Young Leaders Day

Went for the Young Leaders Day at the Singapore Expo. It was quite well attended. I'm not too good at estimating, but I'm guessing there were close to 2000 students there. From what I gather, the YLD is supposed to be organised to inspire the Young Leaders as they take on leadership roles. Hence, they scheduled 6 consecutive talks for the whole day. Upside? Speeches were generally short & snappy. Downside? At time, speeches were just hot air.. not much substance.

I learnt quite a bit from this YLD. From an organizational standpoint, it was very interesting to see a conference organised for the youth. It was quite refreshing. From the hip dances to the video clips to the snappy pace, they were all quite indicative of how teenagers today generally behave, in this so-called MTV generation. From a personal standpoint, it was heartening to be reminded about simple things like WHY we lead and the passions which drive us.

Dr William Tan's sharing wasn't very deep. But I enjoyed it because it came from his heart. He spoke from personal experience and conviction and this made all the difference. Dr Andrew Goh helped me to see that Singaporeans can also be excellent motivational speakers. We often think that the westerners are the best at that. But Dr Goh was really very engaging. Again, he had simple points, but he managed to capture our attention with his very humourous stories.

The next 3 were unfortunately quite ho-hum. Tanya Chua & company was a waste of time, IMHO. Their segment seemed better suited in a Music Career Talk. H.E. Ong Keng Yong was also not very interesting. I think he had two things working against him. Firstly, it was the post-lunch-sleepiest-time-of-the-day session and secondly, I think he didn't have enough time to really say anything worth listening to. Claire Chiang & Ho Kwon Ping were quite interesting. But I felt their sharing was quite fluffy and at times, not very relevant.

Finally, we had Michael Lee from US. It was a good way to end YLD. After the 3 ho-hum segments, Michael brought focus back to the day. His simple sharing of NED was excellent and again, he did it with such simplicity and conviction. I liked his message. He said "the greatest thing we can do with our talents and abilities is to share them". I think that's really true. If only more people could have such a mindset.

All in all, while not a perfect conference, the YLD was quite good. If nothing else, it reminded me of the things I am doing and why I do them. A very useful reminder!