Global Goals MUN 2021 (23/4/2021-25/4/2021)

 After a two-week break from online Monash MUN 2021 (MONMUN), it's time to bring the Malaysian spirit to an international MUN - Global Goals MUN also known GGMUN. This time, I delegated under the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) council as Malaysia, which was a coincidence - a sense of duty to fly the Jalur Gemilang (the Malaysia flag) high. 

In fact GGMUN almost became my first ever MUN conference back in 2018 - that was the year my passion for MUN ignited. In the end, I went to the Malaysia National Model United Nations (MNMUN) - it's always to start locally before ventured into any international MUN conference. Familiarise with the local scene, once we are confident enough, we can go international. 

Prior to the conference, we have two networking sessions - where got to meet youths from all over the world. The first session was WHO and Covid-19. We discussed on how the WHO are handling covid-19 globally, and what were the actions that government have taken in our respective countries to combat the global pandemic. I was really happy that I got to show the MySejatera app - a mobile application for Malaysians to be updated with the latest infographics on the pandemic. Now, it has a function for us to register to receive the vaccines, make sure the information is complete. 

The second networking session was about the Global Goals, known as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We have nine years to reach all the 17 goals, I got to discuss briefly on the goal that I'm passionate about - SDG 3: Good health and well-being which focuses on mental health. Also, we got to demonstrate the specialties in our respective countries. Of course as Malaysians, we love to mix our languages, we can see four languages in one sentences. Don't be surprised if you ever visit Malaysia, that's how we do. 

The topic for the UNICEF council topic was relatable because we mostly had our classes online. We have seen reports that underprivileged children were having trouble accessing to the Internet during the pandemic. Malaysia was no exception when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented on 18 March 2020. 

On the day of the conference, we had an MUN 101 and getting to know delegates in our council before the debate took place the next day. After the opening speeches, let the debate begin! I managed to talk about how children's mental health were affected during the pandemic due to digital learning. At one point, I failed to gather all my Southeast Asia allies to form a bloc. The whole council was merged into a huge bloc. 

Since MUN was shifted online, the gossip box became a new tradition to confess one another (nicely). Unfortunately, it didn't turn out well. On the last day of the council, we passed the working paper! We skipped the gossip box, and recorded two TikTok videos - another new in MUN. I didn't go to the closing ceremony because I was having a heavy digital fatigue. When I came back to check the phone, my chair, Adolfo, informed me that I got Best Position Paper award! Wow, that was unexpected! 

Every MUN that I attended, regardless of physical or virtual, I don't aim for the awards. I go for the fun and gaining experience in the process. Best Position Paper award - this is the second major award in my MUN career followed by Most Diplomatic award as the delegate of Bahrain at EOSMUN by IGB International School in March 2019. 

Thank you Adolfo and Pande for giving the best experience at Global Goals MUN. For every child, a quality education. This is Kar Marn (Katelyn), delegate of Malaysia from UNICEF, signing off! Now, on for a break! 

MONMUN 2021 (9/4/2021-11/4/2021)

 Fresh from the virtual ECOSOC youth forum, I'm back for Monash Model United Nations (MONMUN) online conference. This time is the Malaysian Youth Assembly (MYA). In this council, I'm playing as myself, which is easier than the other council which we have to play a country's ambassador. 

We have two topics to choose from in MYA which were The Issue of Brain Drain and Climate Anxiety. Before we went into a formal debate, we have a primary speaker list. The primary speaker is referred as a "persuasion" to persuade representatives on which topic we wanted to debate in council. We voted on brain drain as the topic of debate. 

We were discussing on why Malaysians should be coming back to the Malaysia and contribute the economy, suddenly, a representative brought up an article we should not discuss in council - that would land us in big trouble! Although it is stated in the research report, it was not allowed to bring up the topic itself. We will end up in a place that served curry rice. 

On the end of the first day, Representatives Lim and Fong, and myself were working on a resolution paper. The second day, I mentioned about the zero-reject policy which was existed during the previous government. "No one knows the zero reject policy? " I asked, no response from the representatives. Luckily, my junior chair, Dee, explained what is the zero reject policy. I was inspired to make a meme out of it, with some help from Angus.

Ernest, who is fondly known as Sherlock Holmes in the Malaysian MUN scene, had an impressive presentation of his working paper in a form of a minecarft game! The map of Malaysia was really on point. The representatives council were lost for words! 

The third and final day, I got into a no-nonsense mode by saying "Don't mess with Melaka girl!" - which is true, because Melaka has a slogan - Don't mess with Melaka. My co-chair, Carmen, made a meme out of it too, which I truly appreciated. Finally, we have passed the working paper! Wohoo! 

Ernest bagged "The Best Delegate Award", I was thinking maybe we could have "The Most Enthusiastic Award" - it only applies in the superlative in council. I'll take that, thank you! Thank you Jason, Carmen and Dee for giving the opportunity to be in your council. This is Kar Marn aka Representative Chin, from Malaysian Youth Assembly (MYA), signing off! 

UN ECOSOC Youth Forum (7/4/2021-8/4/2021)

 "In five years' time, where do we see ourselves?" This question is asked to us youths all the time. Some of us are not sure where we see ourselves in the given timeline, some have already planned out the future. Which category I'm in? Definitely in between the two. One thing for sure my answer to the question - I might be seeing myself in the real-life UN, representing Malaysia at the ECOSOC youth forum or might work in the media industry which I'm really passionate about. 

That dream came true! I received from the ECOSOC Youth Forum Organisation team that I would be joining thousands of youths around the world to join the conversation on 7 April and 8 April 2021. Immediately, I shared the happy news with my family and my friends, especially from the Malaysian Model United Nations (MUN) scene to tell them about the fantastic news! The first thing I looked up was the timetable of the forum. It's going to be super late according to Malaysian time, I guessed I needed to sacrifice the sleep. 

Before I go any further on the event itself, let me take you back on how I got to know the ECOSOC youth forum. I was browsing through social media as always, a headline caught my eye: ECOSOC Youth Forum 2018. I clicked on the headline, seeing international Chinese singer, Roy Wang from China's boyband trio - TF Boys, delivering his speech on the children in China having limited access to education. The next thing I did is browse through the list to see if any Malaysian is on board, but unfortunately, no Malaysian representatives in the list. One thought, I made up my mind: "That's it! I'm going to break the record!" 

To break the record, where do I start? Model United Nations (MUN) came into mind. I signed up for the Malaysian National Model United Nations (MNMUN), since then I found my new passion and continue to join MUN conferences in Malaysia. My MUN friends asked me why did I join MUN? My answer was easy: Hoping to represent Malaysia at the ECOSOC Youth Forum one day. 

Fast forward to three years (2021), the dream is finally coming true! Let's proceed where we left off! Before the big day, I attended the ECOSOC Youth Forum Side Event. I was really happy to see some of the Malaysian youths were on board for the event. 

My MUN buddies and I always talk about the ECOSOC youth forum at every MUN event whenever we have the chance. One time, we were talking about the outfit - what should we wear if were to attend the forum one day? I said: "We're representing Malaysia, we have to include that is connected with our Malaysian roots," Wearing one of the traditional costumes, with the unity pin and the flag as a bonus. Sticking to the words, I wore a red cheongsam with the unity pin on the first day itself of the forum. I had to stay up really late due to the 12-hour difference between Malaysia and New York, USA. There were lots of rest in between.

The networking session was at 5.30am (GMT+8). I was a little bit nervous for the networking session but everything was gonna be fine. After the speed networking with a couple of people, I decided to play around and browsed through each networking room. I was surprised that no one was at the children and mental health - a cause which I'm championing. The popular one were gender equality, climate and access to education. I decided to hop in to the access to education networking room. I met four amazing young people - Arissa from Canada, Anna and Keqi from China and Sariany from Peru. Each of us talked about the challenges that are faced in our respective countries. 

The next day, I only attended the Regional Breakout Session (Asia and the Pacific). I didn't attend the closing ceremony, as I was feeling unwell (no, it's not what we think - it's called the virtual jetlag due to the time zones). Overall, I'm proud to represent Malaysia at this virtual stage and hopefully to change the perception towards Malaysia because in reality not many know the country well. As a matter of fact, Malaysia produces youths like you and me who are passionate about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

My name is Chin Kar Marn, Malaysian representative at the virtual ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021. To all my fellow Malaysians who were at the forum, we did it! Malaysia Boleh! 

(Left): First MUN in 2018; (Right): Goal achieved

End of first day of the forum at 7am (8/4/2021)

 

UN ECOSOC Youth Forum Side Event: Youth and the Future of Governance (6/4/2021)

 It's the eve of the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021, the side event is a pre-event of the big day. We have a list of side events to choose from, I chose "Youth and the Future of Governance". We have some Malaysian representations, have to give the biggest support! 

Each of the speaker emphasises how youths are playing an important role as global citizens. I'm gonna pick my top three from the side event. First and foremost, it's none other than our keynote speaker himself, Dr. Maliki. I met Dr. Maliki while I was a university student a couple of years back, that time he was showing us on providing clean water in rural areas of Sarawak. Now, he addresses on the impact of youths as global citizens, not just Malaysia itself and we have a International Youth Council where it is located in Kuala Lumpur - the capital state of Malaysia. I hope to visit the place one day when interstate travelling in the country is allowed. 

Secondly, Ms. Sharon Lo from the UK. She mentions that our roles as youths, we have to be creative in solutions in our everyday lives and most importantly, our voices need to be heard by the big people, listen to us what young people care about that is happening today in the world. Thirdly, it has to be Mr. Phay from YMCA who addresses on the hatred which is a real "virus", which I think it's true because no one in this world to be born to hate someone.  We can lend our voices and be a caring by stander, standing with them together. 

After all these take away from the top three speakers of my choice. I think there is one personal trait that we are lacking - kindness and empathy. We are busy with power and wealth but forgot that kindness and empathy are the keys in any governance leadership and we as young leaders as a whole. Change is always the word, but I think kindness is the future of youth and governance. 

I'm looking forward to the main event for the next two and a half days.