Ride through the waves of emotions with us!

In line with World Mental Health Month, Metropolitan YMCA Singapore’s Youth Symposium focused on emotions. More than 450 attendees signed up to explore, embrace and express their feelings through keynote speeches, panel sharing and breakout activities. This thoughtfully curated event was in support of NCSS’s Beyond the Label mental health campaign.

Addressing Youth Mental Health

According to a nationwide youth mental health survey by Institute of Mental Health (IMH), 1 in 3 youths in Singapore reported very poor mental health, and having experienced severe or very severe symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress,. Youths are identified as the highest group with poor mental health at 25%.

Emotions are often misunderstood and trivialized, where many young people remain reserved to articulate their feelings and challenges to others. Metropolitan YMCA’s Youth Got It Symposium is positioned to address this inquiry head-on as a response to the Community Wellbeing Pillar of World YMCA’s Vision 2030, aimed to foster environments where everyone can thrive in body, mind and spirit.

Symposium Highlights

The morning started with greetings from our generous sponsor, Ms Kwok Yuen Mun (GM, People & Culture, South Asia) from HongKong Land. She shared the goal to reduce stigma, increase access to resources, and improving the well-being of individuals and society. The inspiring speech was followed by an energetic address and games from MYMCA’s youth representative Tang Yu Jun. Youth emcee Shyanne Chang was in her element as she led the crowd skillfully through the segments throughout the day.

Our featured keynote speakers, Pamela Chng (CEO & Co-founder, Bettr) and Denise Chan (General Manager, Metropolitan YMCA Singapore), spoke on the importance of emotional literacy and navigating our world of feelings and behaviours. Youth moderator Zachary Loo engaged them over a panel discussion on destigmatization and emotional regulation.

The symposium reached another highlight when popular social media influencer Adrian Ang (Co-Founder of HEPMIL Media Group, Chief Creative Officer & Head of Talent Management of Hepmil Singapore) took the stage. Fondly known as Xiao Ming from SGAG, he shared his life experiences; childhood, heartbreak in his journey of family planning, and challenges in balancing his quirky content-created character versus his reserved self. Youths were privy to his stories, and encouraged by the session that well-known internet personalities go through similar emotional struggles.

During the panel discussion, Patrina Tan-Chua (Product manager, Fintech & Advocate of women’s fertility health) spoke on the advantages she gained from sharing her struggles with online community. It has gained her a new community of women; speaking up about emotions can be beneficial to both self and others. Popular personalities Chow Jia Hui (event & radio presenter) and Johnathan Chua (CEO / Co-founder, GRVTY Media) highlighted the dangers of suppressing emotions and over emphasis on factual logic in decision-making.

Panelists were gifted artworks created by youth mentees from M.Y Mentoring, MYMCA’s signature youth programme. Participants were also engaged through many booths and fringe activities, made possible with partner agencies and organizations in the mental health space.

Youths were invited to four different emotional themed breakout rooms in the afternoon. MYMCA’s “Explore and Uncover” work room took to experiential games and activities to identifying emotions. The “Human Library” hall invited the youths to slow down and gain fellowship with human library books who shared lived experiences, a time to celebrate growth and discover ways to overcome challenges.

The Red Pencil Singapore taught participants creative ways to express emotions, analyzing thought processes through visual arts. Mindline.sg paired youths to share anonymously while wearing masks, allowing them to open up about feelings.

It Takes A Village To Come Together

Metropolitan YMCA Singapore would like to acknowledge our wonderful partners, volunteers and donors in making the symposium possible. With more than 100 volunteers stepping up for a mental health event, it is a testament to all youths that Youth-Got-It! Special thanks to our Partners