The Government of Singapore envisions socially-aware active youth citizen for youth development in the 21st century. It defines youth development as the active process by which young people are engaged, equipped and empowered to be active citizens in society. This is characterized by a purposeful strength-building approach. Rather than categorizing young people according to their deficits, the Singapore model of youth development aims to build upon the creative capacities inherent within each person. One of the challenges identified for youth development in the 21st century is to nurture the youths to be highly adaptable to all environments and personal worlds where they operate in such as career, school, and relationships with peers, parents or colleagues. They are required to be equipped with the appropriate mindset, personal mastery of necessary skills and operate by a youth creed which ties them to the community in Singapore while they make their mark in the wider society.

There is a need for a platform to promote common understanding and facilitate a more integrated approach to developing the youth of Singapore in line with the common vision.

There is an increasing call to upgrade the skills and knowledge of youth workers, particularly when the youth of today are growing more complex with the greater diversity of interests. Singapore education is making changes and refinements within a system that is already recognized for its strength so that it continues to keep in step with the future [...] While it is important to place a strong emphasis on educational achievements, there should be recognition of multiple intelligences in developing youth potential and well-rounded development that celebrate different areas of success. Recognition should also be given for the processes involved and effort put in, in addition to the outcomes and success indicators. A range of role models are required to inspire youths with different interests and backgrounds.

A large section of the youth in Singapore considers that the youth development programmes and community service activities do not attract their peers because of lack of funs. Experiential learning should be incorporated into such programmes so that learning could be interesting and youthful [...]

Lack of self-esteem is often highlighted as a major issue affecting young people which often start during the formative years of childhood. It becomes a bigger problem when youth are seen as lacking the initiative to handle responsibility or to purse their dreams. It is also an impediment towards communicating effectively and keeping an open mind to new ideas. There is a perceived lack of interaction and integration among youths with different learning abilities in Singapore. Leaders of youth programmes are often over-represented by high academic achievers. There is also a need to promote multisectoral cooperation among the youth service providers. This would allow the sharing of resources, exchanging ideas, best practices and professional expertise which would in turn greatly enhance the scale and outreach of projects.