Last December, 8 Venezuelan delegates left the participating Taiwanese students in awe after the 2-day TWMUN 09 conference. Oustanding performances in WorldMUN year after year has earned them fair reputation. Any participant of the Taiwan MUN 2009 will tell you about the incredible Venezuelan students, and the spirit the WorldMUN Host Team endeavors to convey.
Strained relations lead to the closure of the embassy of Taiwan in Venezuela last September (2009), leaving Betty and her schoolmates no simple way to acquire visa to come to Taipei. To ensure his students the chance to come to WorldMUN 2010 this March, the falcutly advisor of Universidad Central De Venezuela accompanied his eight prospective WorldMUN 2010 delegates to Taiwan, to make for visa aquisition and conveniently, attend TWMUN 09. Quoted from Desiree, one of the Venezuelan delegates, their faculty advisor had studied in Taiwan before and greatly loved its land and people. He had also taught a course on Taiwan's Economy and Political Development, with a wish to share the special history of Taiwan with his students.
When asked what was most stunning of her stay in Taiwan, Betty said it was the remarkable communication and coordination skills of the local students - they can always manage to arrive at a solution, however complicated and diverse the issue and opinions. Also, she thinks students in Taiwan are pretty smart, not as well-trained and dominating, but articulate and willing to express their ideas.
Unlike past TWMUNs, TWMUN 09 invited WorldMUN 2010 Assistant Chairs and registered Taiwan delegates to attend, offering new MUNers in Taiwan a warm-up and for our trained Assistant Chairs, another chance to practice.One NTUMUN Society member told us that this experience was precious because his Society was holding a Try Out to become part of its delegation for WorldMUN 2010 the next day. He believes that the essence of MUN is the flow of conflicting interests, compromises, integration and finally, a consensus. For example, in the DISEC committee, at first the room was divided into three blocs: developed countries, developing countries and African countries. But as the conference developed, the developed and developing countries began to combine ideas, forming a working papaer that seemed satisfying but in truth satisfied no one. The Latin America-centered bloc proposed that peace troops should be approved by evaluation agencies before entry to war-zones and clung to the idea the violence is not the only way out. War-ravaged African countries, however, opposed the idea of external interference in their "domestic issue" and were only willling to accept food aid and care goods from the international community. It wasn't until the final session that compromises were fianlly made and consensus reached.
Speaking of "how to prepare," Cheng, a Taiwanese student who attended the WorldMUN 2010 Assistant Chair A++ Training Program, shared his ideas. He found the United Nations official website and endearvored in searching for relative pieces of news and UN Resolutions on all participating delegation countries - a strategic method to grab the basics and learn about the various viewpoints on the issue of concern.
A MUN veteran, Betty also shared her preparation tips. Her advice for new MUNers is to speak out bravely and don't let slip the precious chance to practice. You have to let go the fear of confronting conflict and failre, or you'll never move on and your efforts on preparation will prove worthless.
Though Betty and her schoolmates were highly praised by all participants, Cheng pointed out that the Venezuelan style is not the only winning strategy. Students can oustand others in MUN with many other strategies and styles.
In the field of MUN, experienced and well-prepared delegates usually have the uppderhand and are often expected to lead the forming of a Resolution paper. But to ensure that your country interests are well covered in the final Resolution, polite communication and brilliant cooperation with other country delegates are just as important.
Though an Assistant Chair, National Taipei College of Business student, Chiau, participated in TWMUN 09 as a delegate and better saw the significant role of an Assistant Chair on the dias. Chiau aslo expressed her thanks and respect to the Host Team for the sturdy ten-week Assistant Chair A++ Training Program, and especially to her peers who have made strides in MUN-ing.
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時嘉辰 (Caroline)
Officer of Public Relations
WorldMUN 2010, National Taiwan University Host Team
