New Modes of Cooperation
April 2008
Banner photo: Frank Krahmer/Getty Images
Reaching Out in Singapore
During a Q & A session at the Student Peace Lecture
[Photo from SSA]
Singapore Soka Association (SSA) organized and participated in a series of outreach initiatives in November and December including a peace lecture, a campaign opposing violence against women and an environmental exhibition.
From November 14-28, SSA held the "Before It’s Too Late" exhibition, an educational and community service project developed by SSA youth since 1997, at the Singapore Republic Polytechnic. On November 21, the third SSA Student Peace Lecture was held at the Singapore Management University, with guest speaker Marina Mahathir--a newspaper columnist and former president of the Malaysian AIDS Council. The lecture, which was attended by some 250 people, discussed the impact of the Internet on people’s lives. SSA members also took part in the White Ribbon Campaign, which aims to raise public awareness on violence against women and children and encourage people to speak up against such abuse.
The audience enjoys Dr. Kesavapany’s lecture
[Photo from SSA]
On December 10, 2007, SSA sponsored its seventh Daisaku Ikeda Annual Lecture at the organization’s headquarters. Guest speaker Dr. K. Kesavapany, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and Singapore’s ambassador to Jordan, spoke on "Buddhism, Singapore and Interfaith Dialogue" to an audience of 800 people representing Singapore’s Chinese, Malay and Indian communities.
In a message sent for the event, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda characterized dialogue as the fundamental remedy for the pathology of the modern world.
Ambassador Kesavapany commended SSA’s many community-oriented activities and urged SSA members to continue to take the initiative in promoting interfaith and inter-ethnic dialogue in Singapore.
