Growing up as the child of an Indian father and a Chinese mother, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was plagued by identity crises in his early teen years.

'Am I Indian or am I Chinese? And why am I speaking English and Hokkien? I went through a personal questioning process, not knowing which groups will accept me as a member,' said the Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

He shared this yesterday at the opening of this year's National Youth Forum at Red Dot Design Museum.

'Singapore's racial harmony and unity, our core values and our pledge all became very personal things to me. I became more sensitive to the issues of race, language or religion,' he said. 'They can so easily become reasons for hurt and social division.'

Some 100 participants aged between 17 and 25, and mostly from universities, junior colleges and polytechnics, attended the 80-minute question-and-answer session with Dr Balakrishnan and MCYS' Senior Parliamentary Secretary Teo Ser Luck.

Questions posed ranged from why the duo joined politics to what they thought of the ongoing foreign-talent debate.

Said Singapore Management University student Oei Xi Zhi, 19: 'I felt the minister and Mr Teo were very honest and sincere in their answers. It gave me some insight into how politicians think and the choices they make.'

The three-month programme, organised by a volunteer committee of 11 past National Youth Forum participants and supported by the National Youth Council, aims to get more youth interested in policymaking and community work.

Besides making field trips to Parliament House and Supreme Court, participants will also attend a dialogue with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong next month and a tea session with President S R Nathan in December.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 19, 2008.

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