A guideline to the Southeast Asia American Alumni Conference 2012 (SEAL 2012)

Summit Overview
As participants selected by the U.S. Embassies in your respective countries, we are very much honored to have you at the Southeast Asia-American Alumni Conference as youth leaders and future world leaders. This conference will focus on Youth Empowerment with Integrity as its theme. To prepare the youth to become true leaders of their countries and to foster international co-operation, the conference will have discussions on various current issues to encourage regional unity, stimulate the exchange of ideas on global or regional problems as well as ensure that young leaders today are equipped with the necessary knowledge and awareness of the worlds problems to make a significant difference to the region. The conference will hold discussions for each subtopic of three themes (as listed below); that address a broad spectrum of issues across the social, economic and democratic frontiers respectively. PARTICIPANTS ARE REQUIRED TO GIVE ONE OVERVIEW FOR EACH THEME OF SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT OF THEIR COUNTRIES AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH THEME FOR BACKGROUND UNDERSTANDING. NOTE THAT EACH PRESENTATION MUST NOT TAKE MORE THAN 2 MINUTES. THEME 1: GROWING THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN SOCIETY (SOCIAL ISSUES) Topics: Brain Drain: Increasing and retaining human capital in the region. Revamping Education: Incorporating life skills and practical skills to prepare youths for the new world: e.g. Inter personality, public speaking, focus on English Language etc. Environment: Any one topic from a range of environmental issues that can be worked on internationally (e.g. Climate change, carbon taxes etc.)

THEME 2: THE NEW SOUTHEAST ASIAN ECONOMY (ECONOMIC ISSUES) Topics: Income Disparity: Increasing purchasing power of citizens, creating jobs etc. Uneven Development- Rural vs. Urban: Raising living standards for rural areas, balancing development, modernizing trade. Economic Independence of the Southeast Asian Nations: Developing natural local resources, independence from foreign currencies, strengthening currency and purchasing power.

THEME 3: THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN ASEAN (GOVERNMENTAL ISSUES)

Topics: Labour- intensive Migration: Labor needs in different countries and facilitating it via legal immigration.

Social Welfare: Safety nets for the underprivileged, education, unemployment benefits etc Healthcare: Providing all citizens of Southeast Asia with basic healthcare, vaccinations and sanitation.

Participants from each nation will receive an opportunity to open the discussion of a subtopic of their choice with suggested plans for solution. We realize that each subtopic will be of different relevance to each country, so we recommend that participants pick and rank the topics that are most relevant to their countries. A good solution fosters international teamwork, brings the largest benefit possible while doing the least harm. After each presentation for the subtopic, all participants will have the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion to try and reach a mutually beneficial consensus for all. The goal is to address the problem, protect interests of all countries, maintain integrity, and foster co-operation.

STEP 1: DEADLINE TUESDAY, 3 RD APRIL 2012 Rank the three themes in order of preference. Your team will open discussion for subtopics (ranked below in step 2) for at least one but not more than two themes. Eg: Theme 2 (Economy) Theme 1 (Social) Theme 3 (Government)

STEP 2: DEADLINE MONDAY, 3 RD APRIL 2012 Then for each theme, participants pick and rank the three subtopics in order of which they would prefer to open the summit of. Eg: Theme 2 (Economy): 1. Uneven Development 2. Income Disparity 3. Economic Independence 1. Education 2. Environment 3. Brain Drain

Theme 1 (Social):

Theme 3 (Government): 1. Healthcare 2. Social Welfare 3. Migration Please rank order of preference of all nine subtopics for all themes. However, your team will open for a maximum of two subtopics (one per theme) in the entire conference.

Note: Opening the summit requires participant to prepare a position paper, compile research, and make the opening presentation with proposed solution for topic chosen. E-mail the above rank order theme and the subtopic to Marina Tan at marina.hsienwei@gmail.com by Tuesday, 3rd April 2012. STEP 3: UPDATE THURSDAY, 5 TH APRIL 2012 After receiving your inputs, the organizing committee will arrange the schedules for presentation. By April 5th, participants will receive confirmation on presentation topics and other guidelines. Research links will be provided for easy reference. STEP 4: DEADLINE MONDAY, APRIL 9 TH 2012 Participants are required to submit their full position papers to Marina Tan no later than 3 p.m., Malaysian Time (GMT +8) on the 9th April 2012. As mentioned above, a full guideline will be sent out on April 5th.

STEP 5: UPDATE FRIDAY, APRIL 13TH 2012 Final updates will be sent out to all participants by April 13th 2012 detailing the content of the discussion, including but not limited to: Opening participant (name and country represented) for each topic Summarized position paper for initial discussion opening Research links for each topic Notable questions & focus points ahead of the discussion

Please note that while each participant opens for one discussion, all participants are required to have a basic knowledge of all topics given in order to participate actively in the conference. If you have any questions or queries, please direct them to Marina Tan at marina.hsienwei@gmail.com.