Reflections on Indonesia Model United Nations
I was at Universitas Indonesia, at the outskirts of Jakarta, from 23-27th October to attend Indonesia's very first Model United Nations.
This was my very first model united nations (MUN), and actually the main reason I signed up for it was to get an excuse to go to Indonesia.
In general, the idea of a MUN is to develop and vote in a resolution for a certain topic. We had 2 topics: Developing nuclear energy and renewable energy. So our very first task was to debate on which topic to talk about. It was quite amusing that we spent half a day debating that. Each of us represents a country and we have to speak on behalf of their national interest while trying to get the other delegates to agree with us. Given that the speeches are limited to 1 or 2 minutes, it was no mean feat.
By the second day, I was part of a large alliance who had drafted out a draft resolution that seemed to meet the needs of all countries. However, there was a lot of disagreement over one of the points in the draft resolution about forming an OPEC-style body to regulate uranium prices. We spent a lot of time debating about the pros and cons of this idea without much avail. Only in retrospect did I understand why: distrust.
The idea of the "body" was just a red herring. The delegates opposing us were also those who opposed the spread of nuclear power and preferred encouraging countries to shift towards renewable energy. They were suspicious of our intentions and thought we wanted to make money out of nuclear energy --- which was absolutely untrue! Yet, because we couldn't look beyond the topic at the larger picture, we lost the opportunity to reach deeper and to target the false perception.
I think this applies even in daily conversation. Very often, we focus at the content and not the intent of a statement. I think Ms Lim gave the example of someone saying "my boss sucks", when he actually means that he has problems working with his boss. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who will launch into a debate on whether the boss really sucks, rather than try to understand why the person cannot connect with his boss. Well I guess, practise makes better...
This was my very first model united nations (MUN), and actually the main reason I signed up for it was to get an excuse to go to Indonesia.
In general, the idea of a MUN is to develop and vote in a resolution for a certain topic. We had 2 topics: Developing nuclear energy and renewable energy. So our very first task was to debate on which topic to talk about. It was quite amusing that we spent half a day debating that. Each of us represents a country and we have to speak on behalf of their national interest while trying to get the other delegates to agree with us. Given that the speeches are limited to 1 or 2 minutes, it was no mean feat.
By the second day, I was part of a large alliance who had drafted out a draft resolution that seemed to meet the needs of all countries. However, there was a lot of disagreement over one of the points in the draft resolution about forming an OPEC-style body to regulate uranium prices. We spent a lot of time debating about the pros and cons of this idea without much avail. Only in retrospect did I understand why: distrust.
The idea of the "body" was just a red herring. The delegates opposing us were also those who opposed the spread of nuclear power and preferred encouraging countries to shift towards renewable energy. They were suspicious of our intentions and thought we wanted to make money out of nuclear energy --- which was absolutely untrue! Yet, because we couldn't look beyond the topic at the larger picture, we lost the opportunity to reach deeper and to target the false perception.
I think this applies even in daily conversation. Very often, we focus at the content and not the intent of a statement. I think Ms Lim gave the example of someone saying "my boss sucks", when he actually means that he has problems working with his boss. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who will launch into a debate on whether the boss really sucks, rather than try to understand why the person cannot connect with his boss. Well I guess, practise makes better...
The Phoney Bustard carpped on9:34 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the sharing, Yi Han! I didn't expect to get to read this post so quickly!
It seemed like a very fruitful trip, opening your eyes to the challenges faced in the world's increasing energy demands, and how trust is an important aspect of cooperative and collaborative work in seeking alternative answers.
I particularly like the example you shared on the importance of active listening, and how it can improve mutual understanding. The debaters were probably busy trying to formulate responses to what was said that they missed the underlying message.
You do write interesting posts, Yi Han. Am curious if you will continue blogging?
Haha. I'm trying to start a pen & paper journal. I think my life is too hectic for me to be able to do blogging. At least for journal, I can do it in the bus =P
I see.
Though it is a pity in the sense that we won't get to read your interesting posts...
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