relatively new innovation. Given these – the traditional media channels as well as face-to-face engagement – does the Ministry have any feedback on which one is more effective or has been more receptive? And going forward, where would the emphasis be placed in terms of the future efforts for current and future policies?

Once again, I wish to thank the Member for his commendation of the efforts that our colleagues have put into the videos. I would say that this is really an evolving exercise because at the end of the day, communication is a multi-faceted process. Beyond putting out strong collaterals, effective videos, it is also the ability to help the individual access the answers to the specific questions that he or she may have. I think that is very important and that is why I mentioned the importance of having other channels such as face-to-face outreach and communication.

I would say that it is probably too early to tell, but we certainly are working very closely with the organisations and the individuals for helping us disseminate messages on the ground to see what works and what could be improved upon in order to fine-tune the entire process.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for her reply. I have just a couple of questions. First, would the Ministry consider producing videos similar to the one that Brian Richmond did during this World Cup season, but slowing down the pace in which the information is conveyed, because for even older Singaporeans, it is probably a bit too fast for them.

My second question, I am not sure whether this was covered in your Mandarin reply earlier, but would the Ministry consider using paid media advertising, for example, transit TVs on buses or advertising on TV screens in high traffic areas, which are shopping malls or supermarkets to convey such videos as well?

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I thank Dr Intan for her questions. This also shows the feedback loop in action and I thank her for the comments on the English videos. Certainly, we would look at various ways of varying the pacing or the presentation of information in different formats so that a wide range of audience can find it helpful. In terms of the use of paid channels, we do not rule out any of these channels. The key, like I have mentioned, is to have a judicious mix of not just broadcast paid advertising but I think also to ensure that when people want to know a bit more – because part of the impact is in engaging people to want to find out more and to find out how their specific questions can be answered – that at that point, the information is also readily available and that the answers are there.