Warwick ASEAN Conference 2018

On 17^th February 2018, the team’s efforts throughout the past months finally came together in the 4th Warwick ASEAN Conference, the largest student-run conference on Southeast-Asia within Europe. As the honorary secretary and outreach officer, it was a proud yet humbling moment to see everything come to fruition. I was the honorary secretary for Dr Alice Nah, one of the speakers in the socio-cultural panel. As a lecturer at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, her research focuses on asylum and migration in Southeast Asia as well as the security of human rights defenders.

I was excited to finally get the chance to meet her after liaising with her through email for weeks prior to the conference. Our team was responsible for formulating and curating questions for both the panel discussions and the media interviews according to the research areas of the speakers. Apart from being a heartening experience to see the products of our labour, chatting with her on the topics discussed raised within the conference gave me interesting insights on the region.

A proud moment for the organizing team was definitely securing Dato’ Seri Nazir Razak, chairman of the CIMB Group, as our keynote speaker. One of the key take-aways from his talk was the pressing need to embrace and harness the ‘4^th Industrial Revolution’- A revolution that is driven by rapid advancements in technology. While he acknowledged technology can be disruptive and uncomfortable to adapt to, his speech emphasized the importance of responding accordingly in order to survive in the changing landscape and leverage on the increased connectivity technology has created.

Another highlight of my time in WAC 2018 was being part of the outreach team. Our team was responsible for organizing and coordinating outreach efforts with student societies in Warwick and throughout UK to promote the conference. Our efforts spanned from pre-events to boost the commercial awareness of the conference to liaising with student leaders from various student bodies.

One of the events I had the privilege of attending was the UKSSC (United Kingdom Singapore Students’ Council) ASEAN Leaders’ Conference 2018 held at the Singapore embassy. The event aims to bring together ASEAN students within the UK to discuss issues facing the region and potential solutions. The conference started with a panel discussion followed by a group discussion and presentations by the fellow participants. The panel speakers included Ms. Ketsuda Supradit, Minister (Economic and Financial) for the UK and Europe from the Royal Thai Embassy in London, Mr. Mohd. Suhaimi Jaafar, Deputy High Commissioner of the High Commission of Malaysia in London, as well as Dr. Alan Collins, Senior Lecturer on International Relations from Swansea University.

Our group discussed resilience within Southeast Asia and we covered a range of topics from cybersecurity to climate change. It was great hearing from participants all over the region on how issues ranging from the technological revolution to climate change affected their respective countries and challenges they foresee in adapting to these global trends. This experience made me realise the real value in holding such events lies in bringing together seemingly disparate groups to share different narratives and humanize the impacts these changes are making globally.

Another exciting opportunity WAC 2018 offered was various opportunities to learn from our sponsors like Maybank. I had the chance to participate in their interview skills workshop, which was held as a pre-event to the conference, and a case study lunch workshop, which was held during the conference day itself. The interview skills workshop offered advice on how to succeed in applications and interviews as well as boost one’s commercial awareness. On the other hand, the case study workshop was modelled after a simulation of a lunchtime meeting, where we had to pitch ideas based on a given case study. Apart from experiencing a new and interesting workshop format, it was a great way to meet the other conference delegates and bond over food.

Being part of Warwick ASEAN Conference 2018 allowed me to stay rooted in a region I grew up in while learning more about the economic, political and socio-cultural realities of the various countries. Southeast Asia ‘s diversity, in terms of political systems, languages, races and religions, will always be a key reason why I find the region fascinating. Collaborating and working with students from all over this region has made it even more worthwhile. Events such as this provide a platform for one to reflect on the current reality of the respective countries we live in and re-imagine its future and potential. A quote from Dr Alice Nah’s talk sums up my personal sentiments reflecting on all the work we’ve done for the conference and what we could do going forward:

“We are often told to keep our heads down, to be satisfied with what we have, to stay in our subordinate positions. Challenge that.”

Iffah Azman : 15 Mar 2018 12:16 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem