If you were hoping that the days of change.org were over, I have some bad news for you.
PetitionsSG, a prototype that seeks to have the government respond to petitions, has been taken down after the team behind it decided not to pursue the idea.
This is everything about the short-lived project, and why the team gave up on it.
What Is PetitionsSG?
Some of you may know of PetitionsSG, a platform prototype that was launched in January this year as part of the Open Government Products’ annual Hack for Public Good 2022 initiative.
The prototype, developed by a team of five, allows members of the public to start and process various petitions, but they will not be sent to the government yet.
Lest you’re unaware, Open Government Products is an experimental development team that is situated within GovTech. The team is responsible for technology-based issues for the public sector.
Once you enter the website, step-by-step instructions on how to use the platform will appear.
Firstly, members of the public can use the platform to “draft a compelling petition for a cause you think needs the government’s attention”.
Next, they will have to find three endorsers who must be willing to endorse the petition publicly, and the petition will be posted publicly for other people in Singapore to read and sign after this step is complete.
If the petition manages to achieve a goal of 10,000 signatures within 180 days, the petition will be handed over to the relevant ministry.
After the ministry is informed about the petition, it will have 90 days to make a response.
Sounds pretty legit, doesn’t it? After all, many other countries also have similar official petition channels.
Government Does Not Make Decisions On Basis of Petitions
GovTech’s communications and marketing group director, Chong Wan Yieng, told The Straits Times that PetitionsSG has been taken down.
She said that the website did not accept any live petitions or signatures, and was just a prototype built for internal user testing during this year’s hackathon.
The team has ultimately decided to not pursue this idea, based on one very practical reason: the Government does not make decisions on the basis of petitions.
Yes, they do try to actively seek out the views and concerns of citizens through many different channels. But we should not expect any changes to come from a mere petition.
Seems like this is the end of PetitionsSG, and change.org will continue reigning supreme in Singapore’s petition landscape.
Featured Image: petitions.hack.gov.sg
