We Believe In Second Chances

It has been a crazy past few days. Suffice to say, I am incredibly tired and after this entry I am going to curl up in bed and forget the rest of the world exists for a little while.

But first, I want to write about something I’ve been working hard on the past few days, and really want to share with as many people as possible.

Click above to see the Facebook page.

This is a Singaporean youth-led, youth-oriented campaign. It focuses on celebrating youth, celebrating life and the belief that everyone deserves a second chance. It currently ties in with the campaign to save the life of Yong Vui Kong, although we also hope for it to go above and beyond just the one case.

Although we might laugh at the government’s efforts such as ministers dancing hip-hop at Chingay, or even the Youth Olympic Games, there’s one thing that they’ve got right – that the youth of Singapore are extremely important. We might have an ageing population, but that doesn’t change the fact that our generation is going to be running this country one day. We are (mostly) highly-educated, media savvy and quick on the uptake. We move with the times at an almost-alarming speed. There is tremendous potential and tremendous influence from the youth, should we care to make use of it.

I don’t believe that many people in my generation are spoilt, selfish or uncaring. Many are simply discouraged, brought up on the idea that issues of national or public interest are beyond their control, that these are things that only old-hat politicians can address and deal with within the walls of Parliament House. What we want to show everyone is that this isn’t strictly true. Yes, the politicians do have more power and clout than we do, and yes they are the ones who directly influence the policies, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a voice. That we cannot speak up when things happen in our country that we have concerns about.

Singapore is our home, and we all have a right to a voice.

We Believe In Second Chances hopes to include the youth of Singapore in the campaign to save Vui Kong. At the age of 22, he is, after all, young like us. It is merely a cruel twist of fate coupled with an error in judgement that has landed him on death row in the shadow of the gallows while the rest of us enjoy our lives, looking ahead at the many more years to come.

Please spread the word about this campaign. Re-blog, re-tweet, post it on your Facebook, your MySpace, your Bebo. Email your friends. Talk to your family. Please help us reach out to as many people as we can, so that together we can ask for Vui Kong to be given a second chance.

P.S. We are also looking for young people to appear in our campaign video that we will be filming on Saturday, 4th September. We would like to “shoot” (please note this is a bit of filmmaker jargon, not actual violence) young people going about some of their hobbies, such as dance (hip hop/breakdance/ballet/anything at all!), music (bands/musical instruments), sports (any sort!), arts (drama groups/choirs, etc.)

If you are interested in appearing in our video, please get in touch by emailing webelieveinsecondchances@gmail.com, or leave  a comment (with some way to get in touch with you) in this entry!

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