Singapore Model United Nations 2011 (31 May - 3 June 2011)

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The Faculty of Humanities sent a delegation of 12 students to participate in the Singapore Model United Nations Conference (SMUN) this year held from 31 May to 3 June. Celine Kee of Pre-U 1Joy, who represented Algeria in the Security Council, shares with us her experience of the conference.

Having just concluded its eighth iteration from the 31^st of May to the 3^rd of June, SMUN is one of the largest MUN conferences in Singapore. This year saw nearly 300 delegates from junior colleges and universities take up roles as member states in various simulated committees and UN organs, including the Security Council, Disarmament and International Security Committee, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency. SMUN 2011 was also the first edition of the conference to feature a simulated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

HCIS sent a small team of 12 students from Pre University One to participate in this highly challenging debate. All of us were new to MUN and it was evident that some training was necessary for us to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge. Under the guidance of Mr Samuel Lim, Mr Guan Yong Jie and Mr Im Zhen Jie, we spent a few months in preparation for the conference, sacrificing numerous lunch breaks to hone our position paper, as well as our grasp of the discussion topics and MUN protocol. The road to the SMUN was at times grueling, yet the experience proved in retrospect to be rewarding and satisfying for all.

Intense debates, disagreements and supported arguments were all part of the actual SMUN conference. The delegates ranged in type, from the deliberately provocative who made discussions at times a heated affair to the genuinely thoughtful, who sought serious solutions to the issues at hand. The canvassing of delegates for resolution sponsorship, and the caucus discussions provided for us a fascinating glimpse into the protocol of MUN and the actual United Nations. A personally memorable event for me would be the introduction of a simulated crisis on the second day of the conference, involving the invasion of Taiwan by China. Crisis simulation makes for an effective stimulant to break the monotony of debate, putting delegates on the spot, and forcing them to think on their feet without having any preparation.

Through the four days of this conference, we gained not only an awareness of how a session of the UN is run, but also an appreciation for the intricacies of conducting diplomacy. We also obtained a greater understanding and knowledge of current affairs. An aspect that makes MUN so rewarding is the encounters that it enables among a diverse cast of people, and the friendships that it facilitates. SMUN has taught us how to work together with others and how to successfully arrive at a compromise accommodating the interests of all parties.

One of the HCIS delegates, Joshua Foo, wrote on the SMUN 2011 facebook wall at the close of the conference that "SMUN wasn't that bad after all". It was a sentiment shared by many delegates, judging from the many "likes" the comment received. SMUN, like all other MUNs, certainly involved a process of preparation that was on occasion painful. Yet the SMUN experience was retrospectively invaluable, both for the friends made and the lessons learnt. The HCIS delegation thanks the school and teachers for having given it the opportunity for such an experience.

By Celine Kee (Pre-U 1Joy)