Seminar for Young Professionals 2021

We were very pleased to organise the inaugural Seminar for Young Professionals on 10 – 11 December 2021. The objective of this seminar was to gather a group of like-minded young professionals together to receive formation and reflect together upon the trajectory of their lives. Attended by more than 20 participants in total, we were very fortunate to be able to hold this seminar in-person at the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House.

The seminar kicked off on the first day with lunch and a short get-together. A series of insightful talks then followed. The first was a get-together with Shaun Lopez on the fundraising efforts for Myanmar Aid. He shared the process how his group of cooperators and friends responded to the needs of the neighbouring country facing dire shortage of medical supplies in coping with the surging COVID-19 cases. He shared on the challenges of coordination due to the unstable situation there, and how a turn of events showed that perhaps God was leading this charitable effort. After raising about $12,000, the group worked with Dr Charles Johnson, an air-ambulance physician, who assisted in the procurement and shipping of oxygen concentrators to Myanmar, and activated the local NGOs and sponsors to reach out in support of the community there. 

This opened up the next segment of the seminar as the participants watched a video Working Together – Cooperators published at opusdei.org. It featured inspiring anecdotes of cooperators around the world and how they became in contact with Opus Dei, even those of different faiths, and contributing to the social initiatives of the Work.

After this, there were two sharings by individuals who had devoted much of either their professional life or personal time to the advancement of various social initiatives. Mr Thomas Wee, the Founder of St Isidore Centre, shared via Zoom on his own experiences running a thrift shop in Singapore and being involved in the running of the Willing Hearts Orphanage in the Philippines. Though well into his 70s, Mr Wee’s vigour and zeal for his work was an inspiring testimony to the young professionals present. He also underscored the importance of “doing” good works and not just talking about them, as he joked about how he might get “diabetes of the ears” from all the sweet nothings and empty promises he hears over the course of work.

Mr Tony Tan, who was physically in attendance, shared his own unique story of the different social initiatives he was involved in over the last 20 years of his life. While he had a full-time corporate job that took him around the world, from Singapore to Hong Kong to Myanmar, he always found time to support various local social initiatives wherever God took him. Though his work had forced him to move, which on occasion meant he could no longer support a particular social initiative, he reminded those of us present that “every little bit helps”, even if only for a season. He also exhorted us to take small steps, “within our capacity”, but to importantly take the first step. 

This set of talks inspired the young professionals in attendance to think about the kinds of social initiatives they could embark upon for themselves. Indeed, everyone was keen to share their ideas during the workshop on social initiatives – a diverse set of ideas ranging from initiatives directed at senior citizens’ needs, helping prisoners foster closer relationships with their family, and increasing social mobility through social enterprises.

A short time of meditation and reflection followed, after which the participants headed for dinner at the nearby Fong Seng Nasi Lemak, where conversations continued and laughter echoed through the little restaurant.

The second day of the seminar started with a morning meditation by Fr. Damien Lim, followed by a celebration of Mass. After breakfast, we were privileged to have a talk on “Working Well” by Mr. Stephen Wermert. Delivered via Zoom, Mr. Wermert’s talk conveyed several practical tips to help us all navigate better the rigours of the working world. A lively question-and-answer session followed Mr. Wermert’s talk. The next session featured Mr. Adrian Tee, who shared with us his wisdom and advice on how to best strike work-life balance as young professionals. Mr. Tee challenged all of us to think about whether our lives were rightly ordered towards our ultimate objectives, offering a set of useful heuristics to help us achieve this end.

After lunch, we watched a video of a preaching given by our founder, St Josemaria Escriva, given at Brafa Sports School, Barcelona on 26 November 1972. A familiar recording to many of us, it was an evergreen reminder of our mission “to sanctify work, to help us sanctify ourselves through work, and to sanctify others through work.” 

The final talk of the seminar on “living married love well” was given by a young father, Mr Eugene Cheah. Eugene’s sombre reminder of the purpose of married life, and the threats posed to marriage by the movements of abortion, pornography and gender ideology set the tone for the rest of his talk. He then shared candidly about his own growth through his marriage life, and answered questions from the floor from participants who were discerning married life themselves. 

The seminar was overall a resounding success and we all left refreshed and ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead. We hope to make this seminar a regular occurrence each year – see you at the next one!

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Rishik Elias Menon, Kenny Chng and Shaun Lopez