Memories of youthful talents in Indonesia
International youth conferences, both in Africa and other continents, are usually great opportunities for talented and intelligent youths to showcase their collective ideas, which contribute to decision making and the implementation of different policies across the globe. This year’s conference was not only about getting together to join hands and draw strength for positive change […]
International youth conferences, both in Africa and other continents, are usually great opportunities for talented and intelligent youths to showcase their collective ideas, which contribute to decision making and the implementation of different policies across the globe.
This year’s conference was not only about getting together to join hands and draw strength for positive change in the society, as well as achieve great networking or connectivity among the youth, it was a great opportunity to observe a woman with a mindset to establish a non-governmental organisation with a different dimension, goal and vision.
Since 2010, Julia Kinash and her talented Youth Time team – employees, people who work with her in her head office in Prague and other professional youth ambassadors from different countries, have been engaged to demonstrate a positive change with talented youths. The aim of this team is to provide an alternative platform for the youth around the world to bring their ideas and projects, provide information on the most interested and vibrant initiatives, with a goal to creating more dialogue, knowledge in the areas of education for peace and sustainable development among the youth in different countries.
Ms. Kinash has contributed many ideas and zeal towards changing the world, by transforming the youth to realise their dreams early in life.
The event
Organisers of the Youth Global Forum gathered over 100 youths from different countries and gave them the opportunity to challenge themselves and present their project ideas for evaluation. Each shortlisted candidate had the opportunity to win a grant and scholarship at different universities and business schools.
The event was organised by the Youth Time International Movement, in conjunction with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Prague and the IPMI International Business School, Indonesia.
The general partners of the event are the government of Jakarta, ESEI International Business School, Barcelona; Zagreb School of Business in Croatia, with additional support by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Indonesian Future Leaders and Youth for Climate Change, Indonesia.
About the city of Jakarta
The topic for this year’s conference, “The Interdependence between Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship – Creating a Sustainable Environment for Social Development through Technological Innovation,” was carefully chosen to align with the situation in Jakarta, where sustainability is one of the major concerns. As such, the Youth Time Movement selected the city as a case study in Indonesia. Sustainability was, therefore, at the heart of discussions during the conference.
The Republic of Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, comprising 17,508 islands. As at September 2016, the country had a population of 260 million people and more than 200 ethnic and linguistic groups. Also, it is the world’s fourth most populous country. The Island of Java contains more than half of the country’s population. The national language of the people is Bahasa Indonesia. Indonesia’s national motto – Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) – articulates the diversity that shapes the country.
Asked how the country successfully united over 200 ethnic groups with different religions and cultures and thousands of Islands, those who spoke to our reporter said the media was the catalyst and agent of change. According to them, the future of any nations lies in the hands of young people. No country can move forward without proper investment in education and employment for the youth as this is a way of bringing up future leaders. In fact, Jakarta as the capital city of Indonesia is not only the seat of the national government, it is the political centre of the country and the hub of finance and trade; hence the city is always lively. It is home to over 10 million people during the day, and the number increases as commuters make their way to work. In the evening, human and vehicular traffic reduces as people retire to their respective homes. Our reporter, who arrived the city late at night, observed that there was no traffic jam. But the situation was quite different the following day. On our way to the IPMI International Business School in Kalibata during the peak hours of the day, it was observed that luxurious buses, countless motorbikes and other vehicles struggled for available spaces on narrow streets. The city has a combination of people with different cultures – Arabians, Indians, Javanese, Europeans, etc.
The conference started with an opening session by officials. Participants were encouraged and presented opportunities for networking. Experts also inspired and motivated the youth with ways of becoming successful leaders of tomorrow.
Officials who spoke during the opening session include the president of the Youth Time Movement, Ms. Julia Kinash and Mr. Wahono Yulianto (Indonesia), first secretary, Social and Cultural Affairs of the Embassy of Indonesia in Prague.
The plenary session opened with keynote speeches from Ms. Grace Sabandar (Indonesia), the chief executive officer of Global Business Services/founder of Ambassador, and the chief executive officer of Club/Top 50 Asia’s Women Leaders, 2016, and the assistant secretary of the Social Welfare of the government of Jakarta, Mr. Fatahillah (Indonesia).
Delivering a speech, president of the IPMI International Business School, Mr. Jimmy Gani (Indonesia), said young people had enough courage to solve social issues with creativity.
Immediately after lunch, shortlisted candidates were called to present their projects, with Thomas Wanker (Australia), who is an expert, as moderator. Mark Thomson (UK), expert, and Mr. Jimmy Gani (Indonesia), the chief executive officer of IPMI International Business School, evaluated projects from the following youths: Ajay Etikala (India), whose project idea was working on organic farmers and connecting them to direct markets so that their incomes increase and many more farmers join for organic farming; Anton Mironenko (Russia), with a project idea on knowledge sharing/online database of scientific work; Irvanjiyas Sanyaya (Indonesia), whose project focuses on training disabled people on how to produce local fabrics; Nguyen Thuy Ngan (Vietnam), whose project was how to create clean energy application for rural areas in Vietnam; Naveen Candhary (India) – his project was titled Co-edification/Connecting Students and Parents; Sri Wahyuningsih (Indonesia); whose project was how to develop liquid organic fertilizer for farmers, and Olga Lakhnova (Russian), whose project was on senior to junior/ isolation of the elderly by educating young people.
After the shortlisted candidates presented their projects and ideas, votes were cast to choose the final winners.
All the participants, especially the shortlisted candidates, focused on winning the grants. Throughout our journey back to the hotel, discussions inside the bus and during dinner were on prospective winners.
There were different categories of prizes offered by the IPMI Business School, Jakarta, as well as fully supported scholarships for bachelor or masters’ degrees – one year bachelor or master’s degree in ESEI Business School, Barcelona, and one year bachelor or master’s scholarship in Zagreb School of Business.
All the workshops and masters’ classes offered at the conference helped participants with different ideas to increase their potentials and professional growth in their day-to-day activities. Masters’ classes were held with talented people like Ir. Amelia Naim, with the topic, Business as Agent for World Benefit, and Mr. Mark Thomson, also on the topic: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Thomson is from ESEI Business School, Barcelona, Spain.
During the masters’ classes, the Youth Time Movement also increased participants’ knowledge about project management and self-educational skills.
The conference was another eye-opener on youthful dreams, which we all have. We aim at becoming the best at something, be it in school, sporting environments and other places. Also, you may have dreamt of improving your financial situation and social skills. In Indonesia, my dream of being in the midst of different people from different backgrounds who would bring different ideas to solve different problems for real change was achieved. My journey to Indonesia to share ideas on entrepreneurship and technology was a big dream achieved, just as it was for other youths. It was a great opportunity for self development as a change maker. It was exciting to work hand-in-hand with the Youth Time Movement to advocate change. It was also interesting to share stories on youth empowerment and professional support policies.
For me, it was also an emotional journey as it was stressed that youth empowerment and professionalism are not only the responsibility of the government, the private sector, politicians, the media and other organisations, it is up to all of us to take action and invest in young people through proper education and advocacy so that they can be masters of their environment.
During a masters’ class with a facilitator, Mr. Ramdani Sirait, an Indonesian, on the topic, “The Importance of Partnership in Creating a Sustainable Community Programme, he said the Indonesian government had a monumental achievement through media partnership. He said the media was the number one change maker that transformed sex workers in the country, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. This was achieved through anti stigmatisation campaign programmes, in conjunction with media organisations. The focus of the campaign was on the fact that every individual in this world endeavours to achieve happiness and tranquility. We struggle day and night to achieve this dream. There is the need to stand up as leaders and stop the pains and suffering of our future leaders (the youth). It was agreed that our main focus should not be on how to invest billions of different currencies, but rather on how we can establish a solid foundation for our society by building a good foundation for our future leaders.
The masters’ classes ended after lunch, with facilitators like Mr. Jonathan Fritzler (USA), Mr. Dushko Bojoski (Macedonia), Ms. Daria Lapshina (Russia), Aleksej Stepanov (Serbia). After that, participants gathered in one classroom, with Youth Time ambassadors at the frontlines and challenging sessions (mini-trainings, creative workshops) were conducted. During the learning sessions, techniques such as learning-by-doing, teaching-is-learning, as well as other efficient non-formal education approaches, like how can we plan and create an opportunity for young people to become part of the Youth Time family, which intends to act as an open-minded community to help in making the world better, were used.
Award ceremony/excursion
At a museum in the old city centre, participants met different historians who lectured on the history of Indonesia.
Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which offers business opportunities and has potentials for a higher standard of living, attracts peoples from all over the country, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures.
The Jakarta History Museum
There are a number of museums in Jakarta. According to historians, some of the museums were established in 1778. We visited the Fatahillah Museum, which has a beautiful Dutch colonial building.
When participants returned from an excursion to the Cultural City, we moved to Bolai Kota for the final ceremony. The Gala dinner was hosted by the Jakarta Capital City Government in honour of all the participants of the Youth Global Forum, 2016. It was during the dinner that the final winners of the shortlisted projects were announced. The winners were Olga Lakhnova (Russia) – Realisation grant for the project (7000 EUR), fully funded scholarship at ESEI Business School, Barcelona (Spain). Name of project: Senior to Junior/Fight Isolation of Elderly by Educating the Young.
Second winner: Ajay Etikala (India)
Prize: Fully funded scholarship at IPMI International Business School, Jakarta (Indonesia)
Name of project: Organic Ubuntu /Connecting Farmers (whose project idea was working on organic farmers and connecting them to direct markets so that their incomes increase and many more farmers join for organic farming.)
Third winner: Ngan Nguyen (Vietnam)
Prize: One semester scholarship at Zagreb School of Business (Croatia)
Name of project: Clean energy application for rural areas in Vietnam
People’s choice award
Winner: Irvandias Sanjaya (Indonesia)
Prize: cash of 700 EUR
Name of project: D’Era-GON / Disability Goes on Development
After the awards ceremony, youths and other participants said the conference was amazing. It was a conglomeration of ideas from Africa, the Middle East, USA, Europe and Asia. Participants from Africa were also impressed with the organisation of the conference and are looking forward to next year.