ENGAGING THE YOUTH LEADERS OF ASEAN:

A REPORT ON THE

YOUNG SOUTHEAST ASIAN LEADERS INITIATIVE SUMMIT 2015

IN KUALA LUMPUR

November 19 23, 2015

By Muhammad Syafiq Borhannnuddin1

Background
In November 2015, a week after an engaging one hour face-to-face private
meeting between myself and Mr. Wan Saifuddin, CEO of UNITAR International
University discussing on issues of common intellectual interest, I received a
request from him to represent on his behalf as a speaker and mentor at the
Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Summit 2015 organised by the US
Embassy to present a talk on Values and Virtues in Education from the
perspective of the traditional wisdom of the past. I quickly agreed, seeing
this as a chance to engage directly with some of the brightest youths in the
region from various religious and cultural backgrounds in one of the top
platforms where the future civil society and political leaders aligned with the
socio-political ideals upheld by the Western superpowers gather. So it was
quickly arranged for me to replace Mr. Wan Saifuddin in a briefing for
mentors on Thursday and as a speaker on Sunday at Le Meredien Hotel KL.
To optimize on this unexpected opportunity (fully sponsored by the US
Embassy) to participate in the summit, I attended several panel sessions
before my slot on Friday and Saturday.

Report
The first session I attended was by Zack HudginsState Representative for
Washington States 11th Legislative Districtwho spoke on From Idea to
Reality: Steps to Creating Lasting Change for Your Community. The second
session I attended was on Telling Your Story to Compel Action: Using Your
Voice to Mobilize Others presented by Andy Rabens, Special Advisor for
Youth Engagement, US Department of State. And the third session was by
Trinnawat Suwanprik, an environmental consultant from Thailand who spoke
on The Power of Ants for Sustainable Urban Development. Thus when my
1 He is lecturer at the Faculty of Education & Humanities, UNITAR International
University and research fellow with Himpunan Keilmuan Muslim (HAKIM).

turn came, I had a better sense of the kind of audience I will face and the
general level of intellectual acumen (or the lack thereof) and issues of their
concern. As Mr. Wan Saifuddins title and synopsis was already very well
thought out and expressed, and happen to coincide with my upcoming
presentation on Virtues and Happiness in Contemporary Higher Education at
UNITAR on 27th November 2015, I decided to stick with the title and synopsis
and flesh out the details with some minor amendments to my UNITAR
presentation.
To my surprise, the usual approach I have taken in conducting my
classes and delivered my lectures to a friendlier audience worked wonders
even with this audience about 20 participants from Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma, Philippines -- whom I would thought would be
most hostile (considering the difference of narrative that YSEALI and US Govt
promotes). The topic I presented (On Values and Virtues in Education) is
basically a solution to a particular problem. I therefore stressed on
understanding the nature of the true problem our communities are facing in
order to appreciate this solution. The solution, I said, involves returning to
our religious, ethical and intellectual roots and redefining key notions
connected to education (e.g. man, knowledge, happiness, progress,
development) according to our worldviews or intellectual roots in order to reintegrate the right values and virtues in our educational philosophy and
practice. The Q&A session was lively, and the upshot of it was our emphasis
to the audience to examine the coherence of their thinking because as aptly
expressed by Socarates, a life unexamined, is a life not worth living. And
this is only possible if one is conscious of their intellectual framework. This
intellectual framework is universal in the sense all human beings deep down
in their hearts do long for clarity and convictions in life, and thus it depends
on their personal commitment to rediscover their intellectual and ethical
tradition, and for Muslims, this will be the worldview of Islam. They were as a
whole, convinced of my narrative and solution -- despite the difference of
narrative that YSEALI and US govt promotes. It ended with a spontaneous
round of applause by the participants and most of them wanted a postlecture discussion except that they had to rush to another final session in the
Summit.

Reflection, Suggestion & Conclusion

On the whole, I would say my experience was eye-opening, allowing me to
understand the deeper realities of the intellectual battle ground in the world
today. It seems clear to me, that although the Obama administration and the
American leaders (whoever they may really be) may mean well, the method
is nevertheless wrong and serves only their interest in this region. I wouldnt
say its sinister, but in the words of my history professor, Dr. Tatiana
Denisova, they are just being practical. But its very difficult for me to think
it is not working on a similar assumption as the British colonials once worked
on: the white mans burden; the mission of civilizing the world, etc. It thus
becomes a subtle neo-colonization whereby their worldview is subtly
projected in the framing of the problem, they key terms and the solutions.
YSEALI do not seem to bother equipping the participants with a systematic
intellectual and moral guidance which is of greater urgency for the ASEAN
community than the tools and overall subject matter they offer at the
moment.
Leaders of all spheres in Asia who are truly conscious of their roots and
not intellectually captivated by the West should wake up and act on this
subtle games of the so-called Western superpowers and be united on the
grounds of common ethical doctrines that our religions and cultural traditions
share, against the imperialistic attitude of the West and their uncritical
followers in their midst. If I may suggest to the YSEALI members and future
leaders of the Asian community, it is time we realize our true worth and
stand on our own, and not let others impose their definitions and conceptions
of progress and development. If the idea is to provide future leaders of the
region with the right tools to lead one day, it is more prior that the right
intellectual tools and content be provided first.