| Fizah HAB |
THE Asean Youth Summit (AYS) 2017 was recently held in the Philippines, under the concept of ‘Strength in Diversity, Building One Asean Community’.
The summit gave youth participants the opportunity to understand decision-making processes and diplomatic procedures involved in actual Asean meetings.
The four-day event included simulations of ministerial meeting and Asean Community Councils, panel discussions and conferences that were aimed at giving the future leaders and decision-makers a chance to understand the role of Asean, while discussing key ideas and issues ranging from political-security and socio-cultural affairs in relation to real world problems.
Nur Faizah binti Ja’afar and Nur Diyana Nasriah binti Suhaili, both majoring in Business Administration at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), shared their experiences of participating in the Asean Youth Summit.
“Despite the many differences, including language barrier and social differences, we managed to work together as a cohesive group,” said Nur Faizah.
“It was an intensive session, where we assumed roles as the representatives of various Asean member countries and deliberated on possible applicable solutions to existing social, economical and political issues in the Asean region,” she added.
Nur Faizah binti Ja’afar and Nur Diyana Nasriah binti Suhaili. – FIZAH HAB
“It was an interesting moment for both of us,” Nur Diyana Nasriah said, adding, “For the first time, we were given such a huge responsibility of assuming the role of a representative to an Asean member country completely different from ours; and to work together with other first-time participants towards finding viable solutions for all Asean member countries.”
“AYS taught us that despite our numerous differences, we have the same collective Asean identity in the same Asean Community,” she added.
Nine youth leaders took part in the summit, organised by the De Le Salle University, in conjunction with Asean’s 50th anniversary.
Participants discussed a wide range of topics, including the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone, the Asean Free Trade Area, transnational crime, tourism, science and technology, education and disaster management.
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