Presenting to you our 18th edition of the Projek Amanat Negara XVIII 2021!

The Projek Amanat Negara (PAN) XVIII 2021 will be the 18th student conference to be organised by UKEC. It is an annual initiative that serves as a platform for non-partisan scholarly discussions and intellectual discourse between leading figures of the political, social and economic fields and Malaysian student leaders.

PAN XVIII 2021 will be hosted virtually on the 20th – 21st of February 2021.

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COUNTDOWN TO PAN XVII

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THEME

Malaysia at a Crossroads: What's Next?

This year, we will explore the theme ‘Malaysia at a Crossroads: What’s Next?’ which aims to discuss and predict Malaysia’s trajectory moving forward. We hope to achieve this through the guidance and valuable insights of esteemed speakers. PAN XVIII 2021 will further include breakout sessions where intellectual discourse will take place between delegates and the speakers. This will enhance student engagement, allowing both speakers and delegates to delve into a deeper analysis of the topics presented.

In this year’s PAN, important questions are to be raised and crucial conversations are to be initiated:

  • Are the controversies surrounding Malaysia’s political landscape capable of uniting Malaysians, or are they pulling us further apart?
  • COVID-19 has significantly impeded the education of students worldwide, what does that mean for the future generations of Malaysia?
  • From the complete halt of economic activities as a result of MCO in March 2020 to Belanjawan 2021, how should Malaysia address the deep-rooted structural problems within its economic system, and what should be its long-term goal?

    By presenting students with relevant topics to Malaysia’s current landscape, we aim to attract students through encouraging scholarly discussions and the development of innovative perspectives.

OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

YAM Tunku Zain

PLENARY KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Samuel Isaiah

Closing Keynote Speaker

Prof. Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Session Speakers

YB Yeo Bee Yin

Charles Hector Fernandez

Dr Dzaharudin Mansor

Sessions

Session 1
Youth Unemployment and the Silver Tsunami
With roughly 350,000 fresh graduates entering the job market every year, the government has been struggling to mitigate the lack of job opportunities that are present for our young talents. The impact of the pandemic on youth unemployment is evident; but this issue long predates the arrival of the viral bug. One might attribute the “Silver Tsunami” as a plausible explanation for increasing youth unemployment, whereby the continuous involvement of the ageing population in the workforce might lead to less job openings for the youth.
We hope that the likelihood that the Silver Tsunami actually impacts youth unemployment will be discussed, with the panel also engaging on what measures can be done to deal with rising unemployment in these trying times
Session 2
Covid-19: Handling the Migrant Crisis
Low incomes, precarious jobs, poor living conditions - the pandemic has exacerbated these issues faced by the migrant population. Since the lockdown, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has reported labour violations of migrant workers' rights, which include unpaid wages and unfair termination. Job losses spell further disaster for this already vulnerable community - not only does a migrant worker lose their sole source of income, but their also working pass and permit.
Given our limited resources, to what extent is it justified that the government prioritises its own citizens over migrants in the face of a human rights crisis? Furthermore, how do we ensure the safety of these workers, many of whom are frontliners and essential workers in this pandemic?
Session 3
Integration of Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Workforce
With Malaysia working towards becoming a technology hub in Asia and eventually across the world, the economy must be recalibrated to align with the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Various grants and incentives have been rolled out by the government to encourage the businesses to explore automation in key aspects of the supply chain.
How exactly do companies take the first step into assimilating automation and AI into the workplace? How would this impact work quality in the long run?
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UKEConverse

What is UKEConverse?

UKEConverse is a newly introduced interactive session amongst participants specially designed for the 18th edition of Projek Amanat Negara (PAN). Delegates will participate in intellectual discussions and heated parleys on selected pressing and controversial issues in Malaysia.

The main topics for UKEConverse this time round are Human Rights: A Right to Life, A Sustainable Urbanised Malaysia: Keeping the Cities Green and Malaysia’s Sports: Fair or Foul? Each topic will be branched out to another two subtopics and delegates will be able to discuss both subtopics in their respective sessions.

How Will the Event Be Structured?

Session 1 – Role-Centric

  • The session will start with delegates separated into 4 breakout rooms according to the roles assigned to them and have a discussion on their stance for 10 minutes.
  • Delegates will then be sent back to the main session to have a discourse representing their respective roles.
  • The moderator will guide the discussion by posing relevant questions whilst drawing lines between different arguments and perspectives. 
  • The session will end with the moderator giving a closing speech to wrap up the discussion points and conclude the topic in general. 

 

Session 2 – Traffic Light

  • Delegates will be posed a topic in which they may choose to enter one of two breakout rooms representing the ‘for’ or ‘against’ stances.
  • In the breakout room, delegates will have to discuss the given subtopic for 10 minutes and will come back to the main session with an orange coloured virtual background to reflect a neutral stance (background to be provided by the organisers)
  • In the main session, the moderator will then pose few crises and the delegates will have to change their backgrounds in accordance to their stances – green ‘for’ and red ‘against’.
  • The delegates will then present their arguments on their stance of the crisis with the aim of convincing other delegates to change their perspectives, which again are reflected by the virtual background colour.
  • The session will end with the moderator giving a closing speech to wrap up the discussion points and conclude the topic in general.

Topics

Topic 1
Human Rights: A Right to Life
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings. The right to life and liberty for example, is indispensable in modern day society. With this topic at hand, we will delve into the realms of retrogressive policies which ruffles the sanctity of life: the death penalty and unjust treatments against refugees in Malaysia.
Subtopic 1
The Death Penalty: Should it be Abolished?
The death penalty in Malaysia remains the staple form of capital punishment in this contemporary society. As recent as 2019,the death penalty is currently retained for 33 offences (11 of which was mandatory), with offences of murder and drug trafficking being its main patron in recent years. Amnesty International Malaysia reports that there currently exists 1,281 people (as of February 2019) on death row in Malaysia, held in 26 detention facilities across the country. With the absence of jury trials, the fate of the 1,281 human souls facing the gallows lies solely on the law. Should this arbitrary law of expropriating one’s life regardless of the sins committed be preserved?
Subtopic 2
Refugees in Malaysia: What Of Their Rights?
Refugees have been underpaid, blackmailed, exploited and unable to receive proper education hindered by their statuses. As of December 2020, there are 178,610 refugees registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. About 45,750 amongst that number are children below the age of 18.
Malaysia is one of the largest host countries for ‘refugees’ in Southeast Asia but as Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention nor its Protocol, arrivals are indefinitely classified as ‘illegal immigrants’. Some of the more fortunate are taken into protective shelters yet some of them would have to be deported back to their original country. Be that as it may, the procedures are exhaustive and may potentially have taken up resources that should have been given to, and prioritise the needs of Malaysian citizens first. Having said that, should refugees be given welfare which could be distributed to B40 families in Malaysia given our limited resources?
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Topic 2
A Sustainable Urbanised Malaysia: Keeping the Cities Green
Amidst undergoing a rapid development, can Malaysia strike a balance between achieving a modern urbanised society while conserving our environment? In this topic, we will scrutinise the recent contract termination of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project and its consequences to the country, and examine the impacts of climate change emphasising on the annual monsoon flood. We will then focus on how Malaysia can mitigate and adapt to its effects.
Subtopic 1
Malaysia’s Billion Ringgit Question: The KL-SG HSR Contract termination
Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) was a proposed high-speed railway line to be constructed between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The proposed 350km line would significantly lessen the travel time between the two cities to only 90 minutes, as opposed to a typical four-hour car journey. This marquee project is hailed as a significant milestone for said countries as it is aimed to improve connectivity, and catalyse further economic cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore. However, this aspiration has been recently aborted after both countries failed to reach an agreement on proposed changes by the deadline of December 31 2020. Malaysia has had to bear the a range of consequences that stretch beyond repaying the cost incurred, and more so a missed potential opportunity in further advancing the country. Was it a wise choice?
Subtopic 2
Climate-change induced flood: Saving Malaysians from drowning
In Malaysia, floods are arguably the most common natural disaster and it generates the greatest damage annually. 9% of the total land area in Malaysia (29,000 km²) and 23% of the total urban area are flood-prone with 2.7 million people having become flood victims during 1956–2007 (DID, 2007). Without adequate measures on development control, climate change-induced floods alone may cost the country RM100 million annually, apart from robbing millions of their lives and properties. There are various contributors to the increasing flood risk in Malaysia in terms of environmental factors and urban planning. While the greatest cause of nationwide flooding is the monsoon rain, most of the flash flood events in urban areas are due to anthropogenic causes, with climate change worsening the flood vulnerability in Malaysia over time. How do we create more adaptive solutions to climate change-induced floods to alleviate future destruction from this calamity?
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Topic 3
Malaysia’s Sports: Fair or Foul?
Sports is an important aspect of Malaysian culture and is often seen as a fundamental tool in unifying our country. However as much as it unites us, several issues divide us at the same time. Concerns such as whether the government is allocating funds appropriately and fairly to the different sports in Malaysia, or the emergence of racial bias in the field of sports, could be potential factors on why Malaysia seems to never shine on the international front.
Subtopic 1
Is the Malaysian government benching its own team?
The accomplishment of sports in Malaysia seems to remain stagnant. Our gold-reaching aspirations in competitions fall perceptively short from our grasps. We, as Malaysians, have often not been able to see our athletes compete at higher levels despite having in mind the goals of achieving better results and being internationally recognised. Priorities in terms of funding, where we compare the bias of funding in one sport in comparison to others. For example the difference in government funding between sports like football and rugby, with RM45 million being allocated to the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) whereas the National Rugby Development Programme only received a mere RM2 million. Is this fair and has the funding allocation actually shown positive results? Taking a sidestep, the mismanagement of sports bodies have also stunted our potential and are one of the many contributing factors to the problem. Does government control over sports associations prove fruitful, or should private entities take over? Would this view hold its merits?
Subtopic 2
Is Malaysia’s sports racist?
Notice something odd about our national sports teams? The fact that they are conventionally dominated by a single race? Badminton, football, basketball, archery, table-tennis and virtually any sport - you would find it rather hard to observe teams with any semblance of multi-racial synchrony in Malaysia. Whilst there is no doubt that our athletes have earned every right to be on our national teams, one can’t help but wonder if this bias is merely a coincidence or points to systemic issues. After all, even at the grassroots level we see that certain sports just seem to be more practiced in different communities.
We also see the use of racial slurs among sports fans in Malaysia in a way to demean players of different ethnic backgrounds. These kinds of off-handed remarks during the heat of a match are extremely offensive and have driven players to leave the sport altogether. Other countries facing similar issues are starting to raise awareness and take affirmative actions. Yet in Malaysia, are we doing enough?
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LOCATION

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