AUYS 2019 Discusses Issues On Social Media Usage Amongst Youths

Adopting the theme, Social Media Generation: Unleashing Youth Potential, the ASEAN University Youth Summit 2019 (AUYS 2019) became a platform for 200 participants from 53 local and international universities to discuss issues pertaining to social media which is widely used by youths in particular.

The programme which was jointly organised by the Student and Alumni Development Office, CAS (PPA CAS) and the Student Innovation Association (INOVA) took place for four (4) days at the EDC Hotel and Resort.

Assistant Vice Chancellor of UUM CAS, Prof. Dr. Huda Ibrahim said the usage of social media in recent times had become a norm for almost everyone where most everybody will own apps like Facebook and Instagram.

According to her, everyone, especially the younger generation, will surely have at least one of these social media accounts for the purpose of sharing their daily life routine.

"The use of social media has become an important platform for us to share what we see, think or where we go for the enjoyment of family members, friends and acquaintances in the cyber world.

"As such, AUYS will serve as a platform for participants comprising students from nine different universities namely the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to share their thoughts, ideas and positively discuss issues pertaining to usage of social media," she said at the AUYS 2019 Opening Ceremony.

According to her, social media would connect people from the world over, however the use of social media as an effective means of sharing information had had its detrimental effect.

In this regard, she urged fellow participants to seize the opportunity through AUYS to get acquainted and interact with one another on a positive note through social media.

She said, leverage social media by embracing the positive and responding positively and maturely when using social media.

Meanwhile, the Dean of PPA CAS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahtiar Mohamad said the organisation of AUYS 2019 was timely and relevant to the current era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0).

According to him, AUYS was aimed at introducing and promoting regional cooperation amongst the members of the ASEAN Community particularly among youths at the various universities.

"AUYS serves as a platform to discuss and share knowledge among participants with regard to the use of social media among young people.

"During the summit, participants will attend three sessions namely the Roundtable Discussion (RTD), ASEAN Community Engagement Programme (ACEP) and ASEAN Cultural Festival (ACF)," he said.

The AUYS brand was first introduced in 2015 by PPA CAS and has been successfully implemented year after year whereby in 2016, it was organised by Universitas Teknologi Sumbawa (UTS), Indonesia; in 2017, the De La Salle University - Dasmarinas, The Philippines became the host; in 2018, Thaksin Univerisity, Thailand became the host and this year, UUM once again became the venue for the AUYS congregation.

AUYS 2020 will be organised by HCMC University of Economic and Finance, Vietnam in conjunction with ASEAN 2020 where Vietnam is the Chairman of the ASEAN 2020.