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. 

The Star R. AGE Stand Together Zoom Party with Arwind Kumar and Tengku Zatasah (7/12/2020)

 After meeting national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman at my first Zoom party. This time it's with Tengku Zatasah Idris - the Princess of Selangor and Arwind Kumar, better known as Mak Cik Roastmah. Logging into the Zoom party, kindness leaders are taking their places to wait for the party to start. To get in the Christmas season, a red hairband is a perfect accessory to get into the festive season. 

When Ian announces the arrival of our first guest - Tengku Zatasah, the kindness leaders are so star struck. It's every girl's dream to meet a real-life princess! Arwind hops on after that and without further ado, let the party begin! As with my first zoom party, a simple breathing exercise is conducted for everyone to relax. 

The real fun is playing one of my favourite games is Would You Rather? One part of the question is would you rather seek advice from our friends or parents? This is a tough question. I choose neither because I would always go to my grandparents whenever I needed advice. I would go to my friends, especially my seniors in high school and university, and my peers who would understand the challenges that I'm going through. As for the past and future self, I choose my past because I would tell the Katelyn in the past to not do this and would regret for the rest of her life. If I could, I would tell my three-year-old self is to not let my parents to not proceed with the physiotherapy therapy treatment, it was a nightmare for a couple of years. 

Tengku Zatasah shares about her experience while she was studying in the UK, it was a painful experience. It reminds me of the times in high school where I would be left behind during PJ (physical education) in class due to my Cerebral Palsy because the teacher would give me the reason that they didn't want to be responsible if anything happens to me. Can we just include all students no matter they are disabled or not? We need more empathy and kindness, be more inclusive. 

Arwind also shares his experiences on how did the MCR impersonation come up, it did receive a lot of backlashes but slowly people are accepting as it progresses, some might not. Not all people can accept when we want to come up with something. During my first year in university, I wanted to raise awareness of mental health among my course mates but I ended up in the wrong place. Luckily, I have Model United Nations (MUN) acts as a platform to voice out the causes I'm championing. 

During the Q & A session, I ask Tengku Zatasah and Arwind how they use their popularity to spread kindness and empathy around them? They said we don't need a title or being popular to spread kindness and empathy, we could do it by starting from ourselves, people will tend to follow after that if we take that baby step. A group photo is taken at the end of the party. Thank you #StandTogether team for organising and can't wait for the next and final #StandTogether Zoom party. 

What would you do to spread kindness and empathy around you? 

#StandTogether Zoom Party with Tengku Zatasah and Arwind Kumar

SUNMUN 2020 (27/11/2020-29/11/2020)

SUNMUN 2020 is back! Online that is, it was supposed to be held in July. Due to the current pandemic that the world is facing right now, the conference is shifted online as with previous MUN conferences I had attended. I was supposed to be placed in the Dewan Rakyat - which is one of my favourite councils but due to low participation of delegates, the council is called off. I look for other councils in the list, I decide to try out the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for short. Please, do not be confused with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 

We have an ice-breaking session and later Elisa, our co-chair explains the procedure of MUN in general for the newcomers to be familiar with, we don't want to have any culture shocks. I remembered during my very first MUN in 2018 at Malaysia National Model United Nations (MUN), I have to find my way during the three-day conferences. No guidance at all, but slowly was working the way during my second conference which was SUNMUN 2018. 

The debate begins on the second day with opening speeches and discussing on the topic in hand. I have a chat with Elisa, the co-chair of the council during the break to catch up we have been up to these days. The delegate of Canada decides to team up with delegates of Malaysia, New Zealand, Ireland for a bloc on drafting a working paper that would be presented later for a draft resolution. As I'm in a meeting for an upcoming SunFM podcast, the delegate of Canada and Ireland message me, and I didn't know what is going on. It's a bit of drama but it is all in good terms. If this was in a physical MUN, the drama would be even intense. 

 On the third and final day of the conference, I didn't join the first half of the conference as I'm on my weekly Sunday class. By the time I come back, the resolution is passed and we end a session early. While waiting for the online closing ceremony, the delegates mingle around and drop our respective social media handles in the chatbox for us to keep in touch. Although, no award for me on home grounds, this a way to close the final online MUN conference in 2020. Hopefully, next year in 2021, a physical MUN conference.  

The Star R. AGE Kindness Workshop (3/11/2020)

After a Zoom party with national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman, it's time to head over for a kindness workshop and there is a special guest appearance, who is it? Let you know in a bit. It's back to the #StandTogether Kindness Workshop! Unfortunately, my computer is not kind to me today because the camera is not working but luckily my iPad is there as a backup. 

We are asked to take four pieces of A4 papers which will be used for each segment of the workshop. The first segment is drawing ourselves, the challenge is we have to use our non-dominant hand, dominant hand and one part with our eyes closed while drawing ourselves. I didn't do well with my eyes closed while drawing. Next, we are broken into groups to breakout rooms. My first group is a bit quiet because none of us spoke up, I have to be the first one to initiate the conversation, it lasted for five minutes, it's really short. 

We are back to the main room again for another activity. I participated in this game before at the Zoom party. We are given a statement while the cameras are turned off, and turn on if that statement describes us. Again, we are broken out into another breakout room to discuss the forms of bullying and which form of bullying is the most common of all. My teammates Emily, Khadijah and Mellisa agree that cyberbullying is the most common of all because we can get behind the computer to type out anything, but please don't, use it to spread kindness. 

Next, we take a third A4 paper and tear it half. One is to draw which represents "Me Also" meaning "I have been through this before", the other paper is a heart shape which represents "Love La!" meaning "You are brave" and other empathy words within. It's like social media "likes". We use it for the Storytelling and Gratitude segments. By the time we head back to the main room, Chole is telling how much she enjoys the Kindness Workshop, everyone's hearts just melted in an instant. The innocence of a child teaches us so much about empathy and kindness.  

Remember I told you about the special guest appearance? He's a #StandTogether ambassador and UNICEF Malaysia's youth ambassador, can you guess who is it! Yes! The one and only Ismail Izzani! He shared his experiences about kindness in his life, especially his English teacher, Teacher Gina, who constantly believed in him. That reminded me of some of my teachers in high school as well. 

There is a Q & A session from the kindness advocates. Being a singer, Ismail sang a few lines of Bidadari (Angel) for us. At the end of the workshop, a group photo is taken and that wraps up the English version of the kindness workshop. Now, I'm officially a kindness advocate! Thank you #StandTogether team for organising the workshop and made some amazing friends too! 

Have courage and be kind. 

The Star Rage Stand Together Zoom Party (27/10/2020)

#StandTogether Kindness Leader zoom party with Malaysia national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman 

The #StandTogether campaign organised by Star R. AGE is back for its third consecutive year. Traditionally, it was supposed to be held in the first week of April as with previous years, it also is known as national kindness week. But then the covid-19 pandemic came and everything was put on hold.

During the first week of April, we did ask to send in some photos to share some of our kindness stories during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. I did send a picture of my grandma holding an iPad reading The Star online mobile app because at that time our newspaper delivery person told us no newspapers will be sent to us for eight days, for her to keep up with the news I have to teach her on how to use the mobile app of The Star. 

Five months later, #StandTogether is back on full swing! This time is conducted virtually. As always, we were given a challenge each day to perform an act of kindness. The first day was easy - being kind to ourselves, and the second day was showing gratitude to our family and friends. 

The third day, it got a little tricky because it was supporting a local business. I thought of the pau shop that my aunt always goes to buy my favourite char siew pau and lau sar pau. The fourth day is being kind to our frontline heroes! I have friends who are working as front liners, I dropped them a message to say thank you for keeping us safe amid the pandemic. The last day is giving a compliment to someone by spreading kindness online. 

That's not all! They have a series of virtual workshops for students and teachers to join in the kindness revolution across Malaysia. There is a Google classroom too for students to take part in, unfortunately, I'm over the age limit, but it's okay, more kindness events are on the way one of them is a Zoom party. Today's Zoom party we are honoured to invite our national athletes - gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman. 

I was star struck when I see Farah Ann on the computer screen because she is my hero. I met her once on campus three years ago when we had a homecoming ceremony for the students and alumni of Sunway University College, who represented the country at the SEA Games in 2017. Both ladies share the experiences they faced in schools and in the sports world, especially when it comes to online, there is so much negativity and how they overcome it with kindness and empathy. 

Kindness and empathy - are the two traits, which most of us find them to difficult to put into practice in our daily lives. It's all about taking a huge step with courage. As a Kindness Leader, I hope that we could create a kinder society in Malaysia to see the goodness and magic. Like I always use this as my life quote: Have courage and be kind. Looking forward to the next kindness revolution. 

If you want to know more about the Kindness Revolution, click on the links below to find out how we can be a Kindness Leader: 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/StandTogetherMY/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/standtogethermy/

 

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

World Mental Health Day 2020 (10/10/2020)

 Hi, it's been a while since the last post was written. How are you guys feeling? I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during the pandemic. 

I'm going to talk about a passion that I have been championing which is mental health. Now, the first question is: Who inspired me to be passionate about mental health? They are Britain's TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - Prince William and Kate Middleton, they and the Duke of Sussex - Prince Harry set up a mental health campaign called Heads Together. The Duchess of Cambridge is the brainchild of the campaign. 

My curiosity on mental health was during my freshmen year in college when I heard a couple of suicidal attempts. It was a "culture shock" for me. I didn't bother about that much on mental health. A year later, I was browsing through the online HELLO! magazine, a headline caught my attention on The Duke and Duchess Cambridge and Prince Harry started the Heads Together campaign, I clicked on to the article to read about the new project, that made me learn about more about mental health. 

In 2017, my passion for mental health started to grow. I realised that raising awareness is to pick the right place to speak about and who we are talking to. My university course mates thought I was having a mental health issue that I ended up at the Head of Department's office for questioning. I still remembered it was a week before the final examination of the very first semester in university. I was thinking "Oh gosh, what did I do wrong?" In the end, I decided to put that behind me and continue to champion the cause of mental health on my own. 

2018 was an important year for me because it was the year I turned 21 - the road to adulthood. I promised myself to champion mental health before that big milestone in November. If I want to voice out, where should I go? Model United Nations (MUN) came into mind and off I went! I was happy that I have a voice out my passion for mental health. Thanks to that, I could speak openly without anyone's judgements. 

Looking back now, I'm still going to champion mental health, especially in children because it is important to start them young on the importance on mental health, how could we identify the symptoms of any mental health problems. It's okay to say! If I can normalise mental health, you can too! Let's break the stigma of mental health once and for all!