YSA will organise its first Sikh Voices conference on 11 November 2017. The theme for the conference is ‘What If’, and it will feature panel discussions and activities that spur thinking about the futures of the local Sikh community and Singapore.

The inspiration for this conference is the Institute of Policy Studies’ flagship Singapore Perspective conference held in January this year. The theme of that conference was also ‘What If’, and each speaker examined how a ‘What if’ scenario might impact Singapore in 2025. It provided an effective introduction to some of the geopolitical, economic and social challenges facing Singapore. It also provided the participants with a shared vocabulary for discussing these challenges, and Singapore’s future.

YSA thought a similar conversation would be beneficial to the Sikh community, especially since the community expects to face unprecedented challenges in the coming years. Singapore too is likely to face challenges ranging from economic restructuring to greater social diversity for reasons such as immigration.

The aims of the Sikhs Voices conference are thought leadership; youth development, and strategic community action. To address these broad range of issues, our speakers will answer the following ‘What if’ questions:

• What if Singapore’s economic future is bleak?
• What if Singapore fails to produce globally competitive companies?
• What if Singapore becomes irrelevant to the world?
• What if we lack competent future leaders for our Sikh organisations?
• What if we do not use our common resources sustainably?
• What if our Sikh community institutions fail to keep up with evolving needs?
• What if our interests are not represented at the highest levels of government?
• What if Singapore’s organising principles change?

The conference is open to participants from the public and private sectors, academia, civil society, and tertiary institutions. Although some of the questions are very specific to the Sikh community, we will be inviting representatives from other race-based self-help groups so that we learn from their best practices, and they can participate in the debate about Singapore’s future.

To register, please contact Rasveen at rasveen97@gmail.com.