Mendaki Club Website

2 Jan 08

New Media
New media and the society of tomorrow

Mr. Idris Surattee

NLB, Imagination Room, Level 5

The talk focused on the impact of the emerging new media on the Malay/Muslim community. The speaker broadly applied the paradigm of "convergence culture" as propounded by Henry Jenkins, a noted scholar in the communications field. It was a cultural paradigm “where the new media and old media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect and where the power of the media producer and the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways”. The speaker explored the relationship of the four major concepts – media convergence, participatory culture, collective intelligence, and multiple literacies, which shape this new cultural paradigm and its impact on the way we communicate, educate and engage in our social relationships. The speaker also proposed some measures that could be taken to promote critical literacy and moral clarity in dealing and managing the new media landscape.

9 Jan 08

Globalisation
Musician in the Making

Mr. Najib Wong

OnePeople.sg

Mr Najib Wong, a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award, shared his experiences living and studying in Boston, and pursing his dream to become a musician.

13 Feb 08

Singapore-Malaysia Relations
Overcoming antipathies of history and ethnicity

Prof. Johan Saravanamuttu

OnePeople.sg

The talk provided an interpretation of the ‘intimate’ and sometimes highly acrimonious relationship between Malaysia and Singapore since separation in 1965. Former Malaysian premier Tun Abdul Razak for instance had likened it to a conjoined relationship between Siamese twins. For Malaysia, crafting relations with Singapore has arguably been the most difficult and complex of all its neighbourly bilateral relationships. At its nadir, the relationship tailspun into a vicious spiral of irritations over a host of bilateral issues ranging from unresolved ‘water talks’ and use of airspace, to a legal tussle over a tiny rocky outcrop with two ridges in the two countries’ adjoining seas. From 2007 onwards, relations entered a new phase of cordiality, thanks to a leadership change on the Malaysian side. Among the more sanguine developments was a Joint Ministerial Committee with oversight on the Iskandar Development Area in Johor which augurs well for better economic relations in the future.

5 Mar 08

Islam in Singapore:
The Singapore Muslim Identity

Ust. Nazirudin Mohd Nasir

Singapore Management University

In this session Ust Nazirudin led a discussion on the meaning and signficance of the attributes of the Singaporean Muslim Identity. The discussion covered how each Muslim community living in a particular place has a situation unique to themselves, and therefore while maintaining its traditional Muslim values, the community has to find ways to best adapt themselves to the socio-religious life their unique situation offers and to excel in doing so. The Singapore Muslim Identity, as articulated by MUIS, is meant to provide guidelines to help the Singaporean Muslim achieve this.

9 Apr 08

Youth Leadership:
Inspiring faith, not just confidence

Mr. Viswa Sadasivan

NLB, Imagination Room, Level 5

Mr Viswa's wide-ranging conversation with participants covered a range of issues, including the importance of courage and integrity in leadership; the importance of being able to relate to the stories of individuals across different educational, economic and linguistic levels of attainment; and the ability to appreciate and thrive in a world and local environment that is growing more complex each day.

14 May 08

Singapore 2030

Dr. Gillian Koh

OnePeople.sg

The talk provided a synthesis of the analyses provided by domain experts who had contributed to IPS’ Singapore Futures project. It provided scenarios that seek to answer two questions: "What would Singapore’s social landscape be like in 2030?" and "What could Government, Business and thinking Singaporeans do to anticipate, adapt to and even shape our future?" The session took off from a general discussion of how global and regional trends were likely to emerge and interact with internal ones. It then focused on the impact of three key drivers of change acting on each other: Climate Change, Communications and Community. The plausible stories that emerged helped to identify the opportunities and the risks that emanate from current choices, but also highlighted how we should be prepared to change and adapt our strategies, our institutions, and perhaps even parts of our value systems along the way to secure a desirable future for those we call ‘the people of Singapore’ in 2030.

4 Jun 08

Youth Activism:
The adventure of leadership in civil society: A traveller's account

Farid Abdul Hamid

OnePeople.sg

The session explored the wide and variegated opportunities for service that exist in civil society -- adventure learning, dialogue among people of different faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds, and service learning, in each of which the speaker Farid has had extensive experience. A significant proportion of the discussion focused on various aspects of service learning -- how to source for meaningful service opportunities, how to facilitate effective learning, and how to create safe environments that allowed service learning participants to truly maximise the meaning in their experience.

9 Jul 08

Strategies for Success in the Profit and
Non-profit Sectors

Mr. Zulkifli Baharudin

NLB, Imagination Room, Level 5

Drawing on his wealth of experience with various NGOs, Mr Zulkifli Baharudin examined how successful non-profit sectors had been in opening up and expanding the socio-economic space for their operations and outreach at both the local and global level. Mr Zulkifli also explored the question of whether race/religion mattered in the socio-economic spheres. In particular, he discussed the various challenges faced by and opportunities available to the Malay/Muslim community in going global in the profit sectors. Some of the issues discussed included "Is 'Malayness' a boon or a bane?" and "Can Islam be the catalyst for Malays to expand into the Middle East and North Africa?"

15 Oct 08

Keeping Strong Values in A Changing World

Mr. Gerard Ee

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

Mr Gerard Ee provided some cutting insights into the centrality of values in a fast-changing world. With Singapore plugged in to the rest of the world, we are exposed to a wide range of influences from the media, including the internet, print media, as well as interactions with foreigners. These sources of information bombard individuals with alternative values. Mr Ee discussed how one could discern what is good rather than what is exciting or interesting, and the need for individuals to have a "filtering system" that helped to sort out myriads of views. The discussion ultimately led to the point that individuals needed to live lives in an awakened state and make conscious decisions in order to steer through the world with steadfast and resilience.

5 Nov 08

Building Bridges between Christians & Muslims

Ms. See Guat Kwee

NLB, Imagination Room, Level 5

In an engaging and thought-provoking session, interfaith activist See Guat Kwee shared some of her experiences in building bonds and bridges between different faith communities, both locally and overseas in areas as diverse as the US and Middle East. In a time when it was often easier to see how "Others" were different from us, rather than the same, and when it was simpler to focus on what kept us separate rather than what brought us together, Guat provided a strong call to action to engage in meaningful and progressive inter-faith dialogue to unite communities and peoples together.