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Talented individuals are attracted to institutions with a mission and organisational culture that resonate with them, argues AMRITPAL SINGH It was strange to hear the panelist speak about their worry of finding leaders among the youth to eventually take leadership positions in our community institutions when there were more pressing concerns about the institutions themselves. I believe that talented individuals are attracted to institutions that have a mission and organisational culture that resonate with them. If we want youth to step up, the institutions need to have a look at themselves first and determine if their mission and culture are relevant, and if not, evolve to fit the needs of the community. Our institutions had a good understanding of their mission in the old days and people were incredibly driven in executing the mission. It was to provide spiritual guidance to Sangat (congregation) and support to all who arrived in Singapore since civil and social support was not as good back then. Now, in Singapore, civil and social support services are provided by the government and other agencies with good channels for communication and awareness. If our Gurdwaras want to continue to be community hubs, they must complement or provide enhanced community services to Sangat. Otherwise, people will not see any value-add in services since other organisations do it better. Eventually, if not already, more families will see less reason to make a trip to the Gurdwara for non-spiritual needs. With the widespread availability of information available from the internet, the role of spiritual guidance provided by the Gurdwaras has been threatened. Not everyone needs to wait till Sunday morning to receive Guru Ji’s Hukam. Live streaming from Gurdwara programmes around the world as well as the many free online resources make accessing Sikhi a breeze. Visiting the Gurdwara has become a social and networking experience for special occasions like weddings or Gurpurabs rather than intentional trips to improve spiritual knowledge and experience. Sikh institutions in Singapore are still being run the same way they have been for the past decades. The organisational culture stifles any real innovation or evolution to adapt to the changing social needs of our community. For any youth looking in to these organisations, joining such an organisational culture is unattractive and often times depressing. There was also a comment about new youth organisations sprouting to provide opportunities for spiritual learning. Aside from celebrating such efforts, shouldn’t the incumbent institutions who were supposed to do the same question why this has happened? If the mission of these new and old organisations are the same, has someone dropped the ball in executing the mission? Is the organisational culture of the incumbents attractive for youth to get involved? Ultimately it goes back to what mission they want to fulfil that is relevant to the Sangat in Singapore and whether the organisational culture is able to facilitate good execution of the mission. If they get these right, i have no doubt that youth will step up to join a cause worth fighting for with people that they admire, or at the very least, can work with. [Amritpal Singh attended a recent Singapore Sikh conference. This note captures the essence of his comment shared at the event] * This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar. https://asiasamachar.com/2017/11/27/16743/

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