SJI ’ S GLOBAL ISSUES FESTIVAL 2023 : THE ASEAN IMAGINATION | LUMEN
Ms Gemma Pereira with Mrs Maggie Yam and students attending her workshop .
Photo credit : Eugene Ong
Music performance , all the students were invited to attend workshops and interactive lectures hosted by these illustrious figures from our literary scene , or a panel with three SJI teachers from ASEAN countries : Dr Paolo Bugarin , Mr Krison Tan , and Ms Ribkah Evelina . A wide variety of topics was discussed in these workshops , ranging from South- East Asian history and myth to what the core ASEAN identity really is , in addition to discussing how these topics can be discussed and explored in an assortment of different literary mediums .
To close the event , SJI ’ s Literary Society ( LitSoc ) invited several budding poets and songwriters from among their ranks to debut some of their best and latest works of poetry and song , in “ An Evening of Poetry & Music ”. Perhaps the most well-received among the spoken word performances was Fan Enrui ’ s poem “ Reflections on SL Mathematics ”, a succinct but comedic expression of the collective thoughts of many emerging from the examination hall after the Endof-Year Math papers . This event was also the “ premiere ” of two songs by a budding songwriter , Aidan Gregory Khoo , one of which was extracted from an entirely in-house musical production that will be premiered next year , as well as a short film from SJI ’ s Film CAS about the small memories that form the puzzle that we call life .
All in all , this year ’ s rendition of the Global Issues Festival was fun , engaging , and thought-provoking , fostering a greater sense of belonging to ASEAN with the perfect combination of creativity , interactivity , and even slight touches of comedy here and there . Judging from the excited chatter throughout the event , it certainly stimulated the students on both a creative and intellectual level , and there will hopefully be just as successful an event in the following year .
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