Are the five Cs still relevant today?

TREK back 20 years to February 2002, when the Remaking Singapore committee – the brainchild of then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong – was set up to pry Singaporeans away from traditional material pursuits. Then, the 5Cs loomed large in the nation’s consciousness. Today, talk around them has dissipated – but does that mean that the committee achieved its objectives?

The 5Cs of careers, condos, country clubs, credit cards, and cars – once seen as the “Singapore Dream” – were, for much of the 20th century, an aspiration for many. Tick all those boxes and you would have reached the proverbial holy grail.

But as lifestyles change and standards of living rise, aspirations are no longer as straightforward.