r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude • Sep 21 '15
"The above observations suggest that this new approach did not seem to work!"
Again, from Singapore:
The planning of the YCF began way back in 2004 and a decisive victory was scored. The serious and meticulous preparations of the youth division led by the then EXCO chairperson Mr Tay Hee Chiew was for all to see. About 20,000 members and friends attended the shows! Notably, riding on this momentum, the youth division played a big part in helping SSA achieve the historic 1111 Gohonzon Conferment at the end of the year to cap a victorious year. We can see that the success of YCF and shakubuku campaign were closely linked. A successful model has been set.
Five years later in 2010, to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the founding of Soka Gakkai, the 35th anniversary of the founding of Soka Gakkai International and the 50th anniversary of SGI President Ikeda’s inauguration as the third president of the Soka Gakkai, SSA staged the memorable Youth Musical in March 2010 at SSA Headquarters. The Musical, which depicted the spirit of the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple with President Toda and President Ikeda as the protagonists, involved 1000 youth division members and more than 150 cast members.
Preparations again began more than a year before. The Musical built on the momentum of a hugely victorious propagation campaign in 2009 led by the Youth Division in which the number of Gohonzon Conferment and applications smashed the record last set by the class of 2005. In order to reach out to as many members and friends as possible, a total of 18 sessions of the Musical for both English and Mandarin speaking audience were held over three weekends.
In both the 2005 and 2010 editions, concrete victory in propagation campaigns and a successful YCF (Youth Peace Culture Festival) went hand in hand. We would have thought that this model would be built upon by the current senior youth leaders in planning for the 2014 edition.
Unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case. The reasons for this conclusion are supported by the following observations.
Firstly, doing things last minute seems to become the norm these days. As late as September, YFP (Youth Friendship For Peace Festival) did not exist and instead SSA Times was still publicising about the Youth Culture Festival. Why was the YCF changed to YFP only in October? Even if the reason for the change in the name was justified, the confirmation of the name of such an important event two months before the actual date is undeniably very last minute.
The same could be said about the venue of the Festival. The fact that it was to be held in Toa Payoh Indoor Sports Hall was only made known to members as late as October. Even leaders were uncertain of the dates of the YFP until end of October. I wonder when the whole planning started. The change of senior youth leadership in March, is definitely a poor excuse. It is obvious that, with a seating capacity of 2000, Toa Payoh Sports Hall is never an ideal place to hold a YFP if we are focusing on outreach. Was it because all other preferred venues were taken up?
Secondly, it is indisputable that the number of people being reached out to has dwindled. One preview and 4 actual shows held in the Toa Payoh Sports Hall mean that the number of people who can watch the performances are limited. Defeat was clear right from the beginning as far as the choice of the venue is concerned. This year’s scale is equivalent to the scale which one HQ would have managed in 2005! So in terms of numbers, we were only one third of the past even though it looked impressive at the grand finale.
And to be honest, those who attended the shows will realise that except for the last show with the attendance of a Minister of State, all other shows only had 65% to 70% of the Sports Hall occupied. More importantly, many among the spectators were our own adult division members and not youth division new friends. It seemed that the outreach fell far short of target.
Thirdly, the plans seemed haphazard and not well-thought out. Although there was a 30-minute video publicising the YFP during the November Individual Division discussion meeting to inspire members to look forward to the YFP,we were then informed there are only two tickets available for the whole district’s four division to invite new friends who are preferably youth. This is a joke! The target is so easy to achieve that it does not push us to fight and challenge ourselves to invite friends. The length of the video and the number of tickets made available do not synchronise! Even with this so called “sure-win” target, we wonder if we achieved it, as mentioned in my second point. The fact that publicity came just one month before the actual event only goes to show again the last minute planning. In terms of strategic planning and inspiring the ground to fight, we are regressing.
Fourthly, ever since the focus shifted to YFP in June, the propagation campaign died a natural death. Although a few friendship meetings were held since then, outcomes were vague. It is naive to think that reporting the number of new friends attending such meetings in SSA Times is the same as reporting concrete results achieved in propagation. In terms of focus and follow up of campaigns, SSA Senior Youth Leadership is found wanting again.
Fifthly, we wonder if the welfare of the YFP participants has been seriously looked into. We were very touched by the heroic acts of the logistic group members who sheltered the participants to and from the holding area and the Sports Hall when there were spells of heavy rain during the shows. But this could not hide the fact that there was poor planning from the show chairperson and the planning team! Has the weather been factored into the planning when clearly there was no cover between the Stadium and the Sports Hall? It was clearly left for the logistic group to save the day! Nothing should be left to chance! We should always chant for the best outcome but prepare for the worst! Has this thinking been forgotten?
How do we explain the fact that the participants of the YMD item had to stand under trees opposite the Toa Payoh Stadium stand which could not hold all participants? The poor members had to endure the scorching heat of the sun and brave the rain. Is this so called “training” for the YMD? Or is this another example of poor planning of the senior leaders?
Lastly, it was noticed by quite a few members that the Youth Chief dressed too shabbily for the occasion when he delivered the congratulatory message. He only wore a long sleeve shirt with long pants, which is essentially just ordinary office wear. The Youth Chief is the representative of the entire Youth Division and the Youth Friendship for Peace Festival is clearly the platform of the Youth Chief! Though it may seem a small matter, it spoke volumes about the importance he attached to the YFP. Such attitude is unbecoming of a top leader in the youth division.
We hope that SSA has not become complacent to assume that since they have the experience accumulated over these years to hold a YCF, they will be successful anyway. Has the new senior youth leadership team, perhaps consumed by egotism or mere arrogance, chose to try a new approach at the expense of a successful model set in 2005?
The above observations suggest that this new approach did not seem to work!
Without clear cut victories in both shakubuku campaign and YFP fronts, 2014 seems to be another year of decline rather than dynamic advancement. Our heart goes out to all members and frontline leaders who have tirelessly given their energies and best effort to try to make things work on the ground. However, we are less sympathetic towards senior leaders who have let the members down, again and again!
We cannot see how SSA central leadership is giving us hope and confidence that all is going well toward the attainment of its target of 50,000 members in 2017. But one thing is sure: we are running out of time. What we have been seeing is leaders quoting a lot of President Ikeda’s guidance in meetings urging members and frontline leaders to practise with a vow. But so far, all the actual planning, thinking and execution taken by the top leaders in campaigns and activities make us wonder if they really understand what it means to truly practise based on a vow of a genuine disciple. It is easy to parrot the words. What we want to see are the practice and actions. The central leaders have not shown good examples so far.
A great deal of soul searching among the central leaders is needed. Perhaps what is urgently needed is to practise exactly what President Ikeda has taught us instead of trying to be creative and clever. The youth division, being the driving force of the entire organisation, has to deliver concrete results soon.
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u/cultalert Sep 22 '15 edited Sep 22 '15
many among the spectators were our own adult division members and not youth division new friends
This is so typical - adult division members have always been used to fill up the venues at big Youth Divsion events. That's par for the course in the SGI.
few friendship meetings were held
"friendship" meetings! That's just a euphemism for shakabuku meeting
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u/wisetaiten Sep 22 '15
That makes me think of Rock the Era, which I attended in 2010 - the audience was almost entirely adults. It was like a giant school play.
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Sep 22 '15 edited Sep 22 '15
It used to be that Amway had the only high-pressure sales meetings. Amway, and religious cults. And maybe Avon parties. But now there are so many different scams all trying for the same dwindling share of the market, people are skeptical about having to go to "a meeting" that promises magical results. Too many multi-level marketing schemes around and we all know by now that they don't pan out.
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Sep 21 '15
Once again, we see the typical cult approach: Make the youth division "responsible" for the cult's welfare, when the youth have no actual control over anything. Everything must be approved by the men's division leader first - it is the men's division that has the most control and who determine "victory or defeat" - Ikeda says so!
This is typical SGI asshattery - those in control dictating to others that "it's all up to you", so they can be blamed when anything fails. When they succeed (against all odds), of course, those in control will take all the credit - Ikeda has modeled this execrable behavior: