Malaysia Forum

NMF Gathering in KL, Saturday 27th June, 10am San Francisco Coffee KLCC

joyce — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:10:51 +0000

Why we’re meeting

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware that we’re meeting this Saturday (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=117094501538&ref=mf).

Why?

To catch up. To socialize. Because we can.

But also, more importantly for NMF, to discuss NMF’s future.

It’s been an exciting few years for NMF. We’ve held 2 successful forums, with a total attendance of over 200. We’ve discussed a great many issues, and heard from many wonderful speakers. We’ve had some great conversations, and made lots of new friends.

But where do we go from here?

NMF: Meta Forum

So we’re forum-ing to talk about NMF.

Specifically, we want to find out:

* Where should we go from here?
* What is NMF’s focus?
* Can we find a focus that is suitable, attainable and valuable? Something that we can do well, have the resources to do and is well worth doing?
* What have we done best in the past?
* How do we continue making that better?
* What does this focus imply for our future structure, activities and culture?

In a nutshell, what do we want NMF to become?

How?

In the spirit of NMF, we propose to answer these questions the NMF way: through broad-minded dialogue across multiple channels and media.

Part of this entails making this dialogue as inclusive as possible. This means we are especially interested in hearing from:

* Those who might not be able to join us in person.
* Those who have yet to be directly involved with NMF in a planning/organizational capacity.
* Those who feel like they have a great idea, but haven’t yet had the opportunity to share it.

Let’s talk.

If you’re coming to our meeting, come prepared with ideas and a willingness to listen!

If you’re not, here’s what you can do:

* Send in your ideas! E-mail us at northeastmalaysiaforum@gmail.com, or fill in the feedback form at http://feedback.revision2020.org/.
* Tune in to our live channel at http://revision2020.org. We’ll be taking live online notes at the meeting, and hosting discussion online at the same time.

We need everyone’s input to make this work.

So let’s talk! Feel free to draw from your personal experiences, your knowledge of MF (past and present), and your take on the world around NMF.

But also, let’s listen, deeply, to what we each have to say. And see what we can agree on, as well as what we can agree to act upon.

June 27th, 10am KL time (10pm Friday EST)

See you then.

Note: KL time does not mean Malaysian time.

NMF 2009 schedule

johnleemk — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:26:31 +0000

NMF 2009 is less than a week away! Here is the planned schedule of events and list of speakers for the main conference in Yale University:

Tentative NMF 2009 schedule (subject to change):

Fri (Apr. 10), 8pm: Informal welcome/registration and mingling. Dinner not provided.
Sat (Apr. 11), 8am: Breakfast and assembly, followed shortly by welcome address.
- 8.30-9.15: Dina Zaman
- 9.15-10.00 KJ & Yusmadi
- 10.00-10.30 break/overflow from KJ&Y
- 10.30-11.15 Khalid Samad
- 11.15-12.00 Dr. Fatimah
- 12.00-1.00 informal session with speakers. Q&A
- 1.00-4.00 Lunch in discussion groups.
- 4.00-5.00 tea break and “Speakers Corner” for participants to share their own research/ideas pertaining to Malaysia and its development.
- 5.00-6.00 groups wrap up their discussion and consolidate their findings.
- 6pm Break
- 7.30 dinner with Yale Southeast Asian Council (business casual)
Sun morning (Apr 12): 8-9am Breakfast
- 9am Presentation from discussion groups
- Target end time: 12-1pm. End with feedback/postmortem, and invitation to donate.

Confirmed speaker list:

Dina Zaman, author and working for My Future Foundation
Khairy Jamaluddin, MP for Rembau and newly elected UMNO Youth president
Yusmadi Yusoff, MP for Balik Pulau
Khalid Samad, MP for Shah Alam
Dr. Fatimah Harun, paediatric endocrinologist at UM Medical Centre

Please note this is a tentative schedule and may be subject to change. The most up to date schedule will always be available here on the website.

Registration deadline April 4th

joyce — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:43:20 +0000

Dear NMF 2009 subscribers,

Registration for NMF 2009 will close on April 4th, 2009. Please register before then!

Because we are providing free accommodation for NMF 2009 this year in a New Haven hotel, we unfortunately had to put a limit on the number of registered participants. Accommodation will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, so please register ASAP to avoid paying for your own accommodation.

Thanks!

NMF 2009 Committee

Registration for NMF 2009 open!

johnleemk — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:56:36 +0000

Dear fellow Malaysians,

The Northeast Malaysia Forum 2009 (NMF 2009) is just about a month away. Below are the details of this year’s event.

Venue: Yale University, New Haven CT, and various locations worldwide (please see the “how can you participate?” section below).

Date: April 10-12, 2009

Theme: ReVision 2020: Malaysia 2.0

What is NMF 2009?

NMF 2009 is an opportunity for us to live out the Malaysia we want to see.

Think of it as a game. A game of people living out an ideal discussion, and communicating without barriers or prejudice. We’ll provide the space, the technology and the guidelines. We only ask that you bring your experiences and enthusiasm.

What kind of game?

Let’s imagine ourselves as Malaysians 2.0 and seek to act and communicate accordingly. How would Malaysians in an idealized Vision 2020 think and interact with one another? We ask you to bring this mindset to the table during NMF 2009.

What is the purpose of the game?

Most of us have had discussions about Malaysian issues with friends over teh tarik, in the blogosphere, and so on. While these discussions are necessary, they tend to stop at the level of talk – what one might call the Kopitiam syndrome.

We hope that NMF 2009 will be different. We won’t stop talking, as the whole point of NMF 2009 is to talk, but we hope to exemplify certain virtues in our discussion, to make it more than just another Kopitiam conversation.

How will we do this, or, what are the rules of the game?

The goals of NMF 2009 can be summed up in three Es:

1. Engagement: A discussion open to all, welcoming of as many perspectives as possible. The underlying belief: it is better to engage in dialogue and to seek a common ground for all, than to remain in apathy.

2. Empathy: A place for understanding on a human level, not just on an intellectual one. Participants will be encouraged to understand not only the thoughts, but also the values and feelings of others. In other words, we aim to learn what makes other Malaysians tick, and to take this into account while deliberating issues.

3. Effect: A discussion that results in solidarity translating into collective action, building off what everyone can agree on. Minimally, however, we seek a discussion that exemplifies democracy in the truest sense – one that helps the many to develop sensitivity to each other, as citizens of Malaysia.

At the end of the (three) day(s), what is all this for?

Our theme for 2009 is ReVision 2020: Malaysia 2.0. As the new generation of Malaysians, our goal for NMF 2009 is to agree on a new, common Vision. The VisionWiki, edited and contributed to by NMF participants all over the world, will be our combined creation. It will be a collective individual pledge, which we can hold as a shared foundation upon which to continue building our country. Please read this for more information on the VisionWiki.

How can you participate?

1. Attend the forum held in Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Register on the website. Accommodation will be provided in a hotel close to the Yale campus, which will make it easier for participants to socialize and network. We will provide all meals for the weekend, except for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch. Unfortunately, transportation subsidies will not be provided.

2. Attend one of the many Global Forums held around the world. For a brief explanation of the Global Forums, and information on the forum closest to your location, please refer to the website. If there is no forum near you, and you would like to lead one, please email us at northeastmalaysiaforum@gmail.com with the heading “Global Forum”.

We hope that you will participate! Please spread the word to others who might be interested – whether they are in the United States or anywhere else in the world.

Be part of the global Northeast Malaysia Forum 2009!

Sincerely,
The NMF 2009 team
http://www.malaysiaforum.org/nmf/
northeastmalaysiaforum (at) gmail (dot) com

NMF 2009 is coming!

johnleemk — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:48:02 +0000

Stay tuned, because the Northeast Malaysia Forum will be back this coming spring! More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. You can subscribe to updates if you’d like to find out when we next update the site!

Video footage from NMF 2008

johnleemk — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:05:07 +0000

Many thanks to Sam Chua Yale ‘08 for helping with the videos on the US side:

Joyce’s opening speech

Azly Rahman

Prem Chandran

Tony Fernandes

Malik Imtiaz

Bridget Welsh
Video I: Talk

Video II: Q&A

Meredith Weiss

Karim Raslan

Zainah Anwar

Sim Tze Tzin

Jeff Ooi

You can also check out the raw footage from the Malaysian side.

Malaysia Side Speaker Videos (unedited)

jiinjoo — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:53:28 +0000

Thank you Yang Jerng for finally putting together something. This is just to link it back from its right place.

Day 1

01 – test
02 – premesh chandran
03 – premesh disappears
04 – premesh returns
05 – premesh again
06 – premesh qna
07 – mark chang qna
08 – mark more qna
09 – colin nicholas
10 – colin nicholas qna
11 – karim raslan
12 – karim qna
13 – karim more qna

Day 2

14 – test
15 – more test
16 – tony fernandes
17 – tony qna
18 – malik imtiaz waiting
19 – malik talking qna
20 – malik more qna

Disclaimer: If you’re new to this, do note that this is a video conferencing, unedited (includes tests), and probably more amusing at its current state than inspiring. The US side videos would come later.

Photos (videos soon to come!)

johnleemk — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:37:41 +0000

We will be uploading videos from the conference to YouTube soon enough, so if you were hoping to catch the speakers and other proceedings after the conference, just sit tight for a little longer. In the mean time, we have a bunch of photos from Boston to whet your appetite. A big thank you to our photographer/videographer Sam Chua, Yale ‘08. His photos of the event can be found here. If you have an account on Facebook, several participants have uploaded their own photos of the event, which can be viewed here.

What We Missed (But You Won’t)

johnleemk — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:24:07 +0000

So, as you might have noticed, our web team was not quite able to keep up with the fast pace of events here in Boston. Technical glitches + sleep-deprivation + room reservation mishaps = harried and stressed out committee. So, we missed a lot of things, and the things we did not miss were posted much after the fact. We were also not quite able to keep up with the sessions enough to fully transcribe them.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find any. In particular, the Malaysian side has done a great job covering what’s happened, especially back home. On ReCom, Chen Chow covered much of what happened on the first day. On his blog, Chen Chow covered the second-day teleconferencing sessions — Tony Fernandes and Malik Imtiaz. Meanwhile, Hafiz blogged (with pictures!!!) about Karim Raslan and the second-day teleconferencees. A gigantenormous thank you to these two awesome guys! We will try to get more information about the conference proceedings online in the following days, so do stay tuned.

Sim Tze Tzin

johnleemk — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:00:27 +0000

Sim Tze Tzin, co-founder of the original Stanford Malaysia Forum, followed Jeff Ooi in teleconferencing from Penang, where he was recently elected as the state assemblyman for Pantai Jerejak. Sim opened by speaking about the contributions of student leaders who eventually radically changed the course of history like Sun Yat Sen and Mahatma Gandhi. Sim was quick to dismiss the suggestion that Malaysia might need a radical revolution; however, he made it clear that he believes “the country is not going in the right direction”.

He moved on to describe the founding of the Stanford Malaysia Forum one bitter California winter four years ago. “Stuck in a coffee shop,” he and a few others resolved that they needed a space for overseas students to engage in dialogue about the home country we all care for. He put it as a “spirit of civil society,” where we begin first with discussion, and continue on to form small projects to improve the country and maybe later fully “engage in the nation-building process,” as he and Jeff have done.