Singapore Tamil Youth Conference (STYC) 2014
organised by the 35th Executive Committee of National
University of Singapore Tamil Language Society (NUS
TLS) has three primary objectives that includes,
bringing together Tamil-speaking Singaporean youth
to discuss and explore the myriad of ways Tamil
language can be used in everyday lives, to encourage
youth to be more passionate about the usage of Tamil
language and for youth to showcase the youthfulness
and vibrancy of the language.
STYC 2014 has helped
to broaden the students’
learning as well as inspire
them to reflect on the
potential of the Tamil
language
-DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam
In order to feature the richness of Tamil
language, the 35th Executive Committee has put
together STYC 2014. Singapore is one of the countries
in which the classical language has been recognised
as one of the official languages. STYC 2014 serves as a
platform for youth to present their research findings on
Tamil language to the general audience in an innovative
manner.
The backdrop of the conference would take the
stance that the usage of Tamil language is not declining
among youth but rather thriving. Through STYC
2014, we are trying to convey that Tamil language is
continuing to show progress in its growth. Due to these
reasons, it was apt for the theme of the conference to be
"Youthful Tamil in Vibrant Singapore".
During this conference, tertiary students from
different universities will be presenting their academic
papers on Tamil language and these academic papers
will be based on today’s social issues in Singapore.
The presentations will be conducted in an innovative
and engaging manner that will draw the attention
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NUS Tamil Language Society
35th Executive Committee
of the youth. Audience members will also be able to
participate in the dialogue sessions and voice their own
opinions with regard to the topics being presented.
The academic research papers are based on the
five themes that include ‘Politics and Tamil’, ‘Arts and
Tamil’, ‘Media and Tamil’, ‘Spoken vs Literary Tamil’
and ‘Spaces & Tamil".
Academic papers that are based on the theme
‘Politics and Tamil’, will cover issues that include
shaping the Tamil identity through the Dravidian
movement and the role of ethnic and linguistic policies
in Singapore, particularly the Mother Tongue policies.
Furthermore, the usage of Tamil language in the
political platform as well as the importance of Tamil
language in Singapore’s politics will also be discussed.
Next, would be the academic papers that are
based on the theme of ‘Spoken vs Literary Tamil’. These
papers discuss that Spoken Tamil should be embedded
and encouraged in schools as well as at home by
Singapore Tamil Youth
Conference 2014
encourages youth to be
more passionate about the
usage of Tamil language.
This conference has a role
to play in encouraging the
growth of Tamil language
in Singapore. As such, I
wish that this conference
would be a successful event
-Kalaimagal