Good Morning

Your Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

The National Youth Council (NYC) recognises the need for young people to discover their values and ideals in a rapidly changing world. This process of self-discovery, fuelled by passion and energy is essential. However, this is not an introspective exercise. True fulfilment occurs when we are able to go beyond ourselves, to make a difference to the world around us.

Since 2000, NYC has pioneered and championed service learning as an effective way of connecting young people with the community. More than 1,200 teachers and youth workers have participated in service learning courses organised by NYC. NYC also provided grants for service-learning projects and produced resource material for service-learning practitioners.

The Youth Expedition Project, an International Service Learning programme of the Singapore International Foundation, is another project funded by the NYC.

The idea is simple. Challenge young Singaporeans to serve in another country for three weeks. They live, serve and learn together with their overseas friends. By understanding the culture, values and way of life of others, they also gain a better appreciation of themselves and their own communities. Many have been inspired to contribute to other worthy causes both locally and internationally.

The results have been encouraging and the response, very positive. This year, 2500 will participate in YEP. Next year, there will be 4000.

The YEP Alumni was recently formed to support return-YEP participants to continue that journey. With its motto "Passion Creates Possibilities", it hopes to inspire creative community engagements.

One YEP Alumnus, Min Wei, is collaborating with North-East CDC to engage 300 youth to paint the houses of the elderly. Through this, they hope to understand the lives of the elderly better and identify future projects.

Another YEP alumnus, Chien Sheng, is partnering the Spastic Children Association of Singapore. With a team of volunteers, he plans to raise secondary school and junior college students’ awareness of Cerebral Palsy and promote social integration through activities.

It is important to build on the skills and interest of our young people. Participants who were involved in marine conservation projects are now actively initiating similar projects in our Southern Islands. These include the artificial reef project supported by the Singapore Tourism Board and "Reef Friends", which aims to document the status of coral life around Pulau Jong.

A group of teacher trainees is working with the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore to raise funds, awareness and design recreational programmes. Yet another group, led by a teacher, plans to provide outdoor adventure programmes to raise the self-esteem and confidence of children with learning disabilities.

The list goes on and on. It shows that there are young Singaporeans who are engaged with the community in new and creative ways. They are social entrepreneurs with a passion to make a difference to the lives of others. We should encourage and support them.

Why is YEP effective? It is interesting that some of the factors that make YEP successful are also relevant in our efforts to remake Singapore.

Shared vision. Youth need to be able to define their own personal goals while leveraging on their strengths. More important, they need to believe in a group goal that is not meant to directly benefit themselves. Driven by a shared vision, differences are put aside, and personal sacrifices are willingly made for the collective good. The process of negotiating personal and group goals is in itself an important learning experience.

Ownership. Ownership is important for youth development and learning. Without it you cannot have shared vision, passion or commitment. What is needed is a nurturing environment that values their willingness to contribute, not just the contribution itself. They need to be able to form their own opinions and values without imposition. Ownership coupled with passion brings pleasant surprises. In 2001, as part of their YEP project, students from Raffles Junior College collaborated with Metro and SIF to raise $250,000 to enhance children development programmes in Cambodia.

Diverse Engagement. Specialisation and meritocracy compartmentalises people, and the new economy will further widen some gaps. Many of our young people grow up not fully appreciating how Singaporeans of other races and religions think and feel; not knowing the lives of less-fortunate Singaporeans; and not knowing about the rich and diverse cultures that our region has. YEP creates intense and authentic platforms for young people of different nationality, culture, race, religion and social strata to engage each other. As a group living and working together, diversity is experienced. It is not read about. They learn to negotiate differences. They learn to deal with their emotional responses to diversity. The end result is appreciation and respect for others.

Reflection and Critical Analysis. It is easy for people and systems to be trapped in a rut. Many of us are caught up with daily hectic lives that we sometimes lose focus of what is important to us as a person. We need to take a step back to think about what is happening around us. Go back to basics and make that inward journey. Youth need even more opportunities to visit and re-visit their values and beliefs. They need time and space to think about their connections with friends, family, community, and their religious beliefs. They need intense and meaningful experiences to create the motivation to make this inward journey. Our challenge as educators and youth development workers is to provide opportunities for intense experiences. So if we want a socially responsible and passionate youth, we have to start with authentic experiences. If we want youth to learn about their communities, they have engage actively, critically reflect and form their own ideas.

These factors for success have wide applications. I trust that the Centre for International Service Learning will come up with new knowledge and tools that educators, international service-learning practitioners and youth workers can all use to build a more civic-conscious and responsible society.

I would also like to record our thanks to all the host countries that have accepted our Youth Expedition Project teams. It is our hope that these projects will be mutually beneficial, and perhaps even more important, build a network of ties between the youth of your country with ours.

I wish all participants a meaningful and fruitful conference. Thank you.

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