WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Bernama) — US President Barack Obama's
campaign message of Change is driving the youth across Southeast Asia
to the cause of organising a summit called "Youth Engagement Summit
(YES)" in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 16 and 17.
Nearly 180,000 youths throughout Southeast Asia have already
registered their support for change in the run-up to the inaugural
summit, which prides itself as a true engagement event.
Their focus is tolerance, the environment, education, truth and destiny.
Themed 'South East Asia Youth for CHANGE', YES 2009 will be the
first summit of its kind in Asia, uniting youth representatives from
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos
and Brunei.
Organising chairman Harmandar Singh said: "This movement is about
the youth of Southeast Asia. This movement is apolitical, non-religious
and, as one youth puts it, aprotocol."
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who promotes the
"1Malaysia" concept, is encouraged by the upcoming event and supports
the effort.
The two-day event is expected to kick off with an opening address
by Najib, and will feature a line-up of well-known speakers including
Sir Bob Geldof, the Founder of Live Aid; world chess legend Garry
Kasparov; Biz Stone, co-founder of online network Twitter; Nando
Parrado, whose survival of a tragic plane crash in the Andes became the
basis for the critically acclaimed movie Alive; timeless Bollywood Icon
Amitabh Bachchan and Datuk Tony Fernandes of AirAsia.
Noting that YES 2009 will begin immediately after the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference in Singapore, Harmandar Singh
hoped to attract at least one more world-renowned agent of change as a
keynote speaker.
"This movement was inspired by Obama's call for change during last
year's election campaign. His charismatic approach has influenced a
dynamic shift in long-held perceptions, particularly for Southeast
Asia's next generation of leaders," he said.
Organisers of the YES 2009, including Harmandar Singh, were in
Washington last week to promote the event and to meet with high-level
State Department officials in Washington.
YES has a partnership with The Global Democracy Video Challenge,
whose partners include the Centre for International Private Enterprise,
the International Youth Foundation, the Motion Picture Association of
America, the National Democratic Institute, NBC Universal, NYU's Tisch
School of the Arts, the Recording Industry Association of America,
TakingITGlobal, USC's Annenberg School for Communication, the U.S.
Department of State and YouTube.
Expected to be the largest gathering of youth ever in the region,
YES 2009 will connect young people across SEA via satellite link-up to
giant screens across five leading Southeast Asian universities with
6,000 summit participants in Kuala Lumpur.
The organisers have engaged Global Vision, which delivered the
Australian Youth Forum in February with the Australian Minister for
Youth hosting a live national discussion simultaneously in 10 locations
around the country.
Khailee Ng, Director of Youth Asia, a key partner of YES 2009,
said: "The format is unconventional — it is designed with youth
engagement in mind.
"The idea is to bring global attention to the need to engage a
generation of youth who believe in change. And the youth of Southeast
Asia are more connected, ready for change and forward looking than
before. These youth will lead their countries in the next five years.
We have to engage them now."
The organisers are rallying the involvement of over 1,000,000
youths between the ages of 15-35 years to share their thoughts by
taking part in an online Youth Survey to produce the Sea For Change
Youth Report.
They are asked three questions from now until Nov. 16:
* What change do you want to see in your personal life?
* What change do you want to see in your community and country?
* What ideas of campaigns or programmes would you support?
Participants stand to win over 500 trips to the summit in Kuala
Lumpur. Plans are afoot to invite 10 of America's most promising youth
leaders to attend the event to gain new insights and take their
impressions back home.
Youth Asia is a youth powered organisation which connects business
leaders, governments, and media with youths from Southeast Asia.
As a result of the event, The SEACHANGE report will continue
discussions with governments, business leaders and media about what the
youth have to say.
SEACHANGE is a network of 200 youth organisations comprising 1
million youth members who want to see change in their personal lives.
