By Lim Wen Juin

INTERACTION with people of different nationalities, races, social backgrounds or otherwise is usually a valuable, beneficial experience because one's own assumptions and prejudices will tend to be brought to the surface and subsequently challenged.

It would thus come as a surprise if attending something as cosmopolitan as the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) did not, in some way, result in gaining insight and perspective. The GYLC brings together outstanding students from around the world, and allows them to learn from, and exchange ideas with, top global figures in politics, business and academia.

This year, invited students could choose to participate in either the US or European editions of the conference. BT spoke to three Singapore delegates who opted for the latter: Cheng Gong, a first-year undergraduate at Columbia University in the US; Glory Ngim, a first-year undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; and Lin Xun, a first-year NUS business undergraduate doing a concurrent MSc (Management) degree.

From July 5-17, they visited Vienna, Budapest and Prague, spending between three and six days in each city. Financial assistance was provided by the National Youth Council in the form of an Overseas Youth Programme Grant.

'I went for it because I wanted to know more about world issues,' recalls Lin Xun. 'There, I learnt about the major organisations of the world, and got to see ambassadors and diplomats.'

'Going to Opec was so cool,' Cheng Gong enthuses. 'We visited international institutes such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, International Institute for Peace, Opec Fund for International Development, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.'

Not only did Cheng Gong visit national monuments and architectural wonders, the Columbia undergrad also lunched at Vienna City Hall hosted by the mayor and governor of Vienna. The delegates also took part in a mock UN conference - they were divided into groups, with each group representing the interests of an assigned country. 'We had to come up with resolutions, among other things,' explains Cheng Gong.

Glory believes that the tasks might have been too much to expect of students. 'Most did not have enough knowledge to decide what was good for the country they were representing,' she says.

'To illustrate, there was a girl who said, 'Nigeria basically just needs roads, infrastructure and water.' But where are you going to get the money from? It was simplistic and idealistic,' she points out. That said, Lin Xun maintains: 'I learnt a lot about Brazil, the country I represented.

'I learnt too why it's so difficult to pass a resolution - there are many levels to go through, a lot of red tape, and many countries have veto power. Much work can go into a resolution but once it is vetoed, everything goes to waste,' she notes.

Another significant highlight was a visit to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. 'It actually looks peaceful from the outside, because it is set amidst rolling hills in the countryside,' Glory observes, aware of the incongruity between its tranquil appearance and its once diabolic purpose and reprehensible history.

'When we visited, there was a group of about 50 Orthodox Jews chanting and praying for those who died under the Nazi regime,' Cheng Gong recounts. 'For me, it was extremely poignant when they sang hymns while passing through the gas chamber.'

The Europe conference was attended by around 400 youths from 44 countries. While the various excursions on the official itinerary were interesting and rewarding, the consensus was that day-to-day interaction with the other students often proved just as enlightening and eye-opening. 'I got to know people from Canada, Germany, Cayman Islands, Jordan, the Bahamas and South Africa,' says Cheng Gong.

'When we discussed social issues, such as poverty, and shared religious and political views, they had intriguing and interesting facts to offer. For instance, concerning poverty, the situations in South Africa and Cayman Islands can be considered polar opposites - there is little to no poverty in the latter as applicants have to earn over US$50,000 a year to qualify for citizenship, whereas in the former more than 30 per cent of the population live on less than US$2 a day.'

As Americans made up about three-fifths of the participants, the Singapore delegates had the most to say about them. 'Americans are a really diverse bunch,' Glory remarks.

'They're brought up to ask and question, and also to express their opinions, sometimes without thinking things through. One of them said that they have to know how to talk, it's how to cope. They're informed about world issues and know what's going on, but they're educated on one side of the issue and so only have one viewpoint.'

Cheng Gong concurs: 'They stick to their point of view so strongly that it's hard to convince them that there are other perspectives.' Offers Lin Xun: 'Americans are very spontaneous, and like to speak a lot - there's never a moment of silence.' She adds: 'A lot of Americans realise Chinese is getting important - they asked me to teach them the language every night.'

'It broadens your perspective of the world,' Glory opines, referring to conversations with an African-American girl. 'She's very aware of the stereotypes, like how if a black girl got pregnant, people would say it was a typical occurrence. They don't mind being called black, but they hate it when people use 'the n-word'.'

In addition, things all along taken for granted were thrown into fresh relief through discovering how Singapore appeared to foreign points of view. 'Some asked me, is it true that there was a guy who got caned?' Glory narrates, alluding to Michael Fay. 'When I said yes, their response was, 'Oh my gosh, you cane people? That's terrible!'

Lin Xun shares a similar story: 'They asked if we cane people to death, and if we were a dictatorship. They were shocked to know that heroin trafficking can bring the death penalty, and that by hanging,' remembers Glory. 'In fact, some of the Americans were surprised that I'd never done weed or marijuana, as in the US it's a coming-of-age thing. The most the police do is confiscate the drugs.'

In turn, Cheng Gong relates an account from a South African friend: 'The political climate there is highly unstable due to corrupt practices and unjust voting and election procedures. For instance, the strongest candidate running for prime minister faces up to 150 charges against him for fraud and corruption, while the head of the police force is facing charges for rape!'

Cheng Gong goes on: 'Hearing about situations like these makes me feel ashamed when we complain here in Singapore because our government is so efficient, especially with regards to healthcare and education policies.'

On a more light-hearted note, Glory reveals: 'It was a very hormonal conference, as we were all at that age. I think it helped develop interacting skills, not so much leadership,' she weighs in. Concludes Lin Xun: 'The cultural exchange aspect was really good.'

This article was first published in The Business Times on Sept 8, 2008.