UN ECOSOC Youth Forum 2022 (19/4/2021-21/4/2021)

Last year, my dream came true as I attended my very first virtual ECOSOC Youth Forum by the UN. This year was no exception. Unfortunately, I got sick due to the amount of sleep I had last year. This year, I have learned my lesson and tried to plan accordingly. 

On the eve of the forum, I attended one of the side events - “Building youth partnerships to advance the SDGs and build back better” by UNDP, UNV and UNICEF / Generation Unlimited. Let’s be honest, after two years of a pandemic the world is struggling. For example, when the first Movement Control Order was implemented on 18 March 2020, my final and extended semester was moved completely online and it was really a struggle for me. I passed in the end which was a relief! 

Moving on, “Building youth partnerships to advance the SDGs and build back together”, one point I could summarise is children are still the most vulnerable, besides the adults but I think all of us were and still are badly affected by the pandemic. Even though Malaysia opened up its borders earlier this month on 1 April 2022, still most of us are still cautious of it. 

The next day was the big day - the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2022! This year, I managed to assemble some fellow Malaysians who are on board. We even have a Malaysian Youth group chat on Whova. Youths from all over the world used this app to connect with each other throughout the forum and it took me a while to get the hang of it. 

At 9pm (9am New York time), the forum began with opening remarks from the President of the ECOSOC - H.E. Me. Colin Kelapile, followed by speeches about the challenges they faced in their countries as youths. 

At 11.00pm (New York time 11.00am), we had a networking session. I went to the Chinese speaking networking session. Mostly they talked about SDG 5: Gender Equality, I brought my passion for mental health and children. 

The next day was the regional breakout session. I went to Asia and the Pacific. What really amazed everyone was that 12-year-old Jivitesh Gupta from India gave a powerful speech on the importance of achieving the SDGs and advocating adolescent health in his country. 

During the fireside chat sessions, we have speakers from Bangladesh, Fiji, Japan and Malaysia. All of us are doing our best in accomplishing the work we have done. Take SDG 13 for example, Climate Actions - was a hot topic at the forum but are we aware what are the cause and effects? It same goes for other SDGs as well as they are interconnected with each other. 

For the second and final networking session, we had to get up super early because of the time zones. The participants were fewer from the first one but at least from my side, it was still casual and relaxed. 

Three days of ECOSOC virtual youth forum had finally come to an end! I would like to applaud the Malaysian delegation, well done to all of us! A first of many to come! 

马六甲唱享6度：佛曲线上创作营（9/4/2022）

 一个休闲的星期六，原本可以在温暖的被窝多睡一会儿，闹钟响起睡意也没啦！是的，马六甲唱享六度第一个线上佛曲创作营正式开启啦！来展现你内心的歌手吧！

我们来个破冰环节，就是我们来猜歌手和歌名。我竟然来迟了，我出一道题目。在留言区私信欣莹后，就给一些提示关于相关歌手的身份以及歌名。答案是—— 大马情歌天后—— 梁静茹的《暖暖》！下一个破冰环节是《两个真话，一个谎言》。

既然大家已经暖身了，马上进入第一个环节—— 作曲。作曲大家第一个联想到是一定会一些乐器，并非如此！一个完全不会乐器也可以作曲啊！马修测老师为大家演唱几首熟悉歌曲例如：光良的《童话》、五月天的《突然好想你》等等。我们在日常生活哼一些一些小曲也可能变作曲之一。要完成一首歌，当然要歌词和曲子，加上我们在录音室所看到的混音。最重要曲子和歌词要留下深刻的印象。

掌握作曲技巧，我们进入作词的环节。作词的灵感可以发生在日常生活中，写一写在笔记本，不知不觉一首歌词完成啦！之后，我们被分到各自小组进行创作环节。我们的歌是要以《家》为主。“家” 让我第一个联想到是 “靠山”，写一首歌家像一座靠山。无论任何风雨，我们有家来护着我们。

在我组里，我们各自写一首歌歌词再来选最佳作品。最终，我们选程志杰写《降落伞》，之后我们有作一些修改。午休后，我们进入最后课堂—— 歌唱。我们邀请本团队的歌唱老师—— Aki 黄淑惠老师来传授我们一些歌唱技巧。我发现每次歌唱时候，呼吸会不足就向 Aki 老师请教如何怎样有足够的气把一首歌唱完。

其一、我们要做足够的运动。

其二、我们要在舒适的状态下，让身体放松，这样歌唱时候可以表达情绪。

我唱歌时候，确保没有人在身边，处于一个放松的状态才能投入一首歌。

课堂结束，我们到回各自小组来完成歌词和作曲因为我们会有一个小呈现！完全想不到我们竟然可以写一首歌！还加了饶舌 （rap）元素！在剩下的几分钟，我们把《降落伞》歌词整理好，准备向大家呈现最终成品。回到大组时候，大家准备就绪呈现最终成品。我个人喜欢 B 组，真的很像让你回家的感觉！最后一组呈现完毕，我们邀请老师给大家一些点评。由于老师们的时间表太紧密，须要仔细看回每组的呈现。

线上创作营结束之前，我们给大家看马六甲唱享6度的音乐之旅。我在团队里的深刻印象是在两年前的第一个行动管制令，我们做了两个月半的现场直播；还有以线上的方式来录制 MV 翻唱——《Saya Anak Malaysia》和去年牛年的《今年全 cow 你》。 今年的农历新年翻唱，我们很荣幸可以到马六甲八蚌佛子舍取景录制。看回一幕一幕的画面，我们唱享6度经过无数的风雨才会有今天的成就！希望疫情有所缓和，大家可以回到练习所一起唱歌！

大家好，我是马六甲唱享6度的 Katelyn 陈袈文！期待可以回到熟悉的舞台和大家见面！点击以下链接来追踪唱享6度的音乐之旅！

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#SeatAttheTable UNITE 2030 Campaign Launch (21/3/2022)

#SeatAtheTable is a campaign by UNITE 2030, it is a roundtable discussion where youths from all over the world come together in one place to discuss the global issues we are passionate about. Today, the campaign is officially launched! The campaign is also leading up to Camp 2030 which is happening in New York, the USA between 12 September 2022 and 18 September 2022. 

How do you define Youth? Well, in my definition of youth, it's all about taking action, full of passion and energy to get our voices heard to the world! We are not inexperienced or rebellious - as most people describe youths, we just need a place to speak up and that is it. 

Sakina is the regional focal point for Central Asia 2 and is the moderator for the day. She asks each of the panellists on board how they take small actions to change their communities. Shristi from India, the founder of Sky Social - focusing on gender equality in India; Thiri from Myanmar, an advocate for public health as well as other panellists who are focusing on education, climate actions, poverty and so on. 

Please don't look down on the power of social media, it can change everything. Just like Tata, whose community is lacking water and with the power of social media, he is able to raise awareness on the issue. 

Before we come to a close, each of the panellists gives us advice on how can we make a change. It doesn't matter big or small, as long as we have the power to make that change, it's all about taking the first step. We take a group picture to commemorate this special day. For the next two weeks, there will tons of activities for you as youths to join the campaign. We want to hear from you! Submit your youth stories, who knows you might be the lucky one to get your video featured?    

What are you waiting for? Join our #SeatAttheTable campaign now! For more information about the campaign, click on the link to find out! 

Website: https://www.camp2030.com/seatatthetable

Go Study Global Education: How Do You Celebrate Chinese New Year in Your Hometown (25/2/2022)

 Although CNY has ended more than a week, I'm sure everyone wants to know how do we celebrate the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year around China and Southeast Asia (SEA). I came across the event on LinkedIn while I was scrolling through and signed up for the event. Then, my friend, Luna, who is one of the organisers asked me whether I would be interested to be one of the speakers. I said yes straight away! 

We had a quick rehearsal on how the event would run on that day, I tested out my presentation slides, everything was okay. Sophie recognised me, she was one of the participants from SEAGAN's networking session last year in June - "The SEA of Education". It was one of our biggest networking in history since the establishment of SEAGAN. 

The next day was the event. I was nervous yet excited because I haven't speak in front of people for a long time. First up, we have Sophie from China who showed us her family tradition. I found it we have something in similar when it comes to the Chinese New Year celebration. I do remember having congee on the 12th month in the lunar calendar. Next up, it was my turn to present how Chinese New Year is celebrated in Malaysia. 

Similar to the previous presenter, Sophie, we too also have the reunion dinner and going back to our hometown or more locally we said it balik kampung. What makes Malaysian CNY special? We have our own CNY album for every animal in the Chinese zodiac. I played Hu Hu Gongxi Bersama 虎虎恭喜 Bersama - from Astro's CNY album. The participants seemed to like it. After my presentation, we moved over to Tony, who was the next speaker after me. 

There was no Q & A session for us in the first round. We had another round of presentation to go. This time we have speakers from China, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan presenter was not available. We moved on to Noni of Timor-Leste. Although Timor-Leste does not celebrate Chinese New Year like Malaysia or China, they do have the New Year's celebration for the first day of the year. Like any New Year celebration, family reunion is one thing. 

After the two Chinese presenters, we had an Q & A session. One of the participants, Nurin from Indonesia asked me whether the toy I was holding is the official Chinese New Year mascot for Malaysia. "No, it's from one of the TV stations in Malaysia as other TV stations, they will have their own tiger mascots in conjunction with CNY," 

A couple more questions and it was a wrapped for today's Youth Talk! Thank you Go Study! Looking forward to sharing more about Malaysia in future events!

Sunway University Physical Convocation 2022 (16/2/2022)

It's graduation for the graduates at Sunway University! Last year, we were supposed to have a physical convocation but we went into Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 and we had virtual graduation last year in May. Whether we were to have physical graduation or not, it was yet to decide. Until the university announced that we were going to have physical graduation to make up for everything last year! 

A day before graduation, it coincided with Chap Goh Mei (the last day of Chinese New Year). I went to campus with my parents to collect the graduation gown. Before that, I went to Student Life to collect my Sunway Global Friendship Community (SGFC) active member certificate. Then, we went to the Graduate Centre to collect the graduation gown. 

Using the shortcut that I usually took to the Graduate Centre. Coincidentally, Kayla, who is one of the university's student council members, came to our attendance. She helped us with the Sunway Lagoon tickets which were required for convocation day. I went to Function Room 3 to collect the graduation gown. I saw some of my course mates were trying the gown on, I wanted to try but the people in charge told us they had given us the smallest size. Well, we just have to find out whether it could fit or not. 

I went to corners of the campus where I usually spent most of the time. Then, we headed to the college side to take a photo outside of the Monash University Foundation Year's  (MUFY) office because that was when the journey began. I even had caught up with Sharlize - a best friend of mine, who I met during our Model United Nations days and now she is my junior studying the foundation course. 

The next day was graduation day. Honestly, I couldn't get up from bed. After getting ready, it was time to head off to graduation! Unfortunately, we got lost while we were on the way because we didn't know which hotel we could stop by. In the end, we had to call my school's coordinator, Ms Kailin, to confirm the place. 

The first people I bumped into were Kavind, Joanne and her partner, Gabriel. "Wow, Kar Marn! You look nice, you're even wearing one of your favourites colours, yellow!" said Joanne. "It was intentional because the gown scarf colours are blue and orange, so I choose yellow to mix with the colours," I said. Then, I met up briefly with Chester and he introduced me to his partner, Stephanie. 

We realised that there were escalators and there were no lifts to get to the Amphitheatre. We called Kayla, and she arranged for one of the security guards to lead us to the venue. It was not just one escalator but five. After we had settled down, we had a briefing on how should we receive the scrolls when we go up on stage later on. There were some students who did the demonstration. Not to mention, my seat was just right in front of the stage. 

The procession of academics had started and the ceremony began with the national anthem - Negaraku. 

First up, the diploma students received their scrolls. For degree holders were not long after. Seeing my coursemates receiving their scrolls one by one, I was really happy for them! We are graduating together! When it was my turn, I stayed calm, "You can do this! Just take the scrolls and you're done!" 

The moment my name was called, my mind just went blank. I walked across the stage to receive my scroll from Sunway University and then my second from Lancaster University. I finally did it! I graduated from university! Next, it was a presentation for the Jeffrey Cheah Scholastic Award. Joanne is one of the recipients of the award. We had a KPI to cheer for our coursemate, that's communication for you! 

Sunway Education Group CEO, Professor Dr Elizabth Lee gave her welcoming speech to welcome the new graduates to the Sunway Alumni Community. The moment we had been waiting for was throwing the mortarboard. We have seen graduates doing this on TV, and this time we are doing it in real life. After sending off the academics, it's time for us to take pictures! There were photo booths for graduates to take photographs with our professors, lecturers, family and friends. 

We headed back to Sunway Campus to take even more pictures. This time with Sunway Buddhist Society (SBS) - which helped me to get through a tough time during my second semester in college, and I was part of the family ever since.  

Thank you to my family, lecturers, coursemates and friends who have given the biggest support throughout the journey. This is not the end but a beginning of a new journey. I have graduated for real this time and it is off to a new adventure!  Once a Sunwayian, always a Sunwayian! 

马六甲唱享6度新春面子书直播（23/1/2022)

 续了去年的《今年全Cow你》翻唱，马六甲唱享6度歌手们今年第二度送上新年歌。是什么新年歌呢？待会儿会跟大家揭晓哦！好啦，过去的文章，本网常提到唱享6度团队。那就给好好认识该团队吧！

马六甲唱享6度是马佛青旗下的佛曲歌团立于2018年，我们宗旨是以歌声传递善法，走入人心。六度是布施、持戒、精进、忍辱·、禅定和般若。也希望我们实行佛法在生活中。晚上八点，歌手们开始就位，先做个热身、彩排。晚上八时三十分，直播正式开始！

建荣学长—— 他是唱享6度的团长率先带领大家进入直播的状态。首先，我们来个自我介绍。在自我介绍的过程中，圣仁开始暴露年龄，我们接下来几个歌手打趣说：“为什么要暴露年龄？” 其实我们不是来暴露大家几岁，好戏还在后头呢！当然啦，歌手们在新年必定做的三件事。

我的就是向长辈敬茶、每一年必定到青云亭祈福、说好话。我要加的一点就是天天要说话，别等到农历新年时候才说好话。“我们发现这里有一些歌手在新年必定做的事有似曾相识。” 后来，我们播放我们翻唱版的《虎虎Gongxi Bersama》 。哇，看了觉得大家很像电视里的艺人，到场外拍摄取景MV。

可是在短短的三至四分钟的MV，背后可是有很大的付出。我记得在大二时候，老师有说过：“我们看的MV 和广告，虽然是短短几分钟，但是背后在拍摄时候可要花上一整天的时间。” 我印象最深刻就是能到马六甲八蚌佛子舍取景和歌手们一起拍MV，非常开心！还有在师父开示时候，我感觉到狗狗会到我的身边，幸好楷柔及时护着我。

另外，我们要拍淡米尔歌词的那一段，几乎我们都是笑场。幕后花絮正式首播给大家看！幸好我的麦克风是关着，几乎我快上气接不下气。看了幕后花絮的首播后，我们来做个结尾送上新年祝福。马六甲唱享6度新春直播正式圆满落幕！

大家好，我是马六甲唱享6度歌手的Katelyn 陈袈文！在此，马六甲唱享6度歌手们提早祝大家新年快乐、身体健康、学业进步、事业有成、虎虎生威！U虎加把劲，家家万事兴！

更多马六甲唱享6度的作品，可以追踪我们的官方社交平台：

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Malaysia SDG Youth Summit (6/11/2021)

For the first time in history, Malaysia hosts its first SDG Youth Summit. I have heard and attended the Youth Summit last two months or back. It was hosted by the US, the timezone can be a little overwhelmed, with a 12 to 13 hours difference. 

How did I get to be a part of this team? As always, I was scrolling through Instagram like any other day. I saw my friend Marsya, posting that Malaysia was going to hold the first-ever SDG Youth Summit and they needed volunteers to help out with the event. Without any hesitation, I signed up for the event. On 16 October, we gathered for the first time to have a meeting. When Zoel asked who would like to be emcees for the event, I raised my hand virtually. After that, we were broken up into breakout rooms. 

The following week was to delegate which room we were going to take on as emcees. At the same time, I was in another role - proofreading for the e-program handbook. I stayed in the main room for a while before going into the emcee room. All of us have to at least attend a rehearsal before the big day. I was absent on 30 Oct, as I was attending an online Buddhism camp, I missed that out. 

Four days before the event, my emcee partner - Hanim and I started to write our emcee scripts. The next day, we had a final rehearsal. The day of the Malaysia SDG Youth Summit has arrived, everyone is dressed in their best. An hour or two before the event, we have a final briefing for the emcees. Faiq even joked that his parents thought he was going somewhere. We're all in places, off we go to our respective rooms. 

One of our speakers, Clarance from the Scout Association Malaysia dropped by our room. We did ask him anything there is needed to attend to. He says nothing is needed. After the opening ceremony, the participants started to come in. The room that Hanim and I were in was Room 9: Engaging Youth in SDGs by the Youths. With the signal from Melody, I started by welcoming all of the participants and speakers to the summit. 

The first two speakers were Theodore Clarance and Puteri Faten about localising Sustainable Development in the Malaysian Scouts community as well as Sharan and Cikgu Royson on implementing the SDGs as global citizens and in schools respectively. 

Finally, we had a special intervention from the RCE Panel. They praised us for being the first ever batch of youths for hosting the SDG Youth Summit at a national level. The good news is we are going to have another SDG Youth Summit in the first half of 2022! I hope it would be a physical event that time around. 

Thank you to everyone! Especially the emcee department, my partner for room nine, Hamim and of course the Summit Director - Ms Zoel Ng herself for leading the team. This is Kar Marn from the Malaysia SDG Youth Summit singing off!