3rd Newsletter1

Volume 1, Issue 3

Taymun Conference 2009

26 July 2009

The Tay-tarik The Closing of the Door

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Closing of the Door

1

3 Councils Showdown

1

Mr Amir Mohammad Meets

2

the Delegates Sec-Gen for 3 Days

3

Love Us, Hate Us, the Press

4

Press Team Editor-in-Chief: Shasha Fernandez Sub Editor

: Joseph Seo

Reporters

: Elsha Liew : Joanne Phua

Photographer : Darshini Kana

As the delegates took their seats, the closing ceremony for Taymun Conference 2009 was about to begin. The performances for the event were nothing short of spectacular. Both the Dance club and Music club of Taylor’s had left the crowd in awe with their performances. First on the speaker’s list was Secretary General, Yap Wern Sheng who thanked everyone for coming and specially thanking all the delegates who made the conference a true success. President of Taymun, Kershia Tan also thanked everyone for coming and hoped to see all for the next Taymun conference. Mr George Easton Hanna, teacher adviser of Taymun also shared some of his thoughts on the values and experiences that can be

gained through an MUN conference. Delegates from the floor were also invited to share their experience with everyone. Joshua and James, delegates of Russia and USA respectively(SC), came forth and had concluded that they had an awesome time. The “Best delegate award” was given out to two of the most outstanding delegates from each committee. Don’t fret if you didn’t get the award , though. There’s always the next Taymun Conference! So, we really do hope to see all of you there. It has been an amazing 3 days for most of us and the experiences gained are without a doubt, incredibly valuable. So keep it up, MUNers! The closing ceremony came to a close as Secretary General Yap Wern Sheng and with a

pound of the gavel, the 2nd Taymun Conference came to an end. Thank you Chair and honourable delegates!

3 Councils Showdown Initially meant solely for delegates for SOCUM and DISEC, the Security Council unexpectedly showed up for the General Assembly, fully armored and ready to wreak havoc whenever the situation allowed them. The assembly started with SOCUM’s resolution regarding death penalty. The Security Council was proved omnipotent when

the delegate of Russia, USA, France and China gave some convincing polemics that had all delegates voting AGAINST the resolution in no time, including the submitter of the resolution herself. Fortunately, the next resolution by DISEC regarding the abolishment of nuclear energy was rescued by the majority votes from DISEC

members, despite Security Council’s futile vetoes. It was a witty, dramatic event with many young talents displayed. Truly an event worth partaking and observing!

The Tay-tarik

Page 2

Mr. Amir Mohammad Meets the entertaining and down-toNot many of the younger eroticism of the Delegates

“Sometimes things that are not there is more interesting than things that are.”

generation of Malaysia may have any idea about who Mr Amir Muhammad is. However, those who care to delve into the fray of Malaysian politics and social controversies would most likely come across his name on the web or even watched some of his films. Mr Muhammad was obliging enough to come to Taylor’s on 25 July 2009, the second day of our TAYMUN conference to give a talk. At first glance, Mr Muhammad seems like the normal Malaysian dude – casual tee, cargo pants, and an affable grin along with ‘fobby’ glasses. Nevertheless, Mr Amir obviously has a deep love of Malaysia, although he admitted that years ago as a college student, he wanted nothing more than to escape Malaysia. This led to his leaving his supposedly set career path in law, and into film school. Mr Muhammad has made a few films that trigger one to think outside of the clichés we hold in society. Some notable ones are “Apa Khabar Orang Kampung’ and ‘The Last Communist’ which are currently banned from Malaysia, so one can probably guess at how much of an impact the films could make to Malaysian society, hence the ban. Mr Amir was very

earth, regaling the audiences with excerpts from his book of ‘100 Malaysian Words’ – words that are used commonly in Malaysia but never elsewhere. Among them were, “Bapak kau! – a short form from the insult ‘kepala bapak kau!’” and “ah kuah” – which means a transvestite; origins of the word is unknown. “Perhaps Ah Kuah was the first transvestite and bequeathed the name to this ‘colourful tribe.’” The audience’s reaction pretty much proved that Malaysian slang is relished with glee within Malaysia, despite the criticism of foreigners toward our Manglish. Below is some of the questions from the session between the audience and Mr Muhammad: Q:Will we ever get to see the picture of a prison? (which he showed in his short sketch during his talk)

A:It’s not that interesting. Just a wooden picture. Sometimes things that are not there is more interesting than things that are. That’s the reason behind the controversy of the

tudung, isn’t it?

Q: You said you’re not a political activist, but your film itself refers to the ISA. A: You need to be hard working and you don’t have much humour (he amended his statement after that.) You dedicate your life to this. I think we’re constrained that we’re loyal to a party but it’s not about that, it’s about citizenship, we still need to get to that stage. What I mean is, I’m not interested in party politics.

Q: Do you have any upcoming films? A: Yes, it’s called ‘120 malay movies’ which is about some of the Malay movies from 1942 – 1970. You guys can read about it on http://15malaysia.co m

The Tay-tarik

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Sec-Gen for 3 Days… 1. Which was your favourite part of the whole conference? Tough question. Favorite part of conference was when I got to be the delegate of Canada in the SOCHUM committee...Food analogies never grow old.

2. What's the best piece of advice you ever got? Study Hard, Play Hard. Although I tend to give a priority to the latter...

3. What were the perks of being the Sec-Gen? The benefits of [being] a secretary general is like being a chair, delegate, and a press officer in all committees (without having to do all research). Despite the power, Sec Gens are mediators of the conference. Decorum has to be maintained at all times.

4. Pancakes or waffles? French Fries!

5. Any embarrassing moments? Nothing to be embarrassed about when chilling with TAYMUN delegates, but I guess [there were] some momentary lapses…[I] thought the Canadian Ambassador was talking to me in his speech and I said 'HI!"

6. Will you miss us? =P Will miss you as much as you will miss me(allot)!! Very unique blend of delegates, from the Delegate of Australia of SOCHUM, USA of DISEC and Japan of Security Council. I hope to see you in the next MUN Conference! X D

“French Fries”

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Taylor’s Model United Nations Taylor’s University College,

The Tay-tarik

Love Us, Hate Us, the Press

1, Jalan SS15/8, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Tell us what you think! We’d love to hear from you. E-mail taymun.maincampus@gm ail.com

For 3 days, we have covered the conference, offering unrestricted (98% raw coverage to be exact) news to the delegates of the Model United Nations. Needless to say, we were merciless. But hey, it’s in our blood and in the press’s image. Moving on, to all delegates, it has been a pleasure to write about your most embarrassing moments

We’re on the Web!

www.taymunconference0 9.blogspot.com

and may we be able to meet again. Furthermore, for any points of information, right to reply, clarification, etc. please refer to the hyperlink provided on the left of this article. Happy reading!