For any university, seeing one of their staff or students chosen as the best in a field of 5,000 is a proud moment. Well, we had two!
Faculty of Business and Management lecturer Dr Paulin Wong and MBBS fourth-year student Soashwin Johnathan were among four delegates chosen to represent Malaysia at the 5th ASEAN-Russia Youth Summit in Manila, which was held in late November 2019.
In other words, half of the Malaysian representatives at this prestigious international summit were from QIU.
The summit which is held under the theme “Enhancing People-to-People Connectivity between ASEAN and Russia”, aims to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the youth of ASEAN Member States (AMS) and Russia through various discussions and activities.
And of course, the process of becoming a Malaysian delegate at such a prestigious event was anything but easy.
More than 5,000 applicants from all over the country applied to join youth programmes under the Youth and Sports Ministry. From this group, only four delegates were chosen to represent Malaysia at the summit after a series of hurdles – including essay writing, aptitude test and a 3-day selection camp of more than 100 participants.
Happily for us, Dr Paulin and Soashwin stood out from the crowd. This was the first time that Malaysia was represented at the summit by anyone from QIU.
“We joined the event to represent Malaysia, and of course to spread the word about QIU to delegates from Russia and the ASEAN region,” said Dr Paulin.
Since its inception, the summit has provided young people from ASEAN and Russia with institutional, organisational and intellectual opportunities to share their views and design practically-oriented measures on how to raise cooperation between ASEAN and Russia.
At the summit, the delegates successfully drafted the Declaration on Young People’s Contribution to ASEAN-Russia Relations: Enhancing People-to-People Connectivity, which focused on three main areas – education, cultural exchange and economy, trade and business exchanges.
They also strengthened existing programmes and various strategies to enhance mechanisms of ASEAN-Russia cooperation, particularly in the field of education, youth and people exchanges through plenary discussions.
For Dr Paulin and Soashwin, the highlights of the summit included an official meeting with the Phillippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte at the Malacañang Palace, and a sharing session at the University of the Philippines’ Asian Center and its Nuclear Research Institute.
They also attended the Wreath Laying Ceremony accompanied by the Royal Guards at the Rizal Monument to commemorate the Filipino nationalist, José Rizal.
“The summit was a proud moment for both of us. We would like to thank the University and everyone involved with making the event a success,” said Dr Paulin.
“We’d like this to inspire more QIU students and staff to apply for events like this and represent the youth of Malaysia.”
