YSA_NEWSLETTER__FEB_2018

4 Khwaish | February 2018
SIKH VOICES CONFERENCE 2017
THE FUTURE OF THE SIKH COMMUNITY AND SINGAPORE
Close to 180 people turned up for YSA’s
inaugural Sikh Voices conference on
11 November 2017. Themed ‘What
If’, the full-day event featured panel
discussions, dialogues and a minihackathon,
all of which were meant
to spur thinking about the future of the
local Sikh community and Singapore.
The aim of the Sikh Voices conference
was to bring Sikhs, of all ages and from
all walks of life, together to have a
candid and open discussion on possible
scenarios which the Sikh community
could face in the coming years and
what it could do to overcome these.
The one-day event featured three
dynamic panel discussions. The
first panel, entitled ‘Singapore’s
Economy and International Standing’,
discussed the impact of the economic
complexities and difficulties facing
Singapore on the Sikh community.
The panel included former Member
of Parliament, Mr Inderjit Singh, and
Mr Devadas Krishnadas, Founder and
Chief Executive Officer of Future-Moves
Group. It received much praise from
participants who felt that the thoughtprovoking
discussion helped to shed
light on fears that Singapore might
become irrelevant to the world in the
future.
A mini-hackathon activity, the first of
its kind being conducted in an event
organised by YSA, was designed to
help participants break into small
groups to discuss various scenarios that
are either already affecting the Sikh
community currently or might do so in
the future. The hour-long hackathon
saw deep discussions and various
viewpoints being presented by the
participants, some echoing points that
had been raised during the earlier
panel discussions.
The ideas brainstormed during the
mini-hackathon were then presented
to Guest-of-Honour, Senior Minister of
State, Ministry of Communications and
Information, and Ministry of Health, Mr
Chee Hong Tat, in the form of a gallery
walk. Mr Chee had the opportunity to
hear the various groups’ presentations
on the scenarios they had discussed.
During the final panel discussion,
featuring Mr Chee, he praised the
participants for their creative and
relevant inputs. He also shared his
views on whether Singapore would be
able to thrive if it reduced its emphasis
on principles such as meritocracy,
multiculturalism and a social compact
that emphasises individual and family
responsibility.
The Sikh Voices conference was
organised by a group of young Sikhs
between 18 and 26 years old, who
were part of the second batch of
YSA’s Young Leaders Programme (YLP),
which was held from May to November
2017. The leadership programme
was launched by YSA in 2016 to
identify and develop young Sikhs for
leadership positions at the community
and national levels. The conference
was the final milestone in this year’s
YLP edition. It was the graduating
project for the participants. Mr Chee
presented graduating certificates to
the YLP participants at the conference.
Moving forward, YSA hopes the
conference will pave the way for
the Sikh community to collectively
develop a strategy to deal with its
future challenges. It also hopes that
more Sikhs, especially from the younger
generation, will come forward to take
on the responsibility of steering the
community through the challenges it
may face.