ECOSOC Youth Forum 2024 (16/4/2024-19/4/2024)

 During this time of the year, I'm always looking forward to attending the ECOSOC Youth Forum. This marks my fourth year attending and second time as a UNICEF Malaysia Young Leader, alongside with my fellow Young Leader - Xin Qi, this time.

Due to a busy week at work, I have to balance my time in between work and the forum. Luckily the forum is in the night due to the 12-hour difference Malaysia and New York USA. On the first day of the side event, I attended where youths presented their challenges in their education journey. There's a saying in Chinese "Even though you are poor, education is the utmost priority," in its original meaning is “我们再穷也不能穷教育”. 

Education is really emphasised in my house because my grandfather is a retired educator for 32 years. He was an English educator in a national school (sekolah kebangsaan). I remembered every word that my younger sibling and I pronounced a wrong word, he couldn't get the educator out of him. When I was eight years old, my primary school had a mini book fair and I saw him hold three essay reference books in each language - Malay, English and Chinese, I thought they were for him. Little did I know, it was for me to prep up for Year 3 in primary school - which I had to learn to write essays.

After leaving secondary school, people asked my elderly whether I would continue studies due to my disability. I proved them wrong, in the end I graduated with a degree in BA (Hons) Communication, specialised in Corporate Communication.

Young children, still don't have the right access to education in some countries which is disheartening to hear from it. Children and young people are the agents of change and everyone has the right to education to change the future. 

The opening ceremony is late at night, I have to rest up for the next day. While I'm in office, I watched and listened to the repeat of the ceremony. A musical number as an opening to start the day for youths who are in the United Nations' (UN) Headquarters to start the day! In the speeches, advocates are urging youths to make a change now as we just left six years to 2030 -  there is no time to lose to hit all the 17 SDGs by then.

Still on the second day, I wore my kebaya top to the office for a Raya (or Eid) event - I showcased this outfit during the networking session. This not only reflect my Malaysian roots but also showcasing the specialty that Melaka has - Baba Nyonya (though I'm not a Baba Nyonya descendant, it's what makes Melaka so special). 

Reflecting my Malaysian roots in a kebaya

The one key message I like to say to existing or future advocates during the networking session is taking the first step even before you are ready - an iconic quote from Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon - it has become one of my personal principles whenever I wanna take a risk or break the ice between people connection. In the breakout session for the Asia and the Pacific Region, youths are urged to take action now in the global issues they care about because a small action can make a big difference! 

My message to everyone.

On the third and final day, a side event on disability inclusion really hits me because as a person with disabilities, I do feel the struggles too - anyone who are caregivers to people with disabilities or any family who have people with disabilities.

In different regions we have different terms referring to people with disabilities. In Malaysia, we refer the community as Orang Kelainan Upaya (OKU) - it is translated to people with disabilities. When I'm in a conversation with my friends. I tell them I have special needs because not all of us understand the term. In global context, always use the term "people with disabilities" because we are referring to the person and not the disability.

If you don't understand, you are always welcomed to attend a Movers Programme's workshop on Disability Inclusion to learn more.

This not the end, it's time to do the next right thing!

Connect with me to follow my advocacy journey: www.linktr.ee/katelynchinmunconferences97 

UNICEF Malaysia's Young Leaders Programme Showcase 2023 (18/11/2023)

 My passion for children started when I joined the Model United Nations scene five years ago and at that time I had only one goal which is - to become a UNICEF Youth Ambassador for Malaysia. Besides that, I wanted to raise mental health among youths and children. 

At every MUN conference, my friends would ask this question: "Do you see yourself advocating for children's rights one day and becoming a UNICEF Malaysia ambassador?" My answer was "We never might know what will happen in the future but who knows maybe it will come true!" Two years ago, UNICEF Malaysia organised a two-year programme called the Young Leaders Programme, in partnership with Study Hub Asia and 45 Young Leaders throughout Malaysia were selected! 

Throughout the two-year programme, Young Leaders are divided into four main topics namely education, mental health, climate change and child protection. I'm in the mental health team of course! The first year it was fully online, we were given training on public speaking, topic discussions for each of the four topics and business and human rights. It was all about brainstorming on future projects.

In the second year, the projects that were proposed turned into a reality! Although I didn't join the execution of the projects due to work, the support is there. A week before the showcase, all of the Young Leaders gathered for the last time. 

I almost didn't make it because I was asked to stay back in Melaka but I was advised to attend, that was the best decision made! 

On 18 November 2023 - the day of the showcase! I was walking around to see if there was anything I could help with - tested out Monsta Amongst Us' game on the myths and facts about sexual harassment. The opening ceremony started with the Director - Benjamin Chay, giving a backstory of the Young Leaders until its present day followed by the Co-Director, 'Ariff - who moderated the first-panel session - Tomorrow's Tapestry: An Intergenerational Dialogue.

I almost got lost in the breakout session, and turned out it was in the same room as the opening ceremony! Our emcee - David, switched his role to moderate  Advocating Children on the Edge featuring Heidy Quah, Hassan Al-Akraa and Niba. Before this, I had a chat with Heidy and Hassan. "I thought I saw someone familiar!" when I turned around to see Ernest - aka Sherlock Holmes in the MUN scene. 

After that, it was lunchtime! Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances, most of the food was out, especially the spaghetti is a firm favourite for the children! I managed to get a bite of a pie, rice and some veggies (carrots and broccoli). We were back to the main hall where 'Aliaa was the moderator for Trens in Child Protection - which focused on child marriage and keeping children safe online. 

Everyone was back in the main hall, and summaries of each break-out panel session were presented. The most-anticipated was the lucky draw, the JBL headphones were a crowd favourite! 'Ariff made the closing remarks to mark the end of the showcase. 

After everyone had left, a team photo was taken to mark the special occasion! We went to Mitasu for a Japanese-style buffet celebratory dinner! It's a wrap! Thank you everyone for the support, especially to the UNICEF Malaysia's team and Study Hub Asia - Brian and Richie, not forgetting the Director and Co-Director - Benjamin and 'Ariff! 

I'm a UNICEF Malaysia Young Leader! Follow me and my fellow leaders on our next journey!

For more information, head over to UNICEF Maalysia's official social media accounts to learn more #foreverychild: 

Facebook: UNICEF Malaysia

Instagram: @unicefmalaysia

Threads: @unicefmalaysia

LinkedIn: UNICEF MALAYSIA

X: @myUNICEF

StudyHub Asia 

Official website: https://studyhub.asia/

Facebook: Study Hub Asia 

Instagram: @studyhubasia 

LinkedIn: Study Hub Asia Sdn Bhd

Follow me: https://linktr.ee/katelynchin97 

ECOSOC Youth Forum 2023 (25/4/2023-27/4/2023)

 For the past two years, I attended the ECOSOC Youth Forum as an individual (online), This time is a little bit different, this is my third time and a first as a Young Leader for UNICEF Malaysia! I'm not attending alone, 'Ariff, Ben, Celine, Chloe, Shana and Kuha are among the young people in the delegation. 

Since we need more money to head over to New York in the US to feel the live atmosphere, we are attending the forum online thanks to technology. I didn't stay throughout every session because of the time differences (Malaysia and New York are 12 hours apart). When I first joined the forum, I got sick due to the lack of sleep. I learned my lesson last year and am an expert now this year. I also gave these tips to fellow Young Leaders. 

The networking session is something I was looking forward to but we are attending online and there were a lot of hiccups in between. I was looking forward to the mental health networking room when it was first put up and I didn't know why it went off and was replaced with digital transformation, we managed to tie that up with mental health and everyone was firing away! Phew, that saved it! 

Just like last year's forum, the Regional Parallel Session was always one of the highlights. Malaysia falls under the Asia and Pacific regions. Kicking off the event was Savi, the emcee of the event with opening remarks from our very own Malaysian, Sharifah Noriza. In her opening speech, localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are always a challenge because not all communities can understand the concept of the implementation and the importance of the goals that we are going to achieve in 2030. 

Continuous support and crucial partnership as well as education the main factors to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. For me personally as a person with disabilities (PwD) - inclusion is the key. Let's just face the fact that not all of us can understand the struggles of special needs, it will take time to understand and most importantly the patience to learn at a deeper level. I took two years to look for a job, and now I'm happy with the current one that I'm in now. Inclusion to me being involved at every level will bring our society forward. 

On the third and final day, I only watched an hour of the live stream because two days straight of attending caused me digital fatigue. It was time for me to take a rest from the whole event. 

That's not all, just right a day after the forum, "Ariff, Ben, Kuha and I chatted with Isara of Japan through a Google Meets call to talk about mental health and the challenges we faced as youths in our community. What really impressed us all was that Isara founded Mindfull - a start-up mental health organisation for people in different forms. 

This is not the end but this is the beginning of the journey. I always take a quote from my favourite Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon "You just have to take the first step even before you are ready"! Lastly, thank you UNICEF Malaysia Young Leaders Program for giving me the opportunity! Looking forward to joining future activities! 

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! 

The Star R. AGE: #StandTogether SEA (3/2/2021-5/2/2021)

#StandTogether Kindness Leaders are back! This time we are going bigger than ever! We are heading to the region of Southeast Asia. Yes, we go that right! Southeast Asia how amazing is that? Before we go into more details of the event, allow me to refresh the memory. Launched in 2017, #StandTogether kindness campaign is to encourage students to practice empathy and kindness to combat school bullying - which is a social issue in Malaysia. With its success, national kindness week was declared by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Malaysia that on the first week of April, students will have to practice empathy and kindness in their schools for the whole week. 

Slowly, Malaysians are encouraged to take part in the kindness challenge too. We have a kindness chatbot on WhatsApp and each day we are required to complete the kindness challenge. It's difficult at first, slowly we will feel great about ourselves when complete the challenge by the end of the week. In 2019, I was lucky to attend a Kindness Concert and got to meet our #StandTogether celebrity ambassadors, especially UNICEF Malaysia's national ambassador, Kak Lisa Surihani. 

Last year, the kindness challenge has moved to online. There is a bit of challenge because we are stuck at home most of the time and we are encouraged to send our kindness stories. Throughout the year, kindness workshops were conducted virtually all over Malaysia. Now, we are heading bigger than ever, let's go to the SEA region! 

The first day, kindness leaders from all over Southeast Asia have joined the kindness revolution, including our friends from China. Same as the previous workshops that Malaysians kindness attended, we are broken up into breakout rooms for each section - types of bullying, the storytelling (with action cards) and gratitude notes. At one point, our Bahasa Malaysia was put to the test for the easiness for our Indonesian counterparts. After that, we have a special celebrity appearance from Choi Siwon - singer of the Korean boyband, Super Junior and UNICEF ambassador for the East Asia region. 

The second day, my fellow kindness leaders volunteers are broken up to assist kindness leaders. Oscar and I are assigned to China. Each country has to present the Kindness Workshop blueprint after that. I have three preferences - Malaysia, China and the Philippines. We hope that every kindness leader will bring the workshop back to their home countries and conduct them. For us Malaysians kindness leaders at the conference, we have a WhatsApp group chat - Tadika Mesra (Friendly Kindergarten). 

The third and final day, we have panellist of people ranging from the medical field and law firm on how they see corporal punishment towards a child and how can we break the cycle. During the Q & A session, I ask Dr Goh and Dr Farrah on how to include people with special needs in schools and communities. What we need is the equipment to make the community an inclusive environment. 

My favourite part of the panel discussion is the students' point of view on corporal punishment, it triggered the memory of me being embarrassed in front of the class, especially in primary school. Especially when we are in a Malaysian Chinese primary school, the possibility of being caned in front of the class is super high. 

Next, we are broken into groups and it's back to our host countries. Each question is given 5 to 10 minutes of discussion on what is the ideal relationship between a student and a teacher. We think our positions as teachers and students at the same time, how should we practice kindness and empathy in both positions. We are back to the main room when the discussion is done. Ismail Izzani - youth advocate for UNICEF Malaysia makes an appearance with a special performance. 

To end the conference on a sweet note, the #StandTogether team and their partners recorded a congratulatory video to encourage kindness leaders that this is the beginning of the kindness journey and hope to bring it back to our respective countries. Three days of kindness leaders conference has come to an end. 

Thank you to the R. AGE team and to my fellow kindness leaders we will meet again! 

The Star R. AGE Zoom Party with UNICEF Malaysia (14/12/2020)

 The final Zoom party of the year with #StandTogether kindness campaign by R. AGE is here! After a week meeting Selangor royalty - Tengku Zatasah, the princess of Selangor and Arwind Kumar, it's the moment that everyone is waiting for meeting the people from UNICEF Malaysia! I'm on my way up from Melaka to Selangor for a short stay, and it's a bumpy ride. "Katelyn, I hope you are not driving," Ian is concerned about my safety, "I'm fine, I'm in the backseat of the car for now," I say. 

Dr Rashed - the representative for UNICEF Malaysia, alongside our national ambassador Kak Lisa Surihani and youth advocate Ismail Izzani are on board the party! I'm really star-struck to see Dr Rashed virtually, hopefully, to see him physically in person. What does it take for us to be a kindness leader in big organisations such as UNICEF, Dr Rashed says: "Your kindness and empathy have to empower others," which is true! If we don't take that first step of kindness and empathy, how are we gonna empower the people around us? 

I have reached my destination, still attending the Zoom party in the car. As it was mentioned earlier, a bumpy ride along the way, it's hard for me to type the questions out. Luckily, during the second half of the party time, manage to settle down with a proper table and chair. I wanted to ask the questions, unfortunately, it's the end of the party. It's okay, at least got to meet the three important people from UNICEF Malaysia. 

"I hope Katelyn is fine because she was in the car all the way," says Kak Lisa before leaving the call, I told her that I'm on a short cuti-cuti Malaysia with my parents and younger sibling for a week in Selangor. "Oh, that's good!" she says. We did ask the R. AGE team on how to get into UNICEF Malaysia's initiatives. "Joining the kindness campaign is part of UNICEF Malaysia's work because they are collaborating with us," says Ian. 

Thank you R. AGE team for the final party of the year! I'm going to continue to spread kindness and empathy around me. Hope there is a physical event next year! Kindness leaders, remember to always have courage and be kind. 

Star R. AGE: Empathy Journalism (18/6/2020)

Empathy- what does it mean to you? Empathy is showing kindness to others, put ourselves in their shoes and think if I were them, how would I feel? What is the feeling? Empathy can be in any form, but have you ever wonder that empathy and journalism work together? I thought about it: How can we apply empathy when we are writing a story for the newspaper? Well, stick around to find out! There are five key elements when we combine empathy and journalism. 

First and foremost, read a fiction book or novel. Yes, reading takes us to a place of wonders as we immerse ourselves into the story plot but have we wonder that reading will help us to develop empathy? What if the characters in the story, find something difficult to break the code? If we were the characters in the book, how do we feel? That's when empathy comes in. 

Secondly, active listening. When we are in conversations, we are often being talked over or cut off in mid-sentence. Try this way: Listen carefully to the person who is talking, we'll find somehow that he or she is going through a tough time. Always be attentive, don't be distracted, not talking about yourself and most importantly, please don't stare at the phone! We are all on our phones every now and then, if we are willing to put down our phones and pay full attention, empathy comes in. 

Thirdly, be curious. There is a saying goes "curiosity kills the cat". In this case for empathy, don't be afraid. Just because we are different in our own way, that doesn't mean we have to hide in a corner from getting us into trouble right? We can show empathy by writing a story on a person based on their story in their perspectives and point of view. 

Fourthly, identify biases. Let's be honest, that bias is human nature. Showing empathy is not about taking sides. How do we reduce biases? By identifying and reducing them actively. 

Last but not least is practice kindness! Be there and comfort them. The simple way is sitting beside without saying a word, our presence will give the person some comfort. Personally, this is my favourite key element. 

There you go, the five key elements of showing empathy. A little game for the Zoom participants. When one of the questions pops up "I am the oldest child in the family," that gets me excited, cause being the oldest, we are looked up by the younger siblings. We have a short sharing session on showing empathy to others and others have shown empathy to us.  

Before the seminar ends, we have an "assignment" which we need to complete by next week. It's based on the key elements that we have learned today. I'm sure the tasks can be done in no time! I'm looking forward to the next event. 

Have courage and be kind. Stand Together!

The Star Rage Stand Together Kindness Concert 2019 (4/5/19)

Bullying is a serious issue in today's Malaysian society. According to UNICEF Malaysia, 80% of children experience bullying in school. In the past, when we reported a bullying case in schools or anywhere, most of us will just shrugged it off and tell the victim "it will get over it". No, it will not get over it! It will leave a psychological impact on a person's life. How many of us will stand up to say "Hey, it's okay! I got you! If you need someone, you will always have me,"?

In late 2017, The Star Rage collaborated with SP Setia, RHB, and UNICEF Malaysia to come with a campaign that fight against school violence. With that, #StandTogether was born!  The campaign is to spread kindness in Malaysian schools. Students and teachers in the country are encouraged to take part, on how they can create a kinder school environment. The top ten schools will be nominated with the best kindest projects, and they will be rewarded with Malaysian celebrities coming to their schools to know more about their projects. Two of the best schools will be rewarded with the title of "Malaysia's Kindest Schools" in the primary school and secondary school category respectively.

Running for the second consecutive year, the campaign has now urge the public to join in the campaign by giving a five-day challenge. After completing each challenge, you will receive a message that says you have completed the challenge and moving on till the next one on the following day. I took up the challenge throughout the first week of April, it felt so good after completing each challenge. The last challenge was quite tough- doing five random acts of kindness, but I managed to complete them all.

What's more? #StandTogether having its first Kindness Concert! How cool is that! The day of the concert has arrived, I'm super excited because this is my first concert of the year! After my daddy drops my mum and me off, we go to the counter to retrieve our VIP tickets which I had registered earlier after completing the last kindness challenge.

The meet and greet area is packed with Malaysian celebrities and influencers like JinnyBoy, Lisa Surihani, rising stars Ismail Izzani and Nik Qistina just to name a few. I'm not allowed to go in to the meet and greet area at first because it is only for the nominated schools for having the best kindest projects. My mummy brings me to a side so that I can have a glimpse of my favourite stars. One of the crews asks me: "Who do you want to take a photo with?" I say "JinnyBoy!" they let me through the red line. Jin regcornised me! I give him a big hug. I tell him that I'm a big fan of Mamak Sessions and hope to be on the show one day.

My goal has achieved when I meet the national ambassador for UNICEF Malaysia- Lisa Surihani! It's been my dream to meet a UNICEF ambassador. "I wanna be a UNICEF ambassador just like you, Kak Lisa," I say, Kak Lisa says "I'm so happy that you are so passionate to be a part of the UNICEF family. You know what, you are a UNICEF ambassador in your way," Well, maybe I am because I wanna be the ambassador for UNICEF Malaysia.

After having a chat with Kak Lisa, I walk up to Arwind Kumar. "I remember you! How are you? I haven't seen you for a long time!" he says. "I'm good! I thought you have forgotten me," I say, "No, how could I?" he says. As I'm going out of the meet and greet area, I bump into rising stars Ismail Izzani and Nik Qistina. Before heading to the concert, why not a cup of ice cream from Inside Scoop?

The doors are opened and the audience starts to fill up the hall. I also have a brief starstruck moment with Malaysia's celebrity chef- Chef Wan. The countdown of the concert begins, with the remaining 10 seconds, the audience countdown together. #StandTogether Kindness concert has begun! It starts with video footages of violence that is happening around the world.  With #StandTogether campaign coming in, we can create a kinder Malaysian society. The first performance starts up with Ismail Izzani, singing his very single Sabar (patience in Malay) and a cover of Ed Sheeran's Perfect.

The other performances follow by Nik Qistina and the world's funniest man- Harith Iskander! The top 10 schools are invited to come to the stage to tell the audience about their kindness projects. There are several rewards are given out such as "The Kindest Student", "The Kindest Teacher" and "The Kindest Principal" and a surprise award of "The Kindest School Staff". We have performances from Rabbit Mac too, as well as The Venopian Solitude, they incorporate with a bit of folk music.

At the end of the event, the kindest schools in Malaysia title go to SK Taman Maluri and SMK Chung Hwa (CF) Miri in the primary school and secondary school respectively. The last performance of the night is Kyoto Protocol, and they are joined by Manbai to end the concert on a high note. But wait, there's more! Another meet and greet session! This time is with the singers and actors. I have a brief interview with the emcee before meeting the stars.

I have a brief chat with Qistina, Kyoto Protocol and the Sharifah sisters- Amani along side, Aryana. Amani asks me about the course I'm studying and which year I'm in university right now. "I'm in my final year, studying communication," I say. She also asks me about my ambitions, so far I'm not sure about just yet. I still have time to decide.

Spreading kindness through music is the best way to bring people together to fight violence. I think music is a powerful tool to spread positive messages. I think at one point in our school life, we will experience bullying and discrimination from our school mates.From my personal experienced I had been throughout my schooling life. In primary school, I was one of the English education students in class, most of my classmates teased me of not knowing my mother tongue which is Mandarin.

As being only student with special needs in class, the discrimination doesn't stop in school. I still face discrimination at tertiary education as well but on the bright side, I have met amazing friends who stand by me at all times. I'm enjoying my university life! I think Kindness Week should not just be limited in primary and secondary schools, it can be held at tertiary institutions as well.

Have courage and be kind. When there is kindness, there is goodness; when there is magic- Cinderella (2015). Let's stand together to fight violence, replacing them with kindness. Kindness always starts with a word. I'm hoping to be a Kindness ambassador in the next Stand Together campaign. Kindness starts with a word.

ReForm MUN 2019 (1/3/19-3/3/19)

After taking a break from the MUN scene for half a year, it's time for Katelyn to make a come back. It's time to reform at ReForm MUN 2019! Forth in total and first MUN in 2019. I'm representing China and Switzerland in the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Representing two countries at once it's not easy compare to the usual one which is one country for two topics.

Paying tribute to the two countries I'm representing, I guess the colour red is the choice. Oh, here's a tip for the first-timers: Always pay tribute to the country you are representing. Be it the colour of the flag or the national flower or even bring a stuff animal that represents the country (I've seen it once in my very first MUN), it shows that we have the respect for that country.

After my parents drop me off at Dwi Emas International School, I make the way to the hall for the opening ceremony. The ceremony kicks off with introduction of the councils and messages from World Vision representative, Ms. Denise Ng and our Secretary Generals as well as from Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia. With that, it's time to reform!

Delegates make their way to their respective councils. The UNICEF council is a little far, it takes awhile to get there as this is my first time in the international school. UNICEF council starts with introduction of members and a brief explanation on how Model United Nations (MUN) works as a whole.

Since a delegate is representing two countries, we have to decide on a topic that delegates are debating for the next two days or so. At first, most of them want to do topic 2 which is child poverty. After re-vote, most of us choose the first topic on mental health- a cause I'm passionate in. Due to time constraints, our lobbying session which lasts about 15 minutes.

Day 2 continues with delegates arriving and continue to the topic which they left off on the first day. I had a hard time looking for my council as they shifted the room, luckily one of the admins are there to help me out. As the main submitter of the first topic, we work on the opening speech but we have a little trouble on the solution, we have to forgo ours and pass it on to the next group of submitter.

In the third council session, our topic is switched to the second topic which focuses on child poverty. Yet, our roles are changed to another country. Mine is switched from China to Switzerland. This time the whole council work together on a resolution.

I have a hard time in searching as we need to link back to our countries' policies, turns out it's harder than I thought. I'm in stress mode for that moment. I think this is the most stress topic we have done researched on, as compare to the the previous MUN conferences which I had attended. It's okay, this is where the learning process comes in.

After all that debating, it's time for delegate to let their hair down at social night or also known as socials. It's the best part of every MUN. My favorite part is definitely the performances! I'm back at centre stage again! The feeling is so good! Some of the committees have really awesome dance moves! I find it very cute!

The third and last day, we are back on the first topic which is on children's mental health. I tried to submit an amendment but it didn't turn out well. At least I tried, I'm sure I'll get a hang of it in my next MUN.  We have a karaoke session, a game of kahoot of guessing the flags of each county. At 1.00pm, we head to the main hall for the closing ceremony. Jia Fu and Soo Jin once again take the stage as emcees to host the ceremony.

A slide show of the three-day is shown on the screen and also upcoming MUNs in the next coming weeks and in early April. Awards are given out during the ceremony, and certificates are given in council earlier. One of the goal councils is tick off from the list! I'm honoured to represent the SUNMUN team in my first ever MUN in 2019. I'm looking forward to the next MUN.

I'm hoping to be the ambassador for UNICEF Malaysia because I love helping children wh looking forward to the next MUN. o are going through the same journey as me, of course mental health and education are in the list too! I'm hoping to bring the voices of Malaysian children in the real UN one day because this is what I fight for.