University Nottingham Malaysia Campus MUN 2021: Champions Cup (19/6/2021-20/6/2021 & 25/6/2021-27/6/2021)

 I thought I would hit the 20th MUN conference milestone at Champions Cup 2021 but NightMUN weekend took over the spot, it's okay! First day Champions Cup is quite relaxed, we have games such as the Scavenger Hunt, Sports Tournament and Spy Game. Due to special needs, I only managed to join two out of the three games. I think the Scavenger Hunt is a favourite in my list. Although, I didn't join the Sports Tournament, I heard some of the delegates didn't end up well after that. Ouch, that's harsh! Guess we all need to pump all that muscles despite being in full MCO. 

On the second day, let the brain power begin! I'm in the ECOSOC council once more, delegating as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We have two topics to discuss on:

1. Regulation of Cryptocurrency 
2. Finance and Development of Sustainable Energy in Developing Countries 

As always before formal debate, we are given the primary speakers list for delegates in this council to set which topic we are going to debate on. Although, my personal preference is Topic B, everyone is on Topic A. We still have time for the second topic, if we managed to get the first topic done. For the third session of the conference, it's not debate but the team invited a guest speaker from UNMC - Dr. Andrew Silva to share his experience working in the UN. I did ask a lot of questions, especially on how to get youths to talk about mental health. 

Unfortunately, I didn't stay long because I have a Sunday class to attend. After the a long day of debating, it's time to kick back relax and go on a (virtual) holiday with Global Village. I think out of the three presentations, I love the Kenyan delegation, which really take us on a virtual holiday. We all miss travelling! Hopefully, after the pandemic, we can travel like we used to. 

To make our council interesting and stimulate our brains, Eiman has this idea of making our council into a crisis council but it's the ECOSOC version. I have to admit that crisis is not my best form in MUN conferences but it is worth a shot. At one point, Eiman played as the fictional prince in our council and Angus acts as a advisory to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

The draft resolution  has some acronyms that we would use in daily conversations but personally, I wouldn't recommend to put them, really. Here's a tip please use proper acronyms when writing draft resolutions. Again, I'm off to Sunday class. By the time I came back, I heard the delegate of France commits a fictional murder, which this delegate would not accept at all! She is one revengeful delegate in character! Please do not commit any of the actions above. Diplomacy and peace are the keys in a council, unless we wanna have conspiracy, please, go to a crisis council - where we can fictionally plot any plans. 

We headed to the crisis council- which has some intense discussion, it is, because we know crisis! How I wish they could play the running away music background as what we did in NightMUN weekend council.  I'm hopping on and off the channel to listen the discussion they have in council. 

I can say Champions Cup 2021 is not our traditional MUN. Although, there is some confusion in between prior to the conference, overall the team has done an amazing job to make this first ever virtual Champions Cup a success! Kudos to Yun Ni (Winnie) and team! Not forgetting my fellow delegates in the ECOSOC council and to our honourable chair and co-chair, Eiman and Jesse! 

This is Kar Marn, delegate of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from ECOSOC, signing off! 

Sunway Virtual Intercultural Project: Reitaku University Japan (24/6/2021)

 After an experience with the students from Petra Christian University Indonesia last month, now it's time to "pack" and "fly" to the land of the rising sun with the students of Reitaku University Japan. Okay, I'm not an up riser, but I have to. Luckily, I'm a morning person - which is a good thing. After breakfast, it's time to turn up the computer, log into the Zoom room and let's go to Japan (virtually).

Ms Joey - the coordinator for today's virtual intercultural project. First off we start off by welcoming the students to Malaysia (virtually) since we are the host for this project. I'm impressed with Ms Joey's Jaapnese skills. We showed the students of Reitaku University why Sunway campus is the #MostHappeningCampus, and in turn, they show theirs. 

We are broken up into breakout rooms for the Malaysian and Japanese students to meet. First off, the Japanese students show us a dessert - kakigoori, which is eaten during the summer - which is right about now but Malaysia is summer all-year-round, a tropical country. Marie and I ask the questions to the students whether we go by bike or by train. 

The best way to get to the kakigoori restaurant is by train - a station away with walking distance. It's similar to the one we have in Malaysia - ais kacang batu campur or ABC for short. Marie and I show the students the places in Malaysia. A five-minute break for us to take some time off, we are supposed to stay in the breakout room but I exit the breakout room a few times. We continued with the food in Malaysia and Japan. 

We head back to the main room to share our insights during the interactive session with our new friends. I really love it! It really brings me back to my trip to Japan with my family seven years ago. Hopefully, when the pandemic is over, we can travel again. 

Thank you to everyone who joins the event! Hope to see you at the next one! Please keep in touch! 

UNofficial MUN: NightMUN 2021 (5/6/2021-6/6/2021)

 I was in a middle of a MUN break after a hectic month of April of attending MUN conferences back to back. I was relaxing as always, then, Angus - the secretariat of NightMUN asked me to join in. The thing was just left a couple of days before the mini conference. The reason he gave was "They needed someone who is experienced to guide them in conference - an older sibling to look after them, to show them the ropes on how MUN is done," 

Prior to the conference, I did have a sneak peek of the list of who were in the conference. Veterans like Lim Ke Wen and our famous and friendly MUN detective "Sherlock Holmes" also known as Ernest, they have done more MUN conferences than I have before stepping into the scene in 2018. I was sure, they didn't need me to be there. I couldn't stand the bugging anymore, signed up at the last minute. My role was assigned as MP of Taman Setapak (it's a make believe constitution, imagine we are in the future year of 2053). 

In the beginning of the council, I was doing just fine - giving speeches in the general speakers list (GSL) and raising Points of Information (POI). True enough, I got shot by the new delegates on board and thought to myself: "Am I really in the right council?"

 Some of the delegates thought I was stealing the spotlight by flexing my experiences in MUN. Well, if we wanna to show the new comers on board on how a MUN conference is done, we have other experienced MUNers in the council right? I can just sit back and watch the drama and listen to the debate - which I eventually did, during the second day of council, most of the time. 

Okay, we had to admit the running away music scene it's pretty cool of a fictional crime, which it was because we were in a crisis council with a form of Dewan Rakyat. To new budding MUNers, crisis council might not be the best choice, but if you're adventurous and taking the first step, good for you! 

Kudos to Angus and team on the first ever NightMUN weekend conference! Keep it up! 

This is Kar Marn, MP of Taman Setapak, signing off! 

Sunway Virtual Intercultural Programme: Petra Christian University Indonesia (29/5/2021-31/5/2021)

It’s been almost a week since I officially graduated from university (virtually). As I adjusted to my new status as a Sunway alum, it’s time to give back to the alma mater by being one of the student helpers, well, alum helper for me, to host the students from Petra Christian University (PCU) Indonesia. 

Before the big day, we had a briefing on how to attend to the students. Some of us were concerned of language barrier but we were assured that English will be used at all times which kind of gave us a relief. 

The big day came, we were super excited to meet our Indonesian counterparts for the first time. We have Ms Endry, who was one of the lecturer representatives from Petra Christian University. First and foremost we had an ice breaking session. After that, we introduced them to Sunway University College as well as Malaysia. Same went to our Indonesian counterparts as well, when they introduced Petra Christian University and the amazing places that we should visit in Indonesia. 

To give them a taste of Malaysian culture, we showed them how to make teh tarik (sweet tea) and mamak - a place that us Malaysians love to go anytime of the day. If we have a sports event, especially the Olympics - we will gather at the mamak to cheer the Malaysian contingent on. 

After showing each other’s cuisines from both countries, we were broken up into individual rooms to interact with one another. In my room, I had Angelica and Kenley. We have a list of topics to choose from. At first, we wanted to choose taboos but it was a little tough. After Angelica looked up on my social media profile, she asked me "Katelyn, are you a Buddhist?", I said "Yes!"

We decided to change from taboos to religious venues. We found out that Malaysia and Indonesia have a lot in common in worship places. After that, each team presented the common and differences of Malaysia and Indonesia.

A group photo was taken to commemorate the day. Thank you Sunway Cultural Exchange and the students Petra Christian University Indonesia.  

Sunway University Virtual Graduation 2021 (23/5/2021)

 It's the moment that every graduate is waiting for - an official graduation ceremony to close the chapter of four years in university and embarking into the real world. The graduates of Sunway University are no exception. Due to the current covid-19 pandemic, we have virtual graduation. Virtual graduation - a common scene for university graduates from all over the world. We have seen some universities where they have robots replacing the students to take the scrolls on their behalf. 

At first, I thought, will that happen to me during my own graduation? We'll just have to find out. A day before my own graduation, I attended the graduation of my course mates in my batch (Jan / Mar 2017 intake). The first virtual graduation ceremony for the class of July 2020 has now begun! Dignitaries such as the ambassador of French to Malaysia, the UK High Commissioner to Malaysia and The Dutch Embassy just to name a few to wish all the graduating class of July 2020 a huge congratulations and success in their future. 

The graduation takes place both on Facebook and YouTube through live streaming, we can even wear in our pyjamas while watching. The ceremony begins with the student council taking the chancellor sceptre from the library to the venue of graduation venue at Sunway Resort Hotel, followed by the ceremonial march of professors and chancellors. After the national anthem, the Negaraku, the chancellors and professors were seated, let the ceremony begin! 

The ceremony begins with a speech from our chancellor and founder of Sunway - Tan Sri Jeffery Cheah, AO. He is affectionately known as "Papa Cheah" among the students on campus. "Quality education shapes the quality nation", that's what he said in the opening speech. Next, it's the moment we have been waiting for , the presentation of the scrolls of diplomas and degree scrolls. One by one, the students' names are shown on the screen. 

A speech from the valedictorian and welcoming address from Prof Elizabeth Lee to welcome the new graduates into the Sunway alumni community. At the end of the ceremony, a slide show of our days on campus with our friends and lecturers. Not long after the first-ever graduation ceremony, the phone starts to buzz in with messages to congratulate the graduating class of July 2020. Days before graduation, I drew a graduation cap which I learned from YouTube. My course mates thought I was giving ang pau (red packets) to them. 

This is what the virtual graduation looks like for the next three sessions - which I attend all of them because my friends are in the second session of the first day of the virtual graduation. On 23 May 2021, it's a special day for me and my coursemates in the August 2017 batch because it is our turn to be officially graduated. 

An hour before the event, I clad in my yellow cheongsam - which I'm planning to wear if we were to have physical graduation. I guess we can still dress in our best to have the feeling even though we are not there in person. Seeing my name popping up on the screen for that few seconds, a sense of joy and happiness, as well as success! I'm proud to say that I'm a Sunway graduate! 

Congratulations Sunway graduate classes of July 2020 and February 2021! We did it!  

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!