It was a fast 72 hours, isn’t it?
MYD survived ASEAN Power Shift. We had grown tremendously throughout the past 3 days. Policy track was no child’s play. It was a bitch, and still is. We listened, we struggled, we argued, but we eventually compromised.
It was amazing how things worked out within the MYD team. Adding to the fact that nine of us (MYD) did not know each other prior to the conference. We got lost, we fell, we questioned, but we reintegrated. It was exciting to see how our passion to stop climate change drove us through these challenges working together.
Other delegates may perceived us as strong and well prepared, but we are still learning and fragile human too. Our team almost broke down and scattered by the second night.
Despite all the cracks and disagreement within the team, we moved on, as a team. We knew that it is not only about the paper, it is the people, the bond that existed. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t the best result we expected, but the process was priceless.
It was those little moment that mattered. Waking up early for shrub planting, staying up for endless meetings and homework deadlines, hanging out at Floor 14 and food courts, short interviews with other ASEAN delegates and participants, photo shooting all the time.
It was the little element added by each members that counted. Adrian, the demanding mentor; Amalen, the joker plus shameless promoter; Emily, the happy-go-lucky optimist; Jolene, the green beauty pageant; Merryn, the epic quote-producer; Rachel, the pure and innocent paper; Roxanne, the powerful and ambitious artist; Shak, the fun-seeking explorer ;Thomas, the back office fighter; Wanji, the funny conservation biologist.
APS was short and sweet. It gave us many new insights, new expectations and new motivation. It taught us how to be open-minded by placing ourselves in the shoes of others. It taught us to hold on to our stand and beliefs. It taught us the power of people, power of collaboration, power of synchronization.
Our MYD’s journey does not stop here, in fact, it just began. We are still fighting hard to get on the road to Paris. Just like APS, it will not be easy for sure. But it will be priceless.
#MYD15 – Malaysian Youth Delegation – Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC, participants will be mentored and hold engagements with various climate expert bodies and dialogue with Malaysian policy makers and negotiators.
#ASEANPOWERSHIFT – A conference gathering youths from 10 ASEAN countries with the focus on finding pragmatic and possible solutions to tackle climate change and empower youths with creative skills and knowledge to initiate their own actions.
