Wednesday, July 25, 2012

WTUYC 2012



The official logo for WTUYC 2012

The first ever World Tamil University Youth Conference (WTUYC) took place from 20th-22nd July at NUS, and it was a good experience to get the chance to listen to celebrities, students and fellow youths talk about issues which resonated close to their hearts. Meeting my Tamil language teacher from junior college at the conference was a nice surprise.


Hit the link below to see photos from the event!


The screen on the stage
Anandha Kannan hosting the event.

(From left to right) Nishmen, Viknesvari, Shabir and Kaushik performing the theme song of WTUYC 2012 "Boomi Nadunguthu"

Some of the presenters for the 2nd and 3rd day getting invited on stage.

Guest of Honour Minister Mr K. Shanmugam giving his address and best wishes for the conference.

Violinist Karthick Iyer doing his thing.

Crowd waiting to go in before it all started. Oh look, that's me with my bag on TV :D

The first day was a festival of sorts, with music performances (local singer Shabir, violinist Karthick Iyer) comedy skits (stepstepmani and company from Stray Factory), and talks by invited guests (Gopinath of "Neeya Naana" fame). The paper presentations got started the next day, with local celebrity Vadi PVSS starting things off. Here are some highlights:


Should've went in earlier to sit near the front, but oh well.

Local celebrity Vadi PVSS getting ready to address the audience.

WTUYC Chairperson helping to moderate the Q and A sessions.

Ashwin Rajadesignan, from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India, with his presentation "Tamil FTW! Tamil Youth Identity in Online Social Media"

Aaranya Rajasingam, from Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, presenting "The rise of the village in Contemporary Tamil Cinema: Aadukalam"
Sneha Krishnan, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, presenting "A lesbian and a Tamizh Penn?"

Mahendran Thiruvarangan, University of Massachusetts, United States, presenting "Diasporan Ruptures: Tamil and the Transnational in Channa Wikremesekere’s ‘Distant Warriors’"

On the whole, it was a good effort by the 33rd Executive Committee of NUS Tamil Language Society to organize something like this on such a scale. It was great to see audience members raising questions to the presenters, giving constructive criticism and generally being actively involved to the best of their abilities. Always nice to know that the Tamil community here is an active one.


My official pass!
Le front.
Le back.
And here's how that theme music for WTUYC 2012 sounds like:


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