#NALS2017: Getting Up Close And Personal With Syazwani Aqilah

Alvin Toffler once said:

“The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they – at some distant point in the future – will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely… because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.”

Leaderonomics is a firm believer of what we do as an organisation to grow people into leaders, build communities of love and transform the nation. Even though we may not see the fruits in our generation, we are tirelessly sowing good seeds of leadership by partnering with different stakeholders.

For this, we recently partnered with National Aspiration and Leadership Summit (NALS) 2017, a platform for youths to discuss about current challenges and issues, and to empower them to action. Leaderonomics caught up with Syazwani Aqilah, a graduate in mechanical engineering from Korea University and one of the many Malaysian student leaders involved in organising the event on Feb 4.

We posed some questions from our Thinkonomics set, a gameplay that consists of various thinking questions based on our five Leaderonomics values: Relationships, Empowering, Giving, Growth and Building the future.

Q&A with Syazwani

1. What do you think is the next great invention that will change the world?

Instant crop grower. To think that there are people in the world who still have to wonder if they have food for the day is just awful. With lots of technological developments today and still facing food hunger issue is shameful.

2. Does your level of giving make you a better person?

To be honest, I rarely gave or received especially on affection and love. But I am trying to give more as I know even a smile can make a difference in another person’s life. I never think about what kind of person I am by giving back to society. I hope, however, that what I give to people can bring about a better world instead of a better me.

3. What is the most important ingredient for you to establish a strong relationship?

Communication. Without communication, relationship can crumble easily. I have personally seen many broken relationships caused by miscommunication. I am a firm believer that with transparent communication, trust is build, and that is the essence of a good relationship.

4. Is it possible for a society to be over-developed?

In my opinion, society can be over-developed, i.e. when people start to compete and pick on who has more money or more technology than the other. It is also when people become too dependent on technology and money to be happy. Moderation is needed in developing a society.

5. Your hope for Malaysia.

For me, successful country comes from happy citizens. Although people see that Korea is a successful country, I see my second home as a sad country. Their success comes from the money they have but not their happiness in life. I hope Malaysia can be a happy country instead of a rich country. With tolerance and kind people around Malaysia, then Malaysia can be happy.

6. Share with us what you have learnt from any of the NALS 2017 sessions.

It would be the session on revolutionary roles of social media in shaping society. From that session, I can see that instead of condemning people writing hate comments online, the best way to prevent hate is to educate them. Through education, people will think twice on what they post and share online. Celebrate love, not hate, on social media.