SEAchange is an ongoing mobilisation of young individuals across Southeast Asia who collectively believe that they can make a difference in their own lives, their communities, and their countries.

This movement brings together major universities, youth organisations and online communities across the region to inspire, support and celebrate a generation of doers – a new breed of youths who see the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and band together to take action.

SEAchange’s first programme is a regional survey done to highlight the voice of the youth, called the SEAchange Youth Report. More than 30,000 youths between the ages of 15 to 35 told their story:

• What change do they want to see in their personal lives… right now?
• What change do they want to see in their community and country in the next five years?
• What change campaigns, or ideas, would they support?

In line with the youth engagement objectives of the YES2009, the results of this report make a debut there as a first step for the youth to directly help and guide leaders in business, media, and government with policy-making and engaging more effectively with the youth. 500 youths who contributed to the report are also flown in from across the region to be part of the YES2009 event itself.

YES2009 is then telecasted ‘live’ to all the biggest universities in Southeast Asia, and online as well, which will create an unprecedented level of youth engagement where a large number of leaders get exposed to the voices of previously unheard youth in Southeast Asia.

The collective efforts of the YES2009 organisers in engaging the youths behind the SEAchange movement is the perfect example of how connecting with a region of youth can change everything.

The Story of Southeast Asian Youth

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

It was a quote used by the Obama campaign, but it echoes throughout the world – a world where 6.7 billion people on earth are collaborating and competing for better quality of life. And in this world, there are 200 million of us in Southeast Asia. Young. Aged between 15 and 35 years old. Energetic. Restless, and ready for a change.

A change for our jobs. Our education. Our future.

And we’ve decided to do something about it.

Over the past month, over 120 universities, colleges, online communities, student organisations, business leaders, and global change icons have been driving this forward, all for YES2009.

We are stepping up to be active participants, and genuine contributors to change. But we can’t do this without you.

We know problems arise when we don’t make full effort to make ourselves heard, and when leaders don’t stop to listen. This causes a lack of engagement with the youth.

This is why countries face a leadership succession crisis. This is why change isn’t always easy.

In spite of that, we know the even bigger truth about change.

It is unstoppable.

The burning desire and collective actions we take in our quest for a better life. A better country. A better world. This we know, will overcome all obstacles.

This is our story.

Movements can only be created by the power of many

In the past year keen observers have watched unlikely “leaders” rise from virtually nowhere to achieve incredible, real changes all over the world by using commonplace technologies among the next generation.

From thousands of Vietnamese youths giving out free hugs across campuses, led by a 19 year old girl behind her laptop, to twelve million people in Columbia marching the streets for a change in public opinion, organised in one month by an unemployed engineer on his computer… This is just the beginning.

While people do not always know their names, most know their Twitter hash tags. Their Facebook profiles. Their YouTube videos.

More importantly, you can feel their impact.

The individuals who create these 21st century movements rarely acknowledge the scale of their influence and the real impact of their ideas when released to the world.

These groups are the future of civil society, yet they do not have a mechanism to support, train and empower the leaders that own a URL instead of an office; Facebook group members instead of staff, and Twitter hash tags instead of a marketed brand name.

The SEAchange movement is one such a movement. From a simple idea, in merely three weeks, the SEAchange movement has snowballed to over

A closer look at the people behind the movement

Do the youth look to people in positions for leadership? Or do they look to their peers and their passion? The following examples are true stories from the lives of the youth involved in the organising of the SEACHANGE movement behind YES2009:

In Indonesia

Can Indonesian children be active contributors to society? A small group of high school students believe the answer is yes. As a result, the Indonesian Critical Children Community and Indonesian Children Forum were founded to increasing the participation of children in solutions to issues, organising nationwide events and multiple projects to the cause. With the very same team, he put together a task force of 30 youth leaders to rally massive Indonesian participation for the SEACHANGE Youth Report without any use of traditional media. The founder, Iman is 17 years old, and and the President of Indonesia gave him the Indonesian Young Leader Award in 2008 for his work.

How did he do it? He believed there was more to life than his studies. And he did something about it.

In Vietnam

In the past 2 years, the youth of Vietnam saw a wave of change. There was Free Hugs Vietnam – a network of 200 active youth community organisers across the country who put together some of the largest youth activities on various campuses. There was also Vietnam’s Twitter Community and opensource technology and social media meetups. Amidst this wave of change was a 19-year-old girl named Chip, who led all of this by blogging about her ideas.

SEAchange reached thousands of youth in Vietnam because Chip and her friends told their friends, who told their friends…

In Malaysia

A website called YouthSays.com started as a simple idea of making the voice of young people heard, but in just over a year, grew to a vehicle for businesses and governments to get advice and ideas from 200,000 youths. This platform now powers the SEAchange movement, and has been instrumental in organising the country’s largest youth festivals – twice. The founding team behind YouthSays.com is Youth Asia, whose team is all under the age of 28, and they continue to believe that every little action from any young person can make a collective difference.

In Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myannmar, Brunei… stories like this are spread across Southeast Asia. As you chat over coffee breaks at the Youth Engagement Summit 2009, you’ll hear from youths from every country, and know what change means, through their eyes.

What does the SEAchange Youth Report tell us?

Instead of merely requesting change from their leaders, most youth pledged for changes in themselves and/or their peers and community.

29 percent want changes in themselves such as time management, developing confidence, positive personality, and learning more.

13.6 percent mentioned changes in their relationship with family such as appreciating and spending more time with family.

11.6 percent mentioned changes in their wealth such as earning more money and finding better paying jobs.

A whopping 43.4 percent mentioned changes in its people such as no more discrimination and racism, greater respect for each other, more open mindset and a desire to understand one another more.

18.4 percent mentioned changes in its education system such as revamping traditional education systems and creating more conducive and creative learning systems.

17.3 percent desire programs that lead to greater engagement with youth such as youth initiative programs, youth empowerment, youth activities and campaigns.

25.5 percent mentioned environmental issues such as saving the environment from global warming, more environmental efforts, and greater environmental awareness.

The above is a snapshot from the survey, which was still in progress at the time of printing. The full report is now available on: http://www.youthsays.com/seachange

Tony is a man who is so recognisable that whenever he walks around the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang, he is often mobbed by passengers who are dining at the airport’s eateries, just so they can take a photo with him and shake his hand to thank him for making it more affordable and efficient for them to fly.

AirAsia has become involved with youth communities in several ways over its seven-year history, primarily through its involvement with sports. AirAsia was the official low-cost carrier for Manchester United, through which AirAsia was able to send hundreds of young footballers in the region to participate in training sessions at the club’s famed ground in Manchester. As a sponsor of the AT&T Williams F1 team, AirAsia fanned the region’s interest in Formula One racing.

As a sports fan himself, Tony was very excited for his airline to sponsor the AirAsia Malaysia 125cc MotoGP team at the recent Sepang International Circuit race. The team’s two “wild card’ entries did Malaysia proud by finishing 16 and 20 in the field of 33 – the first time any “wild cards’ have earned points on the circuit. Tony is also one of the main forces behind the 1Malaysia F1 project, whose Team Lotus (of which Tony is Team principal) is slated to rev its engines in the 2010 circuit.

As a daredevil who risked buying a fledging airline with a RM40 million debt, Tony knows better than most just what the South East Asian market needs. Here, he shares with us his views on how Asia’s youth can truly change the face of tomorrow through positive leadership.

How does AirAsia see itself as a part of YES2009?

AirAsia is proud to participate in the Youth Engagement Summit 2009. AirAsia is fully supportive of efforts to affect positive change across the globe. We are excited to be a vehicle that inspires the 200 million youths in the ASEAN region to reach their full potential and be the best stewards of this world that they can be.

From your perspective, why are the youth of South East Asia so crucial for future growth?

The youths are vitally important not only because they are our future leaders but also because they play a central role in any electoral process of a democratic system. They are the ones who will lead societies to a better tomorrow.

AirAsia has always believed that Malaysians have the talent, the technical competency and the mindset to compete, all we need is the opportunity. For instance, just look at the recent MotoGP race in Sepang, where first-time young riders Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin made our country proud in their first race. Just give Malaysians a chance, a real chance, and we can take on the best in the world.

Similarly, our creation of the 1Malaysia F1 Team is all about working together to give our youth the chance to be the leading engineers of tomorrow. This endeavour is a true Malaysian dream, fuelled by Malaysian pride and powered by Malaysian hopes and aspirations. Our F1 dream will be open to all – not just Malaysians but to everyone in the ASEAN region.

This is a lifetime achievement for all Malaysians as other countries had been bidding hard for this spot but Malaysia, through our concerted effort and strength in the true spirit of 1Malaysia managed to pull it through.

In sum, our programme is specifically designed to strengthen our industrial base, inspire our students to focus on a wide variety of skills, boost our image as a tourist destination and provide a competitive advantage for our country on the world stage.

What do you hope for young people to take away from this summit?

We hope that the youth take inspiration from AirAsia. AirAsia’s journey is a story of believing in dreams and of a team coming together to give our all to make these dreams a reality. When we launched AirAsia eight years ago as the region’s first low-cost carrier, we were dismissed as wild dreamers. But look at us now and see how far belief in our dreams – and lots of hard work – has taken us.

AirAsia has been voted the world’s best low-cost airline and is now Asia’s largest. We grew from an airline of two aircraft and 250 staff to one with almost 80 aircraft, a staff of 6,500 and 113 routes to almost 60 destinations. We achieved all these through collective efforts marked by determination and focus on our goals.

These are certainly remarkable achievements that all Malaysians are proud of. What is the belief system pushing you on?

AirAsia believes in positive change for all. Our slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly” encapsulates our determination to free air travel from the clutches of the elite and make it affordable to as many people as possible. My own goal is to serve the underserved market in ASEAN.

Our creed is simple: Believe the unbelievable. Dream the impossible. Never take no for an answer. We hope the participants at this summit will be similarly inspired to reach their own dreams – and help make the world a much better place.

“AirAsia and AirAsia X are leading the way in developing short-haul to long-haul connectivity in ways which promise to revolutionise the international marketplace.” – Peter Harbison, Executive Chairman of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

Exceptional achievement, brilliant innovations, and constant positive growth made AirAsia and AirAsia X joint winners of the CAPA Airline of the Year Award for 2009 at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence in Beijing. Group CEO, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes was also conferred the CAPA Legend Award (Aviation Hall of Fame).

Peter Harbison said, “AirAsia has had another superlative year amid some of the toughest conditions to hit the airline industry. CAPA is doubly pleased that the Legend Award for 2009 was honoured to the airline’s Group CEO. Tony Fernandes is the youngest inductee into the Hall of Fame, but his impact on Asia Pacific aviation has been profound.

“The AirAsia Group is on track to handle 24 million passengers in 2009 – some 30% more than in 2008, despite the global economic slowdown. But AirAsia’s impact is much more than its generation of strong traffic growth. It is catalysing positive change in the way governments, suppliers and its rivals are thinking and acting,” he concluded.