Call to continue growing community of young leaders for social cohesion

Immersive virtual tours to explore local places of worship, an interfaith festival telling the story of ethnic and faith communities through music, and a card game that creates conversations around religion, ethnicity, nationality and disability are just some of the youth-led initiatives highlighted at the Young Leaders Programme.

The programme is a platform for young local and international leaders to collaborate on initiatives to strengthen social cohesion.

It is part of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies, organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).

Speaking at the closing of the three-day conference on Thursday, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said there was a need to continue building a strong community of young social cohesion champions.

Referring to the special address by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, who spoke remotely from the Vatican City on Tuesday, Mr Tong said he agreed wholeheartedly that "youth leadership is crucial in building a better society based on justice, fraternity and solidarity".

A total of 120 youth leaders joined the programme this year, and MCCY will be providing funding to develop some of their projects. It will also build up the pool of alumni and keep the virtual partners' showcase online as a resource for all.

Mr Tong also called for the South-east Asian Social Cohesion Radar study done by RSIS this year to be conducted regularly to track how social cohesion trends evolve in the region.

The study found that 69 per cent of those surveyed in South-east Asia believe that their country is socially cohesive, while 81 per cent of thought leaders residing in Singapore believed the same about the Republic.

Mr Tong also offered three reflections from the conference.

The first is that faith can bridge divides.

Mr Tong said that during crises and times of insecurity, different beliefs can widen divides. However, diversity can also increase resilience in the face of global challenges.

Second, he spoke of how diversity can be harnessed for the common good.

He cited the conference as an example of diversity in action, where delegates from different countries and disciplines came together to develop insights and solutions.

Singapore may be one of the most religiously diverse societies in the world, but continuous efforts are made to strengthen religious harmony, he said.

Lastly, the minister reflected on how technology can be leveraged to foster mutual trust, but added that steps must be taken to mitigate its adverse effects and stamp out hate, violent extremism and misinformation.

The conference hosted more than 50 speakers and 800 delegates from about 40 countries, and had over 300 online participants.