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! 

Comfort MUN 2020 (11/7/2020-12/7/2020)

After the first virtual international Model United Nations (MUN) at Momentum MUN, it's time to get comfortable for Comfort MUN 2020! What's more, I'm in the UNICEF council again, this time representing the Republic of Korea (ROK) with the topic on "Combatting Child Trafficking". I'm surprised at the statistics when I did my research on the country I'm delegating. 

As with the previous international MUN, the conference takes place in the comfort of our homes. A day before the council, my fellow delegates are really spicing up the topic. I want to talk more in the group chat but I'll save for the debate later on. 

I wanted to raise my topic on combatting child sex tourism, unfortunately, the other delegates are debating their topics instead so I might save it later. During the unmoderated caucus, I didn't have the chance to speak but the delegate of the United Kingdom is kind enough to notify since I was in line for so long. We have delegate social, where delegates from Comfort MUN get to know each other. We played a game of "matchmaking" which is another version of "Who'd You Rather?". 

I didn't join the midnight crisis as "energy" need to be restored, so I use the time to discuss the draft resolution with my fellow delegates. The second day of the council is firing up, which kind of made me wonder are we in a crisis council or a child-friendly council who we gather to fight for every child? To wrap things up, we want to merge our draft solutions as one but it didn't work out. In the end, the draft resolution that I worked with my fellow delegates failed, the other bloc passes.  

During the closing ceremony, we have a special guest, Mr Noah from the United Nations Associaton of Kenya. This time no award for me but being able to represent Malaysia at my second international MUN is the biggest honour of all! 

An award or not, it doesn't matter but the best award is that I get to play my role as a UNICEF ambassador in the council. I will continue to fight for every child. This is Kar Marn representing South Korea from UNICEF, signing off! 

International MUN: Momentum MUN 2020 (24/6/2020-25/6/2020)

After being in the Malaysian MUN for quite some time, I decided to shift my delegation at an international MUN - can you keep up with the momentum at Momentum MUN? For everyone who is representing our country, we have a duty to put the name of our country on the map at international events. As this is my first time representing Malaysia, the duty is on me. This marked my 10th conference in my MUN career - a special milestone.

The sign up for Momentum MUN was last-minute, I didn't have enough time to prepare the topic for my council- ECOSOC, delegating as Argentina. In my mind, the main goal was to make Malaysia proud and fly the flag and go with the flow along the way. After I came back from university online class, I head to google meet to have a chat with fellow delegates from the Philippines, India and the host - Indonesia. Delegates were asked to log on to Zoom to have a small ice-breaking session before heading to serious business. 

Usually, after my speech, if I have extra time, I will yield my time back to the chair; also another reason is I don't want to get tongue-tied in council. But the chairs insisted, I should take a POI (Point of Information), although I was reluctant, I couldn't let Malaysia down as I was the sole bearer in the council. Keeping calm, I took the question from the delegate of South Africa. I left an hour early on the first day but my fellow delegates kept me up with the latest development on the draft resolution. 

On the second day, the delegates decided to form a big bloc since we all shared the same views. At one point, the delegate of Germany got a little emotional on his speech. The good news was we passed our resolution! Since we were an hour away from the virtual closing ceremony, we had an entertainment session. 

There was a confession page for our council, the chairs read out our confession. when my message was read, there was a little misunderstanding of the language as Malaysia and Indonesia share almost the same national language which is Bahasa Melayu. The delegate of South Africa graced with an amazing singing voice! The delegate of Japan set up a Skribble game, our drawing was put to the test. Not an artistic person myself, honestly. 

I didn't go to the virtual closing ceremony, as I had a university event to attend so I gotta prepared for that. I received the news that I got a verbal mention, making the country proud! Nonetheless, I'm proud to represent Malaysia at Momentum MUN and hope to represent the country at future international MUN, bringing the Malaysia Boleh spirit.  

A big thank you to the Momentum MUN team!