21st October 2009 to 26th October 2009
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Having been representing The Singapore Scout Association (SSA) previously at the 5th Asia-Pacific Region (APR) Scout Youth Forum and 10th World Scout Youth Forum and Conference as a youth delegate, I was more than glad to return for another APR Youth Forum. But this time, it's a little different.
A quick historical background: I have been Scouting since 1995, but only joined Rovering in 2006. I was already 24 by then - a ripe old age for Rovers. Rovering is till 26 of age, so I guessed no harm in joining and that's how I got involved the 1st National Rover Council. So I only had three years, but surprisingly I experienced the best of Scouting in these three years. And of course, the World Scout Youth Forum was my last forum as a delegate for I'm already 27.
Being 27, I was definitely not eligible as a delegate, and mind you I was only overaged by less than a damn month... However I was helping a few of the Rovers to prepare for the forum when one day very close to the start of the event, I received an email from my dear friend Manabu. He was asking whether I was free to attend the forum as an input speaker for the Scouts of the World Award (SWA) and help out as a staff. Hell yeah! Flashback: At this point of time I'm working free-lance so no definite schedule and of course I was open! This was a chance not to be missed. It was a transition from being past forum delegate to being part of the team that helps to organise and contribute back to the forum. A rewarding experience it is.
What came next was a mess. Invitation usually covers the fees for the forum etc, but due to some miscommunication and delay, I was not officially confirmed for the event till about 1pm the day before the start of the forum! I called the airline and was not allowed to book for my flight there so I bought only the return flight. Packed my bag, 'flew' to the airport, bought my ticket and there I was in KL by 8pm. Seven crazy hours...
Once I was there, I immediately found so many of my old friends! And Karin (One of the World Youth Advisors) was also there! I got settled into my room and then headed out with the folks to enjoy the night before preparing for the forum.
Well, the forum was not so much different from the one in Japan except for the location and the logistics nightmares which really kinda challenged us. But eventually the whole team of staff, including the YAMGs, figured things out and made it work. I did my presentation on the third day of the forum and was then later further discussion during the break-out sessions that followed. The response was well-received and even after the forum ended, I gotten occasional emails in regards to attending the workshop in Singapore. I guess APR is now getting into the momentum of the SWA programme.
We, youths in APR always try to find something interesting to do. In the last forum in Japan, all the participants folded a thousand cranes which signify good luck, and sent it to a temple. This time we got involved in 350.org. The third day of the forum coincide with the International Day of Climate Action. So we got all the forum participants to fold a total of 350 hearts and pen down environmental messages on each one of them. Eventually the hearts were arranged to form a bigger one and this is the following is what you get!
Photo by Hyungkyu Jang
Once again, everything has to come to an end, and for some of us, much earlier as we were not moving on to the conference sadly. We bade farewell to all our fellow Scouters, only to hope to see each other again someday. Maybe at the next forum in Bangladesh.
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