China Asean Youth Forum 2006

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Brief of Yunnan China

Yunnan is situated on a plateau in southwest China formed with the rising of the Himalayas from the ancient sea. In the northwest it borders on the eastern section of the Himalayas, thus it seems to be the last step to Tibet, the "roof of the world". "Yunnan" in Chinese means "south of the clouds". Various colors and shapes of the clouds over this plateau give Yunnan its full name "South of the Colorful Clouds". These beautiful rosy clouds always appear in the south, which is thought to be an auspicious sign. Yunnan people, therefore, are proud of living on this blessed land.
Yunnan is called "Yun" or "Dian" for short, located at latitude between 21°8'32" and 29°15' 8'' N and longitude between 97°31'39'' and 106°11'47''E. It is a vast land with towering mountains and plentiful rivers as well as abundant natural resources. The land area is 394,000 square km, the eighth largest province in China. The province has a total population of 41 million people, with 16 prefectures, autonomous prefectures and cities within its jurisdiction. Yunnan borders on Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhang Ethnic Minority Autonomous Region to the east, Chongqing and Sichuan to the north and Tibet Autonomous Region to the northwest. To its west is Myanmar and to its south are Laos and Vietnam. The boundary line of China stretches 4,060 kms in Yunnan. About 94 per cent of the province is mountainous area. In short, Yunnan is a mountainous frontier province with many ethnic groups.
As the extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Yunnan has an interesting geological structure. The Himalayan orogenic movement pushed up the "Roof of the World" from the ocean floor, forming several north-south mountain ranges and deep valleys. The Yunling, Nushan and Gaoligong mountains are narrow and precipitous. The Yangtze, Lancang and Nujiang rivers flow through the province. Between the Lancang and Jinsha Rivers (Yangtse River), is the source of the Yuanjiang River. The rivers roar and peaks tower over the valleys. The world-famous Nujiang Valley is found here. The valley extends from northwest to southeast like a fan, which cuts the Yunnan topography into two sections: the eastern section is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau with an average elevation of 2,000 meters and many small lakes; the western section is filled with mountains, rivers and valleys. From peaks to river valleys is usually a sheer drop, which creates a rugged terrain. The important water systems in southeast Asia are concentrated here, including the Jinsha, Nanpan, Lancang (Mekong), Nujiang (Salween), Yuanjiang (Honghe), Dulong (Irrawaddy) rivers. All of them are important passages between China and southeast and south Asia.
At the same latitude on the earth, there are the vast expanse of the scorching Sahara Desert, the tropical Hawaiian Islands and the Indian Plain. The complex geographical conditions give Yunnan a very varied climate. The province descends like a ladder from north to south, a distance of about 900 km as the crow flies. The highest point in the north is the Kagebo Peak in Deqin County on the Deqin Plateau, which is about 6,740 meters high; and the lowest is in the HongheRiver Valley in Hekou County, with an elevation of 76.4 meters. The terrain descends six meters every kilometer towards the south. The temperature difference between eight latitude degrees is the same as that from southern Hainan Island to northeastern Changchun in China. Therefore, we find not only glaciers and snow-capped mountains with alpine vegetation at the lowest latitude, but also sub-tropical basins, blazing hot valleys and lush tropical vegetation at the highest.
It is hard to believe that ascending one kilometer vertically means a climatic change by travelling 1,400 to 2,500 kilometers from the south to the north of China. While the mountain peaks are always covered with ice and snow; half way up you will enjoy pleasant weather; and at the bottom of the valley the weather is very hot. On one mountain,you can enjoy natural scenery and colorful folk customs from alpine to tropical zones.
People like to call Yunnan the province of "perpetual spring". If you do not come to Yunnan yourself, however, you will never know what we mean by "four seasons on one mountain and a changing climate within a small area". Because of its abundant natural resources, Yunnan enjoys the reputation of the "kingdom of flora and fauna", "kingdom of nonferrous metals", "kingdom of medicinal herbs", "natural garden", "hometown of perfumes" and is a popular area for tourism. Since remote antiquity, Yunnan has been inhabited. About 500 million years ago, duing the Cambrian Period, the earth experienced a big explosion, leaving some traces in the Maotian Mountain in Chengjiang County, central Yunnan. The ancient animal fossils found in Chengjiang were first announced to the public in 1984 by a paleontologist. This was one of the most amazing scientific discoveries in paleontology in the 20th century. They are dated as being between the Australian "animal fossils" and Canadian "animal fossils". It has been designated as one of the "three wonders of early evolution on earth" and has been put on the World Cultural Heritage List.
Yunnan is like a book, with its famous ancient cities of historic and cultural significance as different chapters, in which thousands of years of vicissitudes have been recorded.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Conclusion




The youth of Malaysia have a critical role to play in the country’s effort to achieve the status of a fully developed country by the year 2020. Malaysia’s development plan, known as Vision 2020, aims to develop all aspects of the country including national unity, social cohesion, economy, social justice, political stability, system of government, quality of life, social and spiritual values and national pride and confidence. Efforts have been made to strengthen the management and implementation capacity of public sector agencies responsible for youth development in order to ensure that programmes are effectively implemented. The role of youth organizations is to be broadened, particularly to promote the spirit of voluntarism among youth. Youth organizations would be entrusted to mobilize youth to fulfil the objectives of national unity and economic and socio-political stability while concurrently preserving the cultural heritage and maintaining national security.



The Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2007

The Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2007, the third such event to be held after more than a decade, aims to aggressively market and promote the country as a major international tourist destination. With various events held throughout the year, tourists are encouraged to stay longer, thus increasing their expenditures as well.

It will also stimulate the growth of domestic tourism in Malaysia. Many programs and activities are planned, among them is "Malaysia Welcomes the World".VMY 2007 will be more special as it will coincide with Malaysia's 50th years of independence.

Sports Tourism

Sports and tourism activities bring people together and help build up strong personal relationships. In this way they are making the world a smaller place – contributing to greater understanding and tolerance among cultures and ultimately to world peace.

The two factors are very interrelated and complementary. Sports and tourism share common goals, which build bridges of understanding among cultures, lifestyles and traditions; promoting peace and goodwill among nations; motivating and inspiring people.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Planning and Programs For Youth in Tourism and Culture.

  1. Train youth to be volunteers to assist tourist ini major tourist destinations ini Malaysia.
  2. Provide skills ini technical, vocational, hotel and tourism courses for youth.
  3. Organise Youth Exchange Program to promote Malaysia to the world. Youth will be exposed to other cultures and also promoting in Malaysia as a multi-racial and multi –cultural hub.
  4. Create better understanding and strengten the networking between Malaysian youth organizations with those of other countries.
  5. Encourage and make travel more accessible for youth in order to promote them greater appreciation of the cultural heritage.
  6. Create awareness among youth on the importance of preservation of the respective cultural demminations in the country.
  7. Promoting cultural activities as an acceptable way of life.
  8. As a multi-racial country, cultural pursuits can be the vehicle for the promotion of the unity and to unculcate patriotic values among youth.
  9. Encourage youth to study the customs, traditions and local culture of different and variety ethnic groups.
  10. Allowing youth to participate in specific international youth programs such as The South East Asia Youth Ship Program.

Benefits from Youth, Tourism and Culture Development;

  • Create job opportunities for youth and additional income for community members.
  • Improved community facilities and services
  • Enhance the quality of life through social and economic developement.
  • To foster leadership developement among youth.
  • To enhance the image of the nation among youth of various countries.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Malaysian Youth Council (MYC)


The Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) is the national umbrella body for youth organisations in Malaysia. The council was established on July 23, 1948. It has three million members in 40 affiliates.

MYC aims to instil in Malaysian youths an integrated character in terms of mind, body and spirit. It also promotes responsibility, independence, volunteerism and patriotism as youths are the protagonists towards the progress and prosperity of the people, religion and nation.

Its aim is to achieve the objectives of the National Youth Development Policy in accordance with Vision 2020. The MYC focuses on the demands of youths to be heard, their issues to be addressed and their roles upgraded. Its main target is to establish integrated and inter-sectoral youth development to determine national development and to revive the youth movement to build a strong Malaysian youth identity.
MYC achieves its targets by strengthening youth organisations through idealism, activism and intellectualism. It also encourages the exploration of new fields in youth and national development and heightens the spirit of volunteerism among youths.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS)

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), formerly the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, was established in 1964. The Ministry’s main function is to contribute to the development of youth policy, through its position as chair of the NYCC, and to serve as the policy’s key implementation body.

The Ministry’s political leaderships is provided by three Members of Parliament: a Minister, a Deputy Minister, and a Parliamentary Secretary. The Ministry has a Secretary General, a Deputy Secretary General, and Officers from the administrative and the diplomatic corps. The divisions of the Ministry are the Youth Division, the Sports Division, Skill Developement Division and Rakan Muda (Youth Partner) Division. Each headed by a Deputy Director General or equivalent. We will focus on the Youth Division.

The Youth Division consists of the following departments:
• Youth Economic Development Sector;
• Youth NGO Development Department; and
* Youth Leadership Development Sector.
At the state level, the MOYS is represented by the Director of the State
Youth and Sports Department. District Youth and Sports Officers are also
present at the local level.

Youth Development In Malaysia

It was mentioned that the structures and mechanisms to advocate youth participation in development are already in place. There are many concerned groups involved. However, three of the major institutions are mainly the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS), The Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) and The National Youth Consultative Council (NYCC).

Various development strategies and programmes were implemented in the past and are still continuously conducted at the present time. Youth development has always been a major agenda of the government of Malaysia since independence in 1957. The final text of the Malaysian Youth Development policy in 1997 states very clearly the role of Youth as partners in decision making and emphasis the importance of empowering the youth.

Youth empowerment is itself viewed as a continuous process; from youth opportunity to youth right, and from informal consultation to formal decision making. This include “capacity building”, “youth right”, “youth responsibility”, “autonomy”, “participative development”, and the bottom line is development. A milestone was created in 1996 for the first time in the history of the five-year Malaysia Plans, a specific chapter on youth was included in the seventh Malaysia Plan entitled “Youth Development”. The thrust of youth development is to provide youths with necessary skills to increase their participation and contribution to nation building as well as develop their leadership qualities and to inculcate positive values among them. The aim is to develop a generation of youth who are educated, skilled, disciplined and imbued with leadership skill and qualities with high moral values.

Malaysia is unique in terms of the multiracial population with 3 main races which are Malay, Chinese and Indian. This poses a challenge and at the same time its creates opportunities to strengthen the country’s unity and stability. In this situation it becomes a challenge for those concern to adequately understand the youth. However, we believe that consulting young people and sharing their perceptions, knowledge and ideas are essential to the development of public policy and achievement of positive outcomes.

Action taken within the government setting and non governmental organizations in Malaysia offer evidence on the highest profile initiatives to create the environment to facilitate and provide avenues and opportunities for youth to contribute significantly towards development and nation building. The structures and mechanisms in place involve the government, NGO and the civil structure outfits.

MALAYSIAN PAPER

Background: The youth of Malaysia have a critical role to play in the country’s efforts to achieve the status of a fully developed country by the year 2020. Malaysia’s futuristic development plan, known as Vision 2020, aims to develop all aspects of the country including national unity, social cohesion, economy, social justice, political stability, system of government, quality of life, social and spiritual values and national pride and confidence. The Malaysian national government has demonstrated its commitment to youth through an increase in funds and support for youth development.

Definition of Youth In Malaysia: The National Youth Development Policy of Malaysia defines youth as people aged between 15 and 40 years which comprise 10.1 million or 45 percent of the total 25 million Malaysian population. It stipulates further that the main focus of youth development programmes and activities in the country should be young people aged 18 to 25 years (MOYS 1997).

ESSENTIAL DATA FOR MALAYSIA

Location South-East Asia
Coordinates 2 30 N, 112 30 E
Area Total 329,750 sq km; land 328,550 sq km; water 1,200 sq km
Coastline 4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607
km)
Land use Available land: 3 per cent; permanent crops: 12 per cent;
permanent pastures: 0 per cent; forests and woodland: 68 per
cent; other: 17 per cent (1993 est.)
Irrigated land 2,941 sq km (1998 est.)
Population 25,000,000
Youth Population 10, 100,000 (45%)
Age structure 0-14 years: 33 per cent; 15-24 years: 20 per cent; 60 years and
over: 4 per cent (2000 est.)
Ethnics Malay, Chinese, Indian and other indigenous ethnic groups.
Religions Islam,(official religion) Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism
Languages Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese,
Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil,
Telugu, Malalalam, Panjabi, Thai (several indigenous languages
- the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan - are spoken in
East Malaysia,)
Government Constitutional monarchy
Capital Kuala Lumpur
Administration 13 states and 3 federal territories
Note: the city of Kuala Lumpur is located within the federal
territory of Wilayah Persekutuan

!st Day Meeting