Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative 2019: My Journey
Plus: tips
and tricks on joining international event!
I was honoured to be one of 32 delegates
for Hitachi Young Leaders’ Initiative (HYLI) 2019 held by Hitachi Asia Ltd. in InterContinental
Singapore from July 8th-12th, 2019. HYLI is Hitachi’s
flagship youth program that brings together some of the best and brightest
students from eight Asian countries –Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan – to discuss important
issues affecting the regional and global scene together with government and NGO
representatives, academics, and business leaders.
HYLI 2019 covers the theme of 'Digital Transformation for a
Sustainable Future', where distinguished guests and student delegates discussed
how technology can be used to better society within four main themes: Youth
Opportunity, Living Environment, Mobility and Well-being for its 15th edition
since the first inception in 1996.
I was part of Mobility group where we discussed using Design
Thinking method and came up with an idea to solve mobility problem around the
region, which includes an integrated mobility planning apps and an egg-shaped
sustainable futuristic mode of transportation called egXi.
ONLINE REGISTRATION
 |
| the gate-opener to the whole journey !! |
Throwback to February 2019, when I casually opened Twitter
and seen this tweet from International Relations Office of ITB (Institut
Teknologi Bandung), I reacted happily, knowing that the program is finally
opening their registration. Several months ago when I looked for opportunities,
I found information about this program, however the last time they opened the
registration is in 2017, so I thought there will be no more HYLI, so I skipped
that one.
Now that they started the registration, I hurried to click
the link and read more about the requirements. However, I found that they
specified only several top universities in Indonesia are able to register. I’m
feeling hopeless at first, but then I tried my luck by contacting the
Indonesian selection committee via email, appealing myself as a prospective
participant that really fits into the program’s objectives and asking whether I
could register myself. It took me 3 days to finally receive good news from them
stating that I could register myself via the portal.
The registration itself is quite comprehensive, asking
details of academic results (and official academic transcripts); English
language proficiency (and its proof in form of audio or video record);
description of top 3 contribution / service / achievement (and also its
evidence); questions of passions, personality, and goals; and statement of
personal motivation and SDGs issue that I am passionate about.
FINAL SELECTION
Several weeks after I submitted my registration, I was called
by the registration committee and invited me to join the final selection in
Jakarta. Fortunately, it is a funded trip, so they arranged the flight ticket
and accommodation for me! :D
I was really surprised when they sent me the briefing
document for the interview. A very high-level of panellists is waiting for me
in Jakarta: Senior Editor of KOMPAS Daily; Head of Jakarta Smart City
Management Unit of Communications; Psychiatry at Ciputra Medical Center; Head
of Operations Weber Shandwick Indonesia; and…. Mr. Takashi Ikematsu, President
Director of PT. Hitachi Asia Indonesia. Oh. My. Gosh.
This interview was held at Hitachi Asia Indonesia Office,
Menara BCA 38th Floor, Jl. MH Thamrin No. 1, Jakarta. I met 9 others
candidate, including my close friends Nara from Bali, whom I met at CIMB Young
ASEAN Leaders 2018. At first I didn’t expect that I will recognize at least one
person from 10 candidates, but then when I posted an Instagram Stories in
airport, Nara responded and said “See you in Jakarta, fi”.
SEND-OFF DINNER
Several days after the interview, I got a call again from Kak
Gea (Weber Shandwick Indonesia, committee of selection) and announcing that I
was selected as one of four Indonesian delegates for HYLI 2019, Alhamdulillah
:D
PRE-ASSIGNMENTS
Before the event, we were assigned several tasks to enhance
our understanding about the theme of HYLI 2019, which is “Digital
Transformation for a Sustainable Future”.
Next, as a country team, we need to create an infographic on
the positive and negative aspects of digitalization in Indonesia. We look at
how the Fourth Industrial Revolution has transformed and disrupted society,
selecting some case studies that showcase the advantages and disadvantages of
technology, and then put them into a visual form of A1 size.
MAIN EVENT IN SINGAPORE!
It’s finally time to depart to Singapore for the main event!
And look who’s spotted by camera of CNA (Singaporean news TV)
and masuk tipi! (look at the last part of the video)
And now I’m going to share something that isn’t shown on the
report: the story behind our final presentation xD (the schedule calls this as
Student Group Workshop)
Perhaps this is the best group discussion I’ve ever had in my
life, not just because of a very good teammates, but also the venue (which is
inside an InterContinental hotel room converted into a mini roundtable room)
and the PRESSURE behind them 😊
Right after our site visit in Day 2, we were given 34 hours
lockdown inside one of the hotel room to brainstorm and finalize our final
presentation. It really feels like I’m living a consulting life, where we need
to formulate a comprehensive overview of problems, essential questions, and
proposed solutions to a problem in the region using design thinking process,
putting all of them in a 20 minutes presentation in front of distinguished
panels and invited guests.
The real pressure came in when we realized the panellists for
the final part is really, really, high level.
- Ambassador Ong Keng Yong from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, who also served as ASEAN Secretary General from 2003-2008.
- - Mr. Choi Shing Kwok, Director of ISEAS.
- - Ms. Kay Vasey, Chief Connecting Officer of MeshMind.
L Last but not least,
- - Mr. Kosuke Horiuchi, Managing Director of Hitachi Asia Ltd.
Wow.
Yeah, it is not unusual to have a “dynamics” in a
team-related activities. We had arguments,
bit of disagreements, but we managed to overcome them and present our solution quite
good (miss you guys now ☹)
Shoutout to my fellow mobeggo x egXi teammates: Akak Suhaila
from Singapore, Roger from Vietnam, MeiMei from Thailand, Vicky from Malaysia,
Ryosuke-san from Japan, Kaung from Myanmar, Kitty from the Philippines, plus
our mentors: Ms. Mako (Hitachi Philippines) and Ms. Thiri (Hitachi Myanmar), we
will meet again one day, for sure.
Another
activity that is not covered inside the report is the cultural presentation.
I’m really happy when we performed Tor-Tor (traditional dance from North
Sumatera), all fellow delegates are coming up to the stage and dance together
with us :D
Beside activities, I am really grateful that Hitachi is fulfilling
their sustainability goals right in this event:
providing us with tumbler, food container, reusable utensils, and a name
badge from processed banana leaves which is quite unique and nice!
All in all, I am very grateful for this chance to join
Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative 2019. Appreciation to Hitachi and all
supporting parts (including Weber Shandwick Indonesia and Global Initiatives)
for the awesome journey, and 32 fellow delegates from 8 countries in the
region, now I’m happy to called them families.
BONUS: TIPS AND TRICKS
This is not my first international program, but I got many
lessons learned unique from HYLI 2019. This includes some tips and tricks on
applying for opportunities.
First, try to appeal yourself if you didn’t meet the criteria
given. As I wrote earlier, my rewarding journey of HYLI 2019 starts because I
appeal to the committee. The most common issue I encountered with when looking
for opportunities is list of universities invited to the selection. This is why
your appeal is really crucial when you tried to apply if you’re out of the
invited universities (or not a student of top universities in your respective
country).
However, you need to ensure that yourself is really worth the
appeal; convince them why you are a really good candidate to fit the criteria
and objectives of the event, give some explanation about your past activities
and track record that goes in line with the theme of the event. But it doesn’t
mean that your appeal will always work, I also faced some rejection when I
contacted other events’ organizer about the criteria. But it’s really worth the
try, especially when it is an international event, it might be your lucky
chance!
Next is to prepare your CV, portfolio, and track record as
soon as possible. I am quite lucky because main theme of HYLI 2019 is related
quite well with some events that I joined previously, so since I had the
experience learning and working on the theme, I could tell and relate them on
my application as delegates of HYLI 2019. And this is also applicable to your
future jobs, or scholarships, or any other future events.
Remember, creating a good track record of yourself is never
an instant one; you need to plan them accordingly in advance, doing good in
every activities that you joined, and promoting them well through your own
social media and stories platform (writing in newspaper’s citizen journalism
section and personal blog, for instance).
Last but not least, is to look and browse for any youth
opportunities available out there in the internet. Again, I’m not an ITB
students, but I took advantage from their tons of information on social media,
and boom, I found HYLI 2019 promotion on Twitter.
If you have found one but it’s already in the past, tried to
mark the typical time of registration on your calendar, then search for its
information later in that month. For instance, Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative
is a bi-annual event, and in 2019 the registration started in February. So, if
you’re interested in applying for next HYLI, mark them on your calendar and
notes, then remind yourself to check again on the program in February 2021.
ANOTHER BONUS:
The story behind this meme:
So we were visiting Deloitte Future of Mobility Solutions
Centre in Day 2 of the program, and we are challenged to a mini-game where we
were given a specific demographics, then, as a consultant, create a visual
storyline about their pain points of mobility and provide ideas to help
government working on mobility issues for that respective problems. We need to
have a 2 minutes pitch explaining that storyline, and our group got “Students”
as our focus.
Courtesy of many workshops of XL Future Leaders back in my
country, where lots of my friends were using super creative ways of presenting
their ideas, like dramas, songs, and dances, I decided to make the pitching
session a bit interesting:
I will act as a student who woke up very late and
shocked because an exam is coming in 30 minutes and he don’t know what’s the
fastest way to get into his campus.
And that is where the meme comes from. LOL
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