For two days the campus became a cross-border laboratory of ideas at the ASEAN Youth Conference — a working forum where more than a hundred delegates from across Southeast Asia tested policy proposals, recommended community projects and practised the kind of collaborative leadership that moves from promise to delivery. Panels ran from big-picture strategy to actionable toolkits; breakout rooms turned into design studios; and informal conversations opened the kind of partnerships that often outlive a single conference.
What made the gathering sing was its mix of imagination and do-ability. Sessions on the green economy, civic engagement and digital inclusion balanced bold visions with tangible next steps: draft policy recommendations, pilot project timelines, and mapped networks for continued collaboration. Young entrepreneurs and student activists pitched community interventions that paired low-cost tech with local knowledge; policy-minded groups negotiated shared indicators for measuring social impact across different ASEAN contexts. The conference deliberately foregrounded youth agency — not as a symbolic headline but as the engine of measurable regional initiatives.
As the venue host, the Taylor’s Centre for Family Business (on behalf of Taylor’s University) welcomed the conference with quiet intent — offering space, logistical support and a campus backdrop conducive to sustained conversation — while keeping the spotlight firmly on young leaders. Our support was motivated by a simple conviction: the skills that sustain resilient family enterprises — intergenerational thinking, stewardship of resources, and values-driven governance — are the same competencies that strengthen civic and community leadership across ASEAN. Framing our involvement this way allowed the centre and university to contribute where it mattered most, without eclipsing the conference’s youth-led priorities.
If there was a single takeaway, it was that region-building can be youthful, practical and rapid when structure meets courage. Delegates left with networks, pilot plans and clearer toolkits for action; more importantly, they left believing that regional challenges are solvable through iterative collaboration. The ASEAN Youth Conference at Taylor’s Lakeside Campus showed that when young leaders are given a forum to move from idea to implementation — and a hospitable campus to meet in — the next chapter of Southeast Asian civic and economic life looks decidedly more joined-up and hopeful.
