5th Humanistic Buddhism Youth Forum

Faith & Legacy

第五屆人間佛教青年論壇
《信仰與傳承》

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

1. Objectives:
1) To promote the awareness, research and propagation of Humanistic Buddhism
among the youth.
2) To study the roles and functions of Buddhism in purifying the minds and
positively influencing the society.
3) To examine the roles of the youth in keeping up with the times in the
propagation of the Dharma.
4) To promote the advancement and continuation of Buddhism by the youth in
enhancing one’s morals and building a conducive and harmonious society.

2. Advisory Unit: Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism

3. Main Organiser: Fo Guang Shan (Singapore)

4. Co-Organisers: Buddha’s Light Association (Singapore)

Buddha’s Light Association (Singapore) - Young Adult Division

5. Target Audience: Academics, students and youth between 18 and 40 years old
who have interest in Buddhism

6. Date: 21 & 22 September 2019 (Saturday & Sunday)

7. Highlights: Keynote speeches, plenary sessions, panel discussions, paper

presentations and academic exchanges

8. Location: Fo Guang Shan (Singapore)

9. Official Website: www.buddhistyouthforum.sg

10. Official Email: buddhistyouthforum@gmail.com

11. Theme of Forum: “Faith & Legacy”

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12. Submission Categories

1) Academic Category – Original academic research or review articles

Topic: “Faith and Legacy – Buddhism in the VUCA World”

In a world with a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity)

environment, the traditional order of the human civilisation has been disrupted.
The deeply-ingrained societal norms and moral values have also been greatly
eroded. In the light of unprecedented changes that our world is facing, a sense
of helplessness and anxiety may be prevalent.

With changes in societal norms and values, traditional faiths may now face
challenges from constant attacks and doubts from people. One may even
possibly lack the knowledge about the systems behind their faith. This may
create a sense of misdirection of faith in our modern society. As such, it is crucial
for Buddhism to keep up with the times, reflect on and strengthen our faith, and
re-think into how we can leave behind a legacy for our future generation.

Humanistic Buddhism prioritises this-worldly issues over other-worldly

transcendence, real life over birth and death, the greater good over the lesser
good, and universal deliverance over individual liberation. It will light up a path
for all the sentient beings when darkness were to descend in our world in future.

2) Literary and Arts Category – Various genres of Buddhist literature,

literary reportages and book reviews, reflections, etc.

Topic: “Faith and Legacy”

Please refer to Annex A for submission requirements, including word limits,

submission formats and citation style. The organiser reserves the rights to
disqualify any submissions without notice which do not adhere to the submission
requirements.

Please refer to Annex B for suggested structure of papers for each of the
categories. However, authors need not follow the structure as suggested.

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13. Timeline of Key Events (Pre-Forum)

Call for abstracts

(Academic category only)
10 January to 28 February 2019

Deadline for abstract submission

Evaluation of abstracts
by Evaluation Panel
(Academic category only)
Writing of papers
(for Academic category only)
28 February 2019
Notification of acceptance of
abstract
(for Academic category only)
11 – 14 March 2019

Deadline for paper submission First evaluation

(All categories) by Evaluation Panel
30 June 2019 (All categories)

Second evaluation by Evaluation Panel First revision by authors

Second evaluation & revision are mandatory (All categories)
upon request by Evaluation Panel

Second revision by authors

Deadline for final submission of all papers by all authors

21 August 2019

th
Paper presentations during 5 Humanistic Buddhism Youth Forum
21 & 22 September 2019

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14. Timeline of Key Events (Post-Forum)

th
Paper presentations during 5 Humanistic Buddhism Youth Forum
21 & 22 September 2019

Post-forum revision of papers

by all presenters Deadline for submission of
23 September to 20 October 2019 finalised papers for
publication
by all presenters
20 October 2019
Post-forum vetting of papers
by Evaluation Panel

Preparation for publication of Forum Proceedings and

nomination of finalised papers to FGS Institute of Humanistic Buddhism

Distribution of Forum Proceedings to all presenters (December 2019)

15. Registration Fees

1) Submission of papers: Free-of-charge#
2) Observer: SGD 20
(Inclusive of administrative fee, material fee and meals)

#
Should the submission be not accepted for presentation, participants can still attend
the forum as an observer for free. However, they would have to self-finance transport
and accommodation.

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16. Submission and Participation Closing Dates

1) Submission of abstract:
2) Submission of papers:
3) Observers’ registration:
#
4) Booking of accommodation :
28 February 2019 (for Academic category only)
30 June 2019 (for all categories)
14 September 2019
22 August 2019 (for overseas participants only)

#
No request for accommodation booking after 22 August 2019 will be entertained by the
organiser. Participants would need to make accommodation arrangements on their own.

17. Awards
The following awards only apply to authors whose papers/works are
• selected for presentation during the forum,
• presented by the respective authors in person during the forum,
• revised as per the feedback given by the Evalaution Panel before, during and
after the forum, and
• submitted to the organiser for publication after the forum.

Academic Category

Overseas Presenter1 Local Presenter2

Travel grant to Singapore#

Sponsorship of meals & accommodaton

during the period of the forum# Cash award – SGD 800

Cash award – SGD 200

Literary and Arts Category

Overseas Presenter1 Local Presenter2

Travel grant to Singapore#

Sponsorship of meals & accommodaton

Cash award – SGD 400
during the period of the forum#

Cash award – SGD 100

1
Refers to foreigners and overseas Singaporeans who are residing/studying/working
outside Singapore.
2
Refers to Singapore citizens and foreigners residing/studying/working in Singapore.
#
Subject to reimbursement guidelines stipulated by the organisers.
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1. All presenters will be presented with a certification of participation and a token of

appreciation from the organisers.

2. For overseas presenters, the travel grant and cash award will be credited to the
bank accounts of the authors in November 2019 after the submission of finalised
papers for publication. The travel grant will be credited via telegraphic transfer
according to the currency exchange rates stipulated by the bank.

3. For local presenters, the cash award will be credited to the bank accounts of the
authors in November 2019 after the submission of finalised papers for
publication.

4. All the finalised papers/works will be published in the Proceedings of the Forum.
They may also be nominated to be published in Humanistic Buddhism Journal,
Arts and Culture by the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism.

5. Presenters may be invited to present their works or participate in forums,

conferences or seminars that are organised by the headquarters of Fo Guang
Shan or the various branch temples.

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Annex A: Submission Requirements

1. Academic Category (English)

❏ Abstract must not exceed 300 words and must include the full title of the paper.

❏ Word count of the full paper must must not exceed 7000 (including abstract,
figures, references and appendices).

❏ The full title of the paper must be included in bold, left aligned, at the top of the
first page only. An accurate Chinese translation of the title is appreciated.

❏ Before submitting your paper please ensure that it has been carefully read for
typographical and grammatical errors. If English is not your first language,
please have your paper proof-read by an English speaking person. Papers will
be returned if the standard of English is not considered to be good enough for
presentation/publication.

❏ One author per submission. No co-authorship is allowed.

However, authors may acknowledge contributions by other parties in a separate
“Acknowledgements” section at the end of the paper.

❏ Abstracts and full papers must be produced in Microsoft Word using Arial font
11 pt for the main text, single spaced and fully justified.

❏ Set the page size to A4 with margins of 2.54 cm all around. Please do not insert
headers, footers or page numbers. Do not refer to page numbers in your text as
they may be changed. Do not use multiple columns.

❏ Do not use more than three levels of heading and use the numbering
convention:
1 Heading 1
1.1 Heading 2
1.1.1 Heading 3

❏ Please use normal capitalisation within the text and do not use bold face for
emphasis. Italics are acceptable. All headings should use initial capitals only,
excepting for use of Acronyms

❏ You can include bulleted or numbered lists.

❏ Figures and tables should be placed as close to their reference point in the text
as possible. All figures and tables must have titles and must be referenced from

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within the text. Avoid colour diagrams as the proceedings will be printed in black
and white.

Images must be inserted as picture files (.gif, .jpg, .bmp, .pct, .png, .psd). You
may be asked to supply the pictures as separate files.

❏ Please avoid the use of footnotes. Endnotes are not permitted.

❏ References should follow the Harvard referencing style, which means that
primary references in the text should be in the format (Nugus 1999) and should
then be listed at the end of the paper as per the following examples:
Brooks, I. and Weatherston, J. (1997) The Business Environment: Challenges and Changes,
Prentice Hall, London.

Clutterbuck, D. and Crainer, S. (1990) Makers of Management: Men and Women who
Changed the Business World, MacMillan, London.

Conner, D.R. (1998) Leading at the Edge-of-chaos: How to Create the Nimble Organization,
John Wiley, New York.

Doherty, Noel and Delener, Nejdet. (2001) “Chaos Theory: Marketing and Management
Implications”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Fall, Vol 9, No. 4, pp 66–75.

Evans, D. (1998) The arbitrary ape, New Scientist, Vol 159, No. 2148, 22 August, pp 32–35.

Farrell, W. (1998) How Hits Happen: Forecasting Predictability in a Chaotic Marketplace,

Harper Business, New York.

Fitzgerald, L.A. and van Eijnatten, F.M. (1998) “Letting Go For Control: The Art of Managing
the Chaordic Enterprise”, The International Journal of Business Transformation, Vol. 1, No.
4, April, pp 261-270.

Goldberg, J. and Markoczy, L. (1998) “Complex Rhetoric and Simple Games”, [online],
Cranfield University,www.Cranfield.ac.za/public/cc/cc047/papers/complex/html/complex.htm.

McElwee, M. (1998) “Chaos Theory and Complexity as Fountainheads for Design of an

Organization Theory Building Workshop”, Paper read at XIVth World Congress of the
International Sociological Association, Montreal, Canada, July.

❏ Secondary references would appear in the text as “Nugus (in Remenyi 1999: 25)
…” and only the Remenyi work would be listed at the end of the paper.

Further information on the Harvard referencing style can be found at:

http://libguides.mq.edu.au/referencing/Harvard

❏ The ALA-LC Romanization Tables are to be followed for romanized passages in

Sanskrit, Pāli and Tibetan. Japanese is to be romanized according to the
modified Hepburn system as found in Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English
Dictionary (3rd and later editions). For further details, please refer to the ALA-LC
specifications. Chinese may be romanized according to either Wade-Giles or
Pinyin.

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❏ Abstracts and full papers should submitted as a .doc or.docx file (must not be
sent in PDF format and should not be zipped).

❏ Please submit your abstract using the Google form (tinyurl.com/5HBYFabstract)

by 28 February 2019.
If you are unable to upload your abstract via the Google form, you must still
submit the completed Google form and send the abstract as a separate
attachment by email at buddhistyouthforum@gmail.com by 28 February 2019.

❏ Notification of acceptance of abstract for submission of full paper will be emailed

between 11-14 March 2019.

2. Literary and Arts (English) Category

❏ Free choice of literary and writing style.

❏ Word count of full text must must not fall below 1000 and must not exceed 3500.
Short literary submission (e.g. poems, lyrics, etc.) must accompany a
comprehensive literary analysis/interpretation or reflection to meet the word
count requirement.

❏ Full text must be written in the form of a Buddhist literature. Full text should
avoid academic writing style.

❏ Full text must be written in either English language. The use of other languages
in the form of quotations must accompany an accurate English translation.

❏ The title of the full text must be included in bold, left aligned, at the top of the
first page only. The title need not be the exact same words as the theme.

❏ Please submit your full text using the Google form (tinyurl.com/5HBYFsubmission)
by 30 June 2019.
If you are unable to upload your full text via the Google form, you must still
submit the completed Google form and send the abstract as a separate
attachment by email at buddhistyouthforum@gmail.com by 30 June 2019.

❏ The organisers will notify all participants of the evaluation outcome by end-July
via email.

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Important Terms and Conditions:

1. Do not submit your paper to more than one publication at one time. Submissions must
not be previously published, and if they are under consideration for publication in
another journal, this must be specifically declared to the organiser.
2. If the paper is condensed from, or a portion of the participant’s academic thesis, it must
be amended to a considerable degree, otherwise it shall not be accepted.
3. When selected paper requires extensive revision prior to publication, the participant is
obliged to do the revisions personally.
4. The organiser reserves the rights to edit the text in the submission. Should the author
not allow the organiser to do so, a written notice must be accompanied with the
submission.
5. By making a submission to Fo Guang Shan (Singapore), the author warrants and
represents that the work is an original work and does not infringe upon any copyright or
other right(s), and that it does not contain infringing, libellous, obscene or other
unlawful matter, that the work has not in its current or modified form been previously
published or made available elsewhere in any media nor has it been submitted for
publication elsewhere before, and that he/she has obtained the customary permission
from the copyright owner or his legal representative whenever a passage from
copyrighted material is quoted or a table or illustration from such material is used.
6. In consideration of Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang Shan Institute of
Humanistic Buddhism agreeing to publish the works submitted the author, the author
will grant Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic
Buddhism the non-exclusive right by way of an irrevocable, sub-licensable,
transferable, royalty-free licence to:
(a) publish the works in printed formats;
(b) publish the works on the Internet or other online transmissions or by
means of any other electronic medium;
(c) translate the works into all languages and publish the translations using
the means referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b); and
(d) reproduce the works for conferences, courses, lectures, seminars,
symposia and other educational events organised solely or jointly by
Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic
Buddhism;
provided that Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic
Buddhism shall always acknowledge the author of the works at all times.
7. Author of accepted submissions will assign Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang
Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism the rights to publish the text both electronically
and in any other format and to make it available permanently in an electronic archive.
8. If your work is found to, or suspected of infringing copyright of third parties, the
organiser may forward your submitted work to the actual, or suspected copyright
owners. By submitting a work to Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo Guang Shan
Institute of Humanistic Buddhism, you indemnify Fo Guang Shan (Singapore) or Fo
Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism against any claims relating to the
provision of the work to third parties on the grounds of suspected copyright
infringement.
9. The organiser will make every effort to have all submissions evaluated in a timely
manner.

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Annex B: Suggested Structure of Papers

Academic Category – Suggested Structure of a Conference Paper

1. Title of Paper
The title should be concise, clear and accurate.

2. Author’s Summary
This includes the author’s highest qualifications, occupation, affiliations, research
interests and areas.

3. Abstract
The abstract of the paper is a summary of what the paper is about. It should not
exceed 300 words. If the submission is a research paper, please include
relevant background information, results, and an the potential implications of the
paper.

4. Introduction
The introduction should include comprehensive background knowledge of the
topic, results from previous studies and research gaps. It should also address
the research background, motivation and origin of the research. Besides, the
introduction may indicate expected results, as well as the significance of the
research topic in related fields.

5. Research Objectives

6. Research Methods
This section should clearly describe, explain and justify the materials and
methods used in collecting and analysing data. The methodologies behind the
original research findings must be accounted for.

7. Results
This section should report key findings and how they are interpreted to derive
conclusions made in the paper. All reported findings or points of review in the
paper must be original, concrete and precise.

8. Discussion
This section should include the significance, implications and limitations of the
reported research findings or review points. The author should also discuss how
the research findings have addressed the research question and objectives,
bridged research gaps, or supported or contradicted previous studies. Areas for
improvement and suggestions for future research direction or prospects should
also be elaborated in this section.

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9. Conclusion
The concluding section should accurately and succinctly summarise the key
research findings or key points reported or discussed in the paper.

10. References / Bibliography

11. Acknowledgements

Literary and Arts Category

Buddhist Literature
Requirement: No restrictions in terms of literary and writing style.
With the spread of Buddhist culture from India, Buddhist literature in China has
transformed into its unique style. There are three types of Buddhist literature texts that
are created based on Chinese Buddhism:
Literature texts of Praise: These include hymns praising the virtues of Buddha, and
poems which expresses the Dharma with a deep, gentle and affectionate tone.
Zen (Ch’an) literature texts: Expresses the mental states of one who has achieved
liberation and enlightenment. E.g. “The Record of Linji“ by Yixuan, “The Record of
Transmission of the Lamp in Jinde” by Daoyuan, “The Gateless Barrier” by Hui Kai, etc.
Others: Popular works which aim to promote Dharma. Include comprises of poems,
novels, short stories/proses, etc

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Literary Reportage
Literary Reportage straddles between journalism and literature. It is a type of literary
genre which uses literature artistic styles to authentically and timely reflect society life’s
events and human activities. It is a form of style which uses literature to process news
materials. It narrates the existence of characters in real life, to contextualise the
dynamism of such lives. Therefore, a reportage presents readers with materials for a
more enlightened and holistic interpretation of world affairs.
Recommended format of literary reportage:
1) Title
2) Introduction (Exhibits vivid real-life events, accounts for the climax and ending of
the events, expresses the feelings and emotions of the main characters,
accounts for the intents and aims of writing, and the suspense and
contradictions of the events)
3) Body (Well structured with clear narration and description of the characters)
4) Conclusion (Analyse and conclude events and/or the characters involved, may
touch on future prospects)

Book Review
A book review accounts one’s personal experiences, insights, perspectives and
revelations after reading a book or an article. A review encompasses deep reflection
and consideration of key takeaways from the book, followed by assimilation of the main
points with one’s own interpretation and value-adding, and expression of these
thoughts through different perspectives. Insights from the book also aim to resolve and
overcome realistic challenges and problems faced by oneself or the human race as a
whole.
Requirements:
1) Summarises and organises the contents and key points of the book in a clear
and concise manner.
2) Analyses and critiques the contents and key points of the book, and strive to
provide and explain personal perspectives clearly.
3) Attempts to find relevance of personal point of view by relating or demonstrating
them in real life phenomena or scenarios.

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