Speakers
Lucas Nina Matos
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Lucas Nina Matos is a 16 year-old high school student, originally from Portugal, who has found a great interest in various areas, ranging from tech and startups to, more recently, pedagogy. His extra-curricular activities include MUN and debating, and he’s looking to expand himself beyond what is immediately available to him. He’s self-taught in programming, and now some Piano too, and he’s even tried making his own podcast, and continues to look to open new opportunities. He’s recently begun to work on a startup, and he spends plenty of time trying to build his connections and speak to people who know more about various topics he wishes to explore. Over time, he came to realize the extent of what is offered outside of school and the huge short-comings of most conventional educational models became ever more apparent in his day-to-day. In his talk, he explores the faults in what is being taught, how it is being taught, and how it is being tested, as well as some potential solutions and ideas on what to do moving forward.
Reeti Malhotra
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Reeti Malhotra is a 15-year-old Grade 9 student at Saint Joseph’s Institution International. Growing up as a Singaporean of Indian roots, she has always been surrounded by a melting pot of rich cultures that crafted her interest in both social and political issues that she observed in the world around her. Whether it be debates on the definition of morality or gun control, she has always been at the forefront, eager to learn, lend a helping hand, and ready to acquire new levels of understanding on a variety of subjects. Reeti is an active member of Model United Nations, a variety of Student Councils (including her school’s Junior and Service Councils), as well as enjoys playing team sports such as netball and volleyball while pursuing a passion for the arts, specifically theatre. From a young age, she has been aware of the lack of racial representation of minorities in mainstream media and how this has a powerful impact on self-esteem, racial stereotypes, and has the potential to diminish the scope of opportunities for said marginalised groups. Believing it is a hidden yet sinister issue in the rapidly growing, media and technology-oriented world around us, she wants to inspire powerful conversations that will hopefully soon lead to change.
Samantha Shorten​
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Samantha Shorten is an up and coming entrepreneur who runs a school shoe shop called Ten Feet Tall. First established three years ago, Ten Feet Tall has evolved to include a range of school shoes and even ASICS trainers. Ten Feet Tall is also known for participating in the Soles for Souls service, which aims to collect used shoes to donate to places in the world where people do not have access to proper shoes. Placing importance on foot health, Ten Feet Tall also works closely with the Osteopathy & Podiatry Centre in Singapore to help provide the best shoe fitting services.
Valerie Tan​
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Valerie Tan is a 12th grade student at SJII, who in her senior year of high school has suddenly become very unsure of the future. She's an Asian with a Dutch passport and has lived in Singapore for the last 10 years. Valerie is an aspiring musician, writer, director, engineer, and artist, and probably wants to do more than manageable in one lifetime. Since she loves movies so much, her talk will be about the importance of film in understanding our pasts and giving us hope for the future.
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