Executive Summary
The Indonesia Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, in partnership with the S. Rajaratnam Endowment, Temasek Foundation Connect, organised the “Indonesia-Singapore Young Leaders Scenario Planning Workshop” for next-generation Indonesia and Singapore leaders from various sectors.
Held on 14 and 15 November 2016, the workshop aimed to provide capacity building opportunities for next generation leaders of both countries to envision possible futures for Indonesia, Singapore, Indonesia-Singapore relations, as well as the Southeast Asian region. Aside from capacity building, the workshop was also as a forum for next-generation leaders of Indonesia and Singapore to engage both their fellow countrymen and foreign counterparts. Ultimately, the workshop served as an alternative confidence-building measure for both countries.
The closed-door workshop was facilitated by Dr Khong Cho-Oon, Chief Political Analyst in the Global Business Environment Team at Shell International. Mr Anggito Abimanyu, Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s chief economist, served as an external adviser on the economic aspect. The workshop participants included 17 Indonesian and 21 Singaporean younger generation leaders from various backgrounds including the national parliament, major political parties, businesses, academia and military. These individuals have been identified as potential future leaders in various sectors.
The workshop proceeded by providing the participants with some basic instructions and guiding principles to form scenarios. The first session of the workshop identified trends and issues that will affect Indonesia, Singapore, and Indonesia-Singapore relations in 2040.
The second session of the scenario planning exercise focused on developing scenarios based on the interactions of the variables of uncertainty identified in the first session. Throughout the second session, the common theme that emerged from the participants was their concern of political and social stability in both Indonesia and Singapore.
The final session of the scenario planning exercise identified trends that have affected and will affect the Southeast Asian region. Based on these trends, the participants formed a number of scenarios that anticipated the future of Southeast Asia.
