Background

The annual Polytechnic Forum (PF) is jointly organised by the 5 polytechnics and the National Youth Council (NYC) to provide a platform for polytechnic students to discuss, share and express their views on national and world issues. It also serves as a platform for our leaders to engage the minds of polytechnic students.

Objective

Our objective is to allow our Polytechnic youths to discover and realise that they can be agents of change.

Description of PF Logo

The theme of Poly Forum 2009 as represented in the circle of words signify the global challenges facing Singapore today and how youths can embrace them because they have the tenacity and confidence to act as agents of change. The five arrows represent students from the five Polytechnics coming together to grapple with these key challenges at the forum. The inter-twinning of the arrows represent a healthy and vibrant exchange of views as the participants engage each other with their research findings, alternative ideas, suggestions and proposals. The emerging arrows signify the participants taking away from the forum new knowledge, new insights, new friendships and a sense of empowerment that they can be committed agents of change working towards the good of Singapore and the society at large.

Main Theme

The world as we know today is going through great changes. As governments attempt to address the financial crisis, the drop in GDP, the widening unemployment rate, people around the world are also struggling to respond to the uncertainties in these turbulent times. Whilst concrete solutions to the world’s problems may not be apparent for the time being, we can however play our part in helping to identify possible solutions for the future and in doing so, bring about change.

In keeping with these perspectives, the theme for Polytechnic Forum 2009 is Embracing Challenges – Youths as Agents of Change . This theme expresses our intention to challenge the forum participants to contemplate how young people can develop and exchange opinions, identify causes and suggest changes that would impact the growth and character of Singapore and the world at large. They will examine the interconnectivity of political, social, economic and cultural issues and discuss how each can be leveraged to shape the society and the global environment.

Polytechnic Forum 2009 is the recognition of youthful energy, ideas and ideals that we can galvanise and embrace to face the challenging times ahead. Our vision for the participants of Polytechnic Forum 2009 is best described by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in his speech to his younger constituency members recently. He believes that ‘the younger generation of Singaporeans have the grit, stamina and resourcefulness to bounce back… You have it in you to succeed.’ We hope the participants will learn to embrace change, take on challenges and reap opportunities in the future.