THERE is more being expected of graduates these days than just perfect scores or being on the Dean’s List, although those are still important.
For doors to open, the youths of today need to show their drive and energy, display initiative and be goal-oriented.
Young people aged between 18 and 35 years who have these qualities can look forward to participating in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), an extension of the Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program which began in 2009 to promote civic responsibility and community service with hands-on training.
YSEALI was launched by President Barack Obama’s administration to recognise young leaders from the region who have innovative ideas for tackling what they have identified as their generation’s greatest challenges — in economic development, environmental protection, education and civic engagement.
US Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Y. Yun said the US-based programme, with a duration of five weeks, welcomes those who are going to learn as well as share, and then come back home and make a difference.
“You will be getting together with like-minded people who share similar ideas and ideals,” said Yun.
“This is a seeding business. Returnees will become leaders and colleagues in the community, and they will see what they want to do getting traction.”
Places are now open for 500 Southeast Asians to apply to be YSEALI Fellows. Of these, 250 places will go to academic fellows aged between 18 and 25 years, and another 250 to professional fellows aged between 18 and 35.
Universiti Tenaga Nasional lecturer Lilie Zahara Ramly, who is also a mobility coordinator on her campus in Kajang, is looking out for suitable programmes for her students to engage in.
Although she is at the cut-off age of 35 years, she has also expressed interest in taking part as a YSEALI Fellow herself.
“If there’s opportunity for professionals like me, and the programme suits my interests and needs, then why not?” she asked.
“I have seen some of my own circle of friends selected for the Fulbright and ILEP (International Leaders in Education Programme), and they came back as changed persons, individuals who became more dynamic, inspirational, resourceful and who have contributed back to their community as educators, administrators, policymakers, etc.
“The positive leadership qualities which they acquired are then translated into their approach to work and problem-solving. That inspired me to want to learn more about the mobility initiatives from the American education exchange perspective.
“As an academician, I have always encouraged my students to take part in leadership programmes to grow and connect themselves in the global scenario, by sharing ideas and action in community and charity projects or addressing community needs through action.
“Personally, I would love to see how I can learn about improving the education management of children with disabilities like autism. I also wish to learn how we can help the impoverished community and rural youngsters in becoming more self-sustaining.”
University of Malaya (UM) undergraduate Mohd Rizal Rozhan has also shown his keenness to be a YSEALI Fellow.
Rizal, a senior majoring in international relations and minoring in gender studies, was a Perdana Fellow attached to Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
“If selected, I intend to learn as much as I can. I am very interested in the areas of good governance, gender and equality, youth empowerment, civil society movements, civilian empowerment and international affairs,” he said.
“It will be a great honour to be selected to learn from abroad what there is no opportunity to learn here at home.”
LifeChamp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Choo Choon Sian plans to apply to be a YSEALI Fellow under the professional track, and focus on the area of economic development.
“I would like to learn from the best business minds in the US, and hopefully get connected with the Silicon Valley ecosystem,” said the pioneer youth adviser for YSEALI Malaysia.
Youth advisers such as Choo represented Malaysia at the week-long Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit held in Washington, DC recently.
“At a meeting in the US State Department, I took the opportunity to highlight the good work that our government has done in the past few years to promote entrepreneurship in Malaysia,” he said.
There was also a meeting to discuss about youth concerns and how YSEALI and the US State Department could help address that. Later, he attended the three-day Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit which had some 400 participants from more than 55 countries.
“I met amazing people from many different countries who were running different training programmes to advance youth economic opportunities. Most importantly, I gained a deeper understanding about how non-profit organisations and foundations operate, seek funding, do marketing, develop their training courses, use online open courses, and leverage on technology to facilitate economic progress of low-income people globally,” he said.
Zakwan Buang, a final-year BBA undergraduate from UM, is currently an intern with Microsoft Malaysia.
Last year, he attended an exchange programme called Study of the US Institute for Student Leaders. Because of that, he intends to wait a year before applying to take part in the YSEALI Fellowship.
Last year also saw Zakwan winning the Global Startup Youth Competition, and he was then flown to San Francisco where he had the opportunity to network.
“I hope to achieve the same thing as a YSEALI Fellow,” he said.
In the meantime, he is focusing on an idea called AseanInternship that is expected to be launched next year.
Said Zakwan: “As one who plans to become an entrepreneur, I am interested to be a YSEALI Fellow. I would like to focus on the area of entrepreneurship where I hope to learn more about the start-up ecosystem and make connection with the leaders in this field, from business as well as academia.
“I aim to also pitch the idea of aseaninternship.com to the global community.”
Cayenne Lai, the project director of CLICK! 4.0, is another pioneer YSEALI alumni member who, together with Zakwan, represented Malaysia recently at the town hall meeting which President Obama held during his visit to Myanmar.
A fully-funded recipient of the Nanyang Newspaper Scholarship, she completed a Fulbright Global UGRAD exchange programme in Washington, DC, which lasted from late 2012 to early last year.
The undergraduate from Asia Pacific University, who is majoring in media marketing, is also chief editor of her university’s newsletter.
CLICK! 4.0 is a social entrepreneur project funded by the US State Department and which has played a vital role in helping students from rural and semi-rural areas solve the social problems in their community. It has so far impacted more than 220 students and youth leaders from 43 schools nationwide.
As project director, Lai gets the opportunity to work closely with the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and non-governmental institutions like the Social Entrepreneur Alliance and Teach For Malaysia.
Lai’s biggest wish is to escalate our youths’ social awareness towards making the world a better place for living through the balance of the 3Ps (Place, People and Profit).
She is keen to gain the necessary skill sets so as to be able to contribute back to the community by continuing with CLICK! 5.0 or through other potential projects.
“YSEALI will provide me with the experience, relevant skills and networking opportunities that will definitely help to enhance the outcome and impact of projects that I involve myself in,” said Lai.
“I wish to create life-changing opportunities for our youths and empower them towards building a better community, and a better nation.”
Michael Teoh, founder of Thriving Talents, is involved in training high-achieving youths around the region.
“These are youths with ambitions, plans and the boldness to do something constructive for their nations. The YSEALI programme helps to empower them with the skills in leadership and organisation that will enable them to succeed in becoming practical leaders in the future.”
Drake Weisert of the US Embassy in KL said some of the SUSI programmes will continue to be offered, as they are separate from the new YSEALI Academic Fellows and Professional Fellows programmes.
“People who have participated in SUSI programmes in the past can apply for the YSEALI, but priority will go to applicants who have not already travelled to the United States,” he said.
Specific YSEALI Fellowship programmes involving various initiatives will be launched through Facebook.
Details at https://www.facebook.com/youngsoutheastasianleaders or https://youngsoutheastasianleaders.state.gov