SINGAPORE: Yale-NUS College hosted its first Asia-Pacific Model United Nations conference over the weekend. Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam was there on Sunday (Jan 25) for the closing ceremony.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/yale-nus-college-hosts/1614836.html
“We hope that this conference, this set of discussions, would be one small step into that evolution into making each of you a leader, in whichever country you come from, including Singapore. The idealism of the youth has got to be captured in its full essence for us to progress humanity,” Mr Shanmugam said.
About 1,200 local and international delegates took part in the event, which is a simulation of a UN conference. One key focus was Singapore’s role and progression among its international counterparts.
The conference also hosted an ASEAN Regional Forum – conducted in Mandarin to give participants who are less proficient in English a chance to participate. There was also an Iran Hostage Crisis Committee, which let delegates assume the roles of the US and Iranian provisional governments.
Walter Yeo, student organiser of the Yale-NUS Asia-Pacific Model United Nations 2015, said: “We really wanted to bring a realistic feel of the United Nations to Singapore. And we believe that there’s a lot to learn from such a simulation, but there’s never been such quality in Singapore before. And that was what we really wanted to do, to develop Yale-NUS as an international relations hub.”
