The THINK Centre successfully hosted a Singapore-Germany Youth Dialogue Session on Sep 5, Tuesday - the second gathering of such nature between Singaporeans and foreigners, following the JB Chit Chat Session held a couple of months ago.
The aim of the dialogue session was to provide Singaporeans with an opportunity to share our knowledge on political developments in Singapore with the German visitors and also enable Singaporeans to gain a better picture of the political landscape in Germany.
The meeting kicked off around 8pm at the new THINK Centre office in Excelsior Shopping Centre. And it was well attended by 20-odd participants which included representatives from the THINK Centre, members of the Young Democrats (SDP), NUS and NTU students, and even a youth activist from Malaysia!
The Germans youths, six in total, were members from the International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth (or IFLRY for short). The IFLRY was established in 1979 in Denmark and it has served as the international umbrella organisation of liberal and radical youth organisations since then. At present, IFLRY has around 80-member organisations worldwide and its main goal is to promote and represent the interests of young liberals and radicals on an international level.
The dialogue started proper with a round of informal introductions followed by a brief description of IFLRY's history and background by Moritz Delbruedk, an active member of the IFLRY organisation. This was then followed by THINK Centre Director Yaw Shin Leong's short summary of his centre's objectives and the activities organised by the think-tank over the last eleven months.
The session subsequently proceeded with an open exchange of views and opinions on varying issues. The Germans fielded the Singaporeans' questions on racism in Germany, the rise of neo-Nazism in modern times, and their take on the influx of foreign talent in their country, to name a few. The guests also commented on the Speakers' Corner, based on their observations of the Hong Lim Green proceedings when they made a trip there earlier in the day.
Conversely, the Singaporeans answered their counterparts' queries on our press system, human rights issues, local political concerns, and election proceedings. A THINK Centre representative also shared with everyone a couple of interesting anecdotes about the "inconveniences" that local opposition politicians had experienced during the last general elections and the psychological mind-games used by the dominant political party to influence voters and swing support in their favour.
The gathering ended some two hours later - not at the THINK Centre office, but a few streets away at a nearby food centre. The group of participants had moved on from the office to the S-11 Food Centre at Stamford Road where further informal discussions took place in true Singaporean style - over a meal of local makan delights!
As the saying goes, Awareness before change; Acknowledgement before progress - the Singapore-Germany Youth Dialogue Session had certainly helped to raise the level of political awareness among those who attended the gathering. The session was a significant step towards furthering change and progress in Singapore society. It would be most encouraging to witness more of such intercultural exchanges organised by THINK Centre in the future as an avenue for active Singaporeans to discuss and debate political issues.
