Farhan in the Malay media
Farhan appeared in the Malay national daily, Berita Harian, for being part of the Singapore delegation to the Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative. The international student conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur in July this year. He was also interviewed by two malay radio stations: Warna (30 Apr 05) and Ria (7 May 05). Among other things, he spoke on the research work done by the lab on biodiversity in Asia and his multi-disciplinary interests. The article has been archived on our website. A translation of the article is available below.
This is an unofficial translation of a news article on Farhan Ali, that appeared in Berita Harian on 29 Apr 05.
Going global because of multi-disciplinary interests
Although he studies psychology at the university, Mr Farhan has not stopped pursuing his other interests in environmental issues and biology.
In fact, while doing research in social sciences, the second-year undergraduate at National University of Singapore (NUS) managed to produce two papers in science and biology, successfully published in a book and a leading international biology journal.
Now, Mr Farhan, 22 years old, a student in the University Scholars Programme (USP) and a holder of the NUS Undergraduate Scholarship, has the opportunity to forward his cause at a global stage.
This July, he will be going to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 7th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative, which is also attended by students from Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Filipina dan Thailand.
Three other Singaporean delegates are Ms Vivian Wong, an NUS student, Mr Zaw Win Naing, a student from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Mr Joshua Liaw, a Singapore Management University (SMU) student.
For five days, the forum delegates will discuss issues faced by Asia, with national leaders such as Minister of State for National Development, Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.
The forum’s theme is Balancing People, Planet and Profit in Asia’s Future and it touches aspects of economy, environment, and education.
When interviewed, Mr Farhan said that HYLI is a good platform for setting up a network of students from the region and to study the experiences of other countries.
“Environmental issues are usually borderless. There are no boundaries, as we have seen in the Tsunami tragedy.
“I hope through this programme, we will be able to form a dynamic network and at the same time, find solutions to important issues of the future” says Farhan.