PENANG, 22 September 2020 – As one of the top programmes organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), The 8th ASEAN Future Leaders Summit (AFLES 2020) has taken the online route this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to AFLES Founder and Advisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anees Janee Ali @ Hamid, for the past 7 years, AFLES has gathered student leaders across ASEAN nations.

“With the restriction imposed on movement due to Covid-19, it was decided then that AFLES 2020 will be held online from 21-25 September 2020.

“The summit was launched online, which was later followed by the Alumni Talk, and this year’s programme gathered around 160 delegates from the ASEAN region,” he said.

According to one of the delegates from Indonesia, Maulid Robiansyah, they were all ready to join AFLES2020 because it is a programme that brings together student leaders of universities in the ASEAN region, with the main objective of becoming a platform for ASEAN students to share knowledge and information in order to move ASEAN forward.

“You don't have to be better than everybody else, you just have to be better than you ever thought you could be,” said Maulid.

Furthermore in their suggestion, they would like delegates of each country to manage the team from the home country, and meet and conduct activities in one location in their own country, and then further discussions should be done among the selected delegates and their country ambassadors during the session.

The 5-day summit will comprise of the Opening Session by a member of the USM Board of Governors, Datuk Norliza Abdul Rahim; Director of Office of International Affairs UiTM Shah Alam, Dr. Zainab Mohd Noor; AFLES Alumni Talk by Satria Siregar, Charelyn Jumao-As and Badtrieshah Haqeum; a Workshop on Community Volunteer Programme by Head of Communication and Strategic Engagement MERCY Malaysia, Chan Li Jin; and a lecture on Arts and Culture; a discussion regarding the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic; a Cultural Exhibition; and a Gala Night.

ASEAN has been established as one of the exemplary regions of the world, and recently it celebrated its 53rd birthday on 8th August 2020.

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah