UNAM Youth Assembly Conferece: iGem Mini Youth MUN 2020 (21/10/2020-22/10/2020)

 After one and a half months of hiatus, it's time to head back to the Youth Assembly organised by United Nations Association Malaysia, also known as UNAM youth. I was browsing through my Instagram account and it popped out of nowhere that there was another UNAM Youth Assembly, this time to include sustainability education into the Malaysian education system. I was filling up the form, I didn't realise it was two days from the conference. It was a last-minute sign-up. 

How am I going to prepare a position paper in two days, I thought. Usually, position papers in normal MUN conferences, we would take weeks to get it done and hand them to our respective chairs. I quickly messaged Tuck and Ernest - they are the chairs for the conferences, on submitting the position papers, and to my relief, we didn't need to hand in one because it was a mini-conference.

On the day of the conference, it's really a mini one, with only three delegates - Rueben, Roshen and me. For everyone's benefit, we went through the rules of procedures on how the youth assembly would run. In this case, we were representing ourselves as youths, how are we going to convince the "big people" to implement sustainability education into the Malaysian education system. It was firing in the beginning, until the end, we were starting to slow down as we were running out of topic during the General Speakers List (GSL). Our chair, Tuck, gave us the remaining hours of the council to write a resolution. 

The second day, things got a little better because we have our second chair, Ernest, also known as Sherlock, came in as a delegate, alongside Sarah, that did spice up the council for a while. When Tuck asked about delegate to put in the GSL, I decided to step back and let the newcomers - Rueben and Roshen to hop on. We did have a little "controversial topic" in council which really got us into full debate mode, but the rest of the session was really chill. This is the most chill youth assembly I have been to yet compared to the first one on the status of Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia which was a little intense. 

Finally, we got into voting on the draft resolution as a whole. Roshen and I spoke for it while Ernest and Sandra spoke against. In the end, we passed the resolution! I amended a couple of clauses in the draft resolution, which was a first. Usually, I would just comment on the resolution. I did send an amendment once but it failed. Throughout this two-day conference, I learned a lot on climate change and environmental sustainability. I have to admit that I'm not an outdoor person to appreciate Mother Nature, hopefully, after the pandemic is over, we could go out to feel the grass and dirt like how we used to and plan a new seed to brand new dawn. 

 I'm happy to be back on board to help out newcomers. Thank you, Ernest (Sherlock) and Tuck for guiding us, looking forward to the next youth assembly. 

iGem Mini Youth MUN 2020

The Surprise Comeback: UNAM Youth Assembly Conference (13/6/2020-14/6/2020)

On 8 September 2019, I marked my final journey in the Model United Nations (MUN) scene and went into "retirement" to focus on my university studies. The first question you might ask "Are you completely cut off from the Malaysian UN scene?" My answer was no, I would be involved in UN-related activities but coming back to the scene, it was a mystery. 

Due to the coronavirus, the mass gatherings are strictly a no-no, everything is taken online. Delegates, may I present to you the Youth Assembly Conference (YCA) organised by United Nations Association Malaysia (UNAM) Youth! A week before the event, we had a pre-conference online workshop. Fresh out of retirement after nine months, some of the details need to be refreshed especially on the consultation of the whole. 

The day of the conference has come, I log on to the Discord app to attend the very first virtual MUN of the year. We have a keynote opening speech, from the UNAM Youth president, Rehan. Delegates have to "move" to "meeting room 1" for the conference. In the physical MUN, we are usually assigned to a country that we are representing, make an opening speech and state on the country's policies, what can delegates hope for the outcome at the end of the conference. 

  Similarly to physical MUN, but this time we are representing ourselves as Malaysia's youths on how can we help the Rohingya refugees despite facing the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on issues such as education, work permits, healthcare etc. I work alongside newcomers on the MUN scene, and some of them ask me what advice I could give to newcomers? I don't have much to give but all I could say is observe and listen to what other delegates might present during the debate, if we have a strong point, fight it back diplomatically. 

At the end of the first day, we created a group to discuss further on the topic. The second and final day, we spent an hour on how to make our points stronger. The debate is firing up with more passion as compared to the first day. I bring up a motion on "Xenophobic behaviour towards refugees in Malaysia" but it failed. Never mind, we have other topics to discuss on. We "failed" the model resolution. 

UNAM Youth is honoured to invite to Mr John and Mr Islam on their views on the Rohingya refugees, as well as from our UNAM Youth president himself, Rehan. We end the day by playing a game on Jackbox TV, but I preferred Kahoot! Although this virtual MUN is amazing, I'm hoping to come back to the physical Model United Nations anytime soon when this pandemic is over. 

This is Kar Marn, delegate of Youth Assembly, signing off!