Dear Prospective Applicants,

It is my great pleasure to announce that for the third time, the Temasek Youth Regional Affairs Dialogue will take place later this year. For those who haven’t heard of YRAD (or as it was formerly known, STEP), it is a rare opportunity for Asia’s future leaders to come to Singapore, put their collective heads together, and imagine a brighter future for the region.

Each year, we choose an overarching theme to explore. In 2022, that theme will be social cohesion. As the pandemic has shown, our world is divided in ways that past generations did not anticipate. Borders have reasserted themselves, and citizens have disagreed about the best ways to respond to an unprecedented crisis. As a historian, I know there is plenty of evidence that societies that recover best from crisis are those whose citizens feel a widespread respect and appreciation for one another, and who balance their regard for tradition with an openness to change.

YRAD gives us a chance to come together and examine the region’s very real challenges, while developing friendships and enjoying new experiences. At the moment, there is perhaps no better place for such an international meeting than Singapore, a global city with a cosmopolitan outlook and a wealth of experience in cultivating social cohesion.

On behalf of the YRAD team, I look forward to reading your applications and meeting you.

Sincerely,
Dr Justin Clark
Assistant Professor of History, Nanyang Technological University
Chairperson of YRAD 2022