Speeches
Speech by RAdm(NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, at the Raffles Community Leaders Forum on Friday, 7th March 2008, 9.00am, at Raffles Junior College
Mrs Lim Lai Cheng,
Principal, Raffles Junior College
Distinguished Guests
Students and Youth Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
Introduction
Good morning, and a very warm welcome to all of you, especially to international participants who are visiting Singapore for the first time. It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning at the Opening Ceremony of the Raffles Community Leaders Forum.
Raffles Community Leaders Forum (RCLF)
The Raffles Community Leaders Forum (RCLF) is initiated, planned and facilitated by student and youth leaders. With the guidance from their teacher mentors, they have embarked on this project — to bring together young community leaders from the region to share experiences, best practices and to collaborate on proposals for action. This is an innovative example of how the educational curriculum can be interwoven with real community action. Participants will get the opportunity to network with their counterparts so that they may collaborate with one another in their country’s or organization’s endeavours for greater impact on the many pressing issues that we face in the world today.
Being Proactive
Education in Singapore places a great emphasis on service learning and character development. Community service is a noble and worthwhile way of serving the needs of the less fortunate, and of addressing the problems faced by society and the environment. Since its launch in 1997, the Community Involvement Programme has been an integral component of holistic education and has played an important role in National Education. Many students have been exposed to community service over the years and they have learnt valuable lessons from the exposure and experience.
Now, community leadership is a higher calling. It calls for you, the future leaders of the world, to take a stand and be the change you wish to see in the world. You may not be aware of the potential within each of you but if you could recognize your ability to touch the lives of others through creativity, enterprise, ingenuity, innovation and sheer guts, you can make a big difference to the world we live in. When young leaders from all walks of life, from different ethnic groups and nationalities come together to discuss and debate issues close to their hearts, it serves to deepen our collective thinking and create many possibilities for action.
I am heartened to know that youths such as yourselves, who are here as representatives and future leaders in your countries, are concerned and want to do something about the social issues around you. Thank you, because by being proactive and engaged, you will develop the necessary exposure, experience, competencies and capability to enhance your leadership qualities and play a part in helping to shape our collective future.
Being Partners
There are pressing social issues facing the people in ASEAN and regions further afield. Many of these issues are not geographically unique but are in fact common to humanity as a whole. It is only right and appropriate that we come together to share ideas, perspectives and workable solutions. In partnering one another in this way, we harness the power of many hearts and many minds dedicated to furthering the betterment of mankind.
Today and over the next few days in your interactions with one another, you will have the opportunity to not only get to learn from one another’s experiences, but also to encourage and motivate each other in your efforts in the areas of advocacy and social change. Although we may come from countries as diverse as Laos and India, and as far away as America, we are united in our pursuit of a better future for all our nations.
Being Practical
This conference has been organized around a wide range of discussion threads which address such issues as Improving Ethnic Relations among Students, Esteem Issues of Young Women, Educational Opportunities, Youth Civic Engagement, the Impact of Poverty on Children, and Juvenile Delinquency, in addition to Understanding the Intellectually Disabled, Animal Rights, and Meeting the Needs of Our Elderly. I believe that these are issues which are close to the hearts of young people and will provide you with a platform for joint youth action.
Through the discussions and workshops, you can look forward to hearing from many different and interesting perspectives from each other and from guest speakers. The rigorous discussions and debates that you will be engaged in will create many possibilities and ideas for action. Such sharing of thoughts, vision and ideas will enhance the learning experience for all participants.
I encourage all of you to be practical when coming up with solutions and ideas. Think about what young people can do and what young people want to do. I have great faith that your youthful energy and fresh outlook will result in an outpouring of ideas that can be implemented by youth, as well as other suggestions that can be considered by policy makers. I applaud the organizers for arranging this gathering of young community leaders and look forward to seeing the plans proposed.
Conclusion
Today’s Raffles Community Leaders Forum serves to raise the awareness of community issues among young people and to promote collaboration between like-minded youth community leaders on projects that will, one day, make a difference in the lives of many others. The young participants sitting in the audience this morning are proof that young people can apply their knowledge, play a part in making the world a better place and have fun at the same time.
I hope the Forum will also enable all participants to forge strong and deep links that will last far beyond the event. I am also heartened that this outreach effort has found resonance with the wider community, having successfully obtained support from the Central Singapore Community Development Council, the Singapore Tourism Board, and sponsorship from the Singapore-ASEAN Youth Fund. The Ministry of Education also fully supports this effort.
In closing, I wish our friends and guests from overseas, an enjoyable stay here in Singapore, and for everyone, a fruitful Forum. I would also like to commend RJC on its good work, and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Thank you