thank you and good evening so both of us consider ourselves to be Global Citizens citizens of the world doing our part to make a positive difference in society and for Humanity so the notion of a global or World citizen is nothing new and can be traced back to the Greek stoics and their Roman successors in the late 1700s it was French revolutionist John B who imagined a world where all people would have cultural autonomy that is choosing our own culture irrespective of our national identities three years later it was German philosopher Emanuel Kant who urged
that world citizenship and freedom of movement would ultimately make National conflict Obsolete and while the internet and globalization have allowed us to be more connected than ever before we've become more disconnected to ourselves our actions and the world around us today's world remains full of social issues stemming from a lack of cultural understanding and respect for our cultural differences currently there are 50 million refugees and Asylum Seekers around the world and a myriad of cultural conflicts on a global scale we believe this is Testament to the need for global citizenship to return to the Limelight
and for all of us to renew our commitment to its cause we are all members of the human species and dwellers of this planet that we share as such each and every one of us has a role to play in driving this Global agenda towards positive change we believe the future belongs to those who can adapt and become active Global Citizens by harnessing cultural competence and global-mindedness being a global citizen is not your passport or your ancestry but it is a mindset it is a way of seeing and understanding the world a way of Connecting
People ideas and actions it is an attitude and way thinking that can be developed with practice and experience so what could the future look like imagine a world where people not only identified but acted as a citizen of the world versus a citizen of any one nation or place a world where more leaders take responsibility for their own actions and prioritize Global interest versus political agenda the impact of this would be felt far beyond our immediate spheres in order to realize a better world growing up in Multicultural families we both experienced situations where cultural differences
created separation and conflict I was born in Boston Massachusetts to a Taiwanese mother and an Ethiopian father as immigrants to the US my parents face the Dual challenge of assimilating to a new culture while trying to retain their own cultural identities and values so from a young age I understood the reality of culture Clash but I also witnessed the achievability of cultural integration over time with mutual tolerance acceptance and respect we've also seen cultural diversity at its best where similarities have created greater opportunities for understanding and appreciation of each other so I was born in
Jakarta Indonesia to an Indonesian Dutch mother and an Australian father who had lived and worked for majority of his life in Asia over this time he embodied of the Asian values and uncovered similarities within the cultures to build Bridges rather than barriers in his relationships across the region living amongst worlds and without a single dominant culture we became cultural chameleons adapting to and blending with the various cultures in our home and external environments I grew up in various countries from Indonesia Singapore South America and Australia moving across these countries required me to weave in and
out of different cultural contexts but being exposed to the multiple cultures with their diverse values attitudes beliefs and expectations enabled me to have a 3dimensional worldview I learned to have an appreciation for diversity to be adaptable and to keep an open mind all of these experiences provided me with the ability to spend cultural divides and thrive in this everchanging world in my household dinner was either Chinese eaten with chopsticks or Ethiopian eaten with our hands I was only allowed American junk food on Halloween or Christmas but we also celebrated Chinese New Year Moon Festival and
Ethiopian Easter and at age 13 I gained a Lebanese stepmother who brought yet another dimension to our cultural mix today my family also comprises my Lebanese Ethiopian sister my full breed Ethiopian brother and now my Indian husband infusing all of these cultures as part of my own identity has not only enriched my life but allows me to feel a sense of belonging to the World At Large there were definitely moments where we struggle to identify with anyone culture because we are a Melting Pot of cultures and at times we definitely felt displaced or abnormal but
over time we learned to embrace the cultural richness of our families and experiences and created more meaningful connections that transcended cultural boundaries although each one of us is born as a citizen of the world World many of us have been brought up to identify as a citizen of the nation that we are born in and as part of the culture that we are most similar to and this not only creates more separation but silos us into categories and labels that seldom reveal the full picture of who we are and where we come from and while
globalization has given rise to more and more people living outside of their home country 244 million to be exact which is about 50 times the population of New Zealand or just under that of Indonesia we believe people should be doing much more to hone in their Global citizen skills such as Intercultural fluency empathy curiosity and some of the others that we've listed here behind us so how does one go about realizing their true potential as a global citizen well from our own experiences we've seen that Curiosity continuous learning and practice are the key enablers and
while growing up in mult Multicultural homes and living in different parts of the world made it easier for us to adopt a global mindset this is by no means a prerequisite we know some of you may be thinking what if I'm not Multicultural what if I haven't lived all over the world well as we've said before we believe global citizenship is a mindset and as we'll share in the rest of this talk there are ways for anybody to develop that mindset since 2014 we've been researching this topic further through a series of interviews with individuals
who identify as Global Citizens or who are multiculturals like ourselves we believe each one of us has a choice to embrace and act on this identity regardless of your upbringing circumstances or experiences we as 70 individuals from different parts of the world whom we call humans of change to share their journeys of stepping up to global citizenship we wanted to find a common Common Thread to see what the ingredients were for becoming a global Citizen and here's what we found all of their Journeys started with curiosity a question or interest about another culture way of
life or way of thinking and all of them sought and reflected on new experiences in order to gain a better understanding of the world all of them endeavored to discover and live their values through self-exploration and actualization and all of them are finding ways to apply their knowledge and experience to address social issues so as you can see becoming a global citizen is a journey of constant and conscious adaptation of the way we see understand and interact with the world from our findings and our personal experiences we've identified a pattern of evolving Consciousness which we
believe helps to develop a global mindset and the first stage is awareness we build awareness through careful listening and observation in order to see ourselves and others around us more clearly with appreciation for its beauty and its flaws one of the great things about our school in Singapore growing up was its emphasis on having students from different backgrounds together so that we could build awareness of different cultures religions and ethnicities one example was United Nations night an annual evening of student potlucks and performances to Showcase their unique cultural backgrounds but awareness isn't enough to move
beyond the surface of what we observe we must cultivate understanding our second stage of Consciousness understanding goes beyond awareness by seeking to ask questions and draw meaningful insights from our observations it hones the human capacity for empathy and our ability to see the world through another lens for me my journey to understanding started at a young age of 11 when my parents parents moved us to South America and threw me into a Spanish-speaking School initially I had to figure out very creative ways of communicating with my peers but quickly I realized in order to develop
stronger relationships and deeper understanding of the local community and my classmates I had to speak the language for me understanding also came with immersion my younger years in the US had established my cultural foundations but growing up in Asia and learning local languages allowed me to appreciate my Asian roots and on more than one or several occasions this has also allowed me to verify that I am in fact half Chinese these are just some examples of how we can establish common ground and have Affinity with cultures different from our own when we open ourselves to
learning about cultures on a deeper level we can then move into the third stage of Consciousness sensitivity sensitivity can be developed by practicing empathy the ability for us to to put ourselves in another person's shoes and see the world through their eyes sensitivity lends mindfulness to our words actions and behaviors so that we can prevent misunderstandings or diffuse negative reactions in new situations coming back to Asia eight years ago we realized our unique opportunity to act as Bridges across different groups of people we were seen as neither local nor expat but we embodied and resonated
with parts of both identities and this has proven to be advantageous for our work living in Singapore being sensitive to different cultures has allowed us to be adaptable when working with people of diverse backgrounds so this brings us to our final stage of Consciousness intelligence in a cultural context this speaks to the ability to work and relate effectively across different cultural contexts adapting our actions and interactions based on building awareness understanding and sensitivity when we apply these stages of Consciousness and practice cultural competence we become better equipped to navigate through the world with cultural fluency
and a truly Global mindset We Believe cultural competency is the key tool for stepping up to global citizenship because it allows us to recognize the interconnectedness of ourselves with the world as Marcus Aurelius once said one should continually think of the universe as one living being with one substance and one One Soul how all its actions derive from one impulse how all things together cause all that happens and the nature of the resulting web and pattern of events it is only when we realize this can we become more active Global Citizens and so tonight we
invite all of you to step up to global citizenship thank you
