Mental Well-being Circles Formed under SG Mental Well-being Network

Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) how many mental well-being circles under the SG Mental Well-Being Network have been formed so far; (b) how many members have been recruited and trained; and (c) what are some of the lessons learnt from forming well-being circles in the community.

The Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Alvin Tan) (for the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth): Sir, we recently updated on the Well-being Circles at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's (MCCY's) Committee of Supply (COS) debate on 6 March 2023. The Network has set up six Mental Well-Being Circles across Singapore. There are now 400 trained volunteers and around 30 partners, across the six Mental Well-Being Circles.

The Well-Being Circles are still relatively new and are trying different approaches and models. While it would be too soon to be definitive about the learning points, I assure the Member that we will gain valuable experience over time and apply the lessons that we have learnt.

Sir, I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I just want to ask: I have seen the good work that MCCY has done through the Mental Well-Being Circles and I am actually quite encouraged and I hope that we can push more forward in a shorter time. One of the questions that I want to ask, is about how we can prepare them further when a pandemic comes again because we are currently debating this Motion where we talk about COVID-19. But when a pandemic strikes, we want to make sure that these Well-Being Circles can transform and become an emergency preparedness approach. Are there plans to go into that direction?

Sir, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. The purpose of the Mental Well-Being Circles was born out of the Youth Mental Well-Being Network and expanded to the SG Mental Well-Being Network – the purpose is to raise awareness about mental well-being and mental health issues; and also to train peer supporters so that they may be able to support their friends, their families and the community. And thirdly, it is to have a network for them to support one another and, if necessary, to refer people who need step-up care to step-up support.

So, I would like to thank the Member for his contributions and also his strong support in his Kolam Ayer Well-Being Circle and I encourage him and other Members to continue to give us feedback on how to improve this as we go along.