Theme: Muse

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Muse /mjuːz/
1: A source of inspiration
2: An instance or period of reflection

TEDxBencoolen St Youth is a fully youth-run initiative which aims to provide Singaporean youths with a platform to discuss ideas they believe to be worth sharing.

With the theme Muse: A Period of Reflection/A Source of Inspiration, we aim to explore how quiet introspection and moments of inspiration shape our actions and perspectives. It’s about discovering how silent reflection in our daily lives can move us to action, and using that understanding to foster growth and connection. This is an invitation to pause, think, and find meaning in some solitude — not just for yourself but for the world around you.

SMU
25 Bencoolen St
Singapore, Central Singapore, 189619
Singapore

Alya Annabi

Entrepreneur

Alya is a multi-passionate entrepreneur working at the intersection of sustainability and personal growth. She founded GreenPush to help companies raise sustainability awareness in a fun and engaging way. Following her passion for personal growth, she founded Positive Push to empower women to take action on their vision & goals. An Earthshot Prize Official Nominator and Ambassador for Unstoppable, Alya is also a dynamic public speaker and community builder. Her mission is simple: to inspire action and create spaces where individuals can grow, connect, and make meaningful change happen.

Hon Weng Yip

Member of Parliament | Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency

Yip Hon Weng is a first-term Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang SMC, with a distinguished career in the Singapore Administrative Service. He has held senior roles in key ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office, Health, Defence, and National Development, where he led transformative initiatives like the Municipal Services Office to enhance community services. As the founding director of the Ageing Planning Office and head of the Silver Generation Office, he championed seniors’ issues, overseeing nationwide outreach programs that impacted over 500,000 Singaporeans. Now a Director at Temasek, he leads human capital strategies and previously drove investments in deep technology to bolster Singapore’s economic growth. A graduate of prestigious institutions including MIT, Harvard, NUS, NTU, and UK universities, he holds degrees in advanced mathematics, financial engineering, and public administration, reflecting his diverse expertise and leadership. He is married with 5 children.

Ilika Motani

Figure Skater

Ilika Motani is a Year 5 (JC1) student at NUS High School. She is passionate about math and science and does volunteer fieldwork in intertidal zones with NParks. A figure skater on the Singapore National Team, she represents Singapore in international competitions. She is a local writer and her poetry has been published in multiple literature journals. She was the president of her school’s English Language Interest Group and is an actor in the Drama Club. Behind this list of accolades, however, is the most important thing about Ilika: she is not afraid to fail.

Jack Sim

Founder of the World Toilet Organization, Creator of the UN World Toilet Day

Jack Sim, widely known as "Mr. Toilet", founded the World Toilet Organization (WTO), a global non-profit working towards a world with clean, safe toilets and sanitation for everyone, everywhere, at all times. Born in a slum in Singapore in 1957, he learned entrepreneurship and gumption from his uneducated mother who started a series of small businesses. From school failure, he became a serial commercial businessman. After attaining financial independence he left the rat-race to become a social entrepreneur. He enrolled at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and graduated with a Master’s in Public Administration at the age of 56. He also graduated at Singularity University’s Global Solutions Program at age fifty-nine. He received a Queen Elizabeth’s Points of Light Award, Clinton Global Initiatives Fellow and was named Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment for 2008. In 2022, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Strathclyde for his contributions to humanity.

Jovann Loh

Student

Jovann is a JC2 student at Eunoia Junior College, which means they’ve mastered the art of looking busy while procrastinating and surviving on dangerously little sleep. They have no fancy accolades, no groundbreaking research to their name, but they do have an unfortunate habit of going down ideological rabbit holes instead of doing actual work. Between cramming for exams and questioning their life choices, they’ve noticed something odd: everyone seems to think they’re the hero of history. Every ideology claims to champion freedom, justice, or equality precisely until you disagree with them. This talk isn’t about giving you the “right” answers (if they had those, they’d be much richer), but it might make you question just how much of what you believe is actually yours, and how much is just borrowed from the loudest voices around you. And if nothing else, at least it’ll be more interesting than another GP lecture.

Ray Yen Ng

Student

When Ray Yen is not thinking about her two cups of coffee a day, she is probably already drinking them. In the little time she has left, she is a Y4 triple science + geography student from RGS Debate. As someone whose entire personality is mostly about her dogs, she will do her best to talk about something else for once and to make it somewhat worth your while. She looks forward to seeing you at TEDx Bencoolen St Youth!

Theophilus Kwek

Poet

Theophilus Kwek has published four collections of poetry, two of which were shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. In 2023, he was the youngest writer and first Singaporean to be awarded the Cikada Prize by the Swedish Institute, for poetry that “defends the inviolability of life”. He is also part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2024. His next book, Commonwealth, will be published in May 2025.

Vareck Ng

Safe Streets Advocate, Content creator

Vareck is a safe streets advocate who shares vlogs on YouTube channel “tehsiewdai”. He volunteers with passionate individuals in Safety for Active Mobility Users, Bike Commute Singapore, and Singapore Youth for Climate Action to set people thinking about clean mobility. Through bike rides, casual chats, and workshops, he hopes to inspire the next generation to follow their hearts and chase their dreams.

Wesley Ng

Student

Wesley Ng is an incoming undergraduate and current national serviceman who works extensively with children in multiple roles. As a Global Community Builder and student volunteer at Junior Achievement Singapore, he teaches financial literacy to children, while also leading Cake From The Hearts—a non-profit organization he founded to celebrate the birthdays of underprivileged children. Through these experiences, Wesley has observed firsthand the natural curiosity, creativity, and fearlessness that children possess—qualities that adults often lose as they age. His mission is to help others recognize and reclaim these valuable childhood traits, applying them to overcome modern adult challenges and rediscover the things that made life extraordinary.